Look I think I’m on your side but I swear I hear way more complaining about stick shift supremacists than actual stick shift supremacist nonsense. Quite possibly the dumbest lasting schism in the automotive community.

Ooo more fancy sensors. Wait these explicitly allow for tampering instead of just happening to allow for tampering? NOOOOOOOOOO

AAAAAAAAA

This is where I begin to wonder if “car I want = modern/sporty/fast/fancy/expensive” is a good thing. Find something really cheap you can have fun with. It won’t be the fastest, or the most advanced, or the most competitive in any particular way, but it will be affordable and it will have soul. Pick something weird, pick something you like for its historicity. Like an old Citroen with its weird hydraulic suspension—have you heard how comfortable those are supposed to be? It’s otherworldly. That’s a car you can drive and just enjoy it for what it is rather than the basic “woow this goes vroom and is fast”. Don’t have to own it for long, just like the average car enthusiast with their revolving door of cars, but it would be an experience.