I came home from work one day last summer to find a handwritten note tucked under one of the wipers on my Miata. It was a pretty standard “call me if you’re interested in selling” note. Looked up the person who left the note, it’s one of those like paid-to-be-hot IG/Tik-Tok girls. Absolutely last demographic I ever expected to give a shit about an NA Miata (or live in a sleepy rural lake town in the middle of nowhere, for that matter)

Everyone on both sides of this “debate” really overstates their case and sounds like a total drama queen.

The reality is, if you daily drive a manual long enough, it becomes second-nature and you don’t really notice or think about shifting in regular/boring/rush hour traffic driving conditions. I never had problems daily driving manuals (including through lower Westchester traffic) for 10+ years. I also don’t really miss shifting anymore when I’m just sitting in traffic. Human beings are pretty adaptable, having to push in a clutch every now and then isn’t going to ruin your life.

Drive what you want to drive.

Why wouldn’t it be okay?

8, 9 and 10 are all overdrive gears, so the experience of an 8-speed vs. a 10-speed really isn’t going to be different under acceleration, around town, spirited driving, etc. the Ford unit has its (well-documented) issues but I really don’t think “too many gears” is one of them. Unless I’m manually downshifting for a long hill or something it’s not like I know or care which gear the transmission is in at any given moment anyway.