I wrote a bit of a rant about autos on uk.rec.cars.misc, so I thought I would copy it here. Summery, I hate them.
I did a fair few miles
(most of 3,000 from Reno to Denver and back) in an auto [1], and I
hate them. I had a long list in my head, as much as I can remember of
it is below. However, the one worst, dangerous and irreconcilable
fault I have with them is -
You are going round a corner, somewhere near the limit of traction of
the car. You have the weight fairly well balanced, but want to change
it slightly. You change the position of the throttle a little, and
the car decides it wants to change gear. For a moment you have no
drive, quite long enough for one end or the other to go flying off.
Then you are in some random gear (as far as I was concerned) and who
knows what the weight distribution will be. What are you supposed to
do?
Other problems I had, may or may not be related to a poor quality auto
gear box -
When you want to pull out into a small gap, in a manual you can rev
the engine and slip the clutch, so up to 20 or something you have as
much power as the wheels can handle. In an auto, you have to wait for
the speed to get up some before you approach the range where you get
any power. I found this a bit dangerous when I was not used to it,
and awkward after (I needed some 3x the space to pull out into slow
traffic).
Traveling at a constant speed, either to compensate for the change in
slope or to hold that speed I would slightly change the throttle
position. At certain speeds, this would cause it to keep changing
gear. Not really a problem, but did not make for a smooth ride.
At some speeds / slopes I could not get the car to change down gears.
For example, on the flat if I was going over 92 it would not change
into 4th (second to top anyway) however much throttle I used, and it
would not accelerate over about 98 in 5th. To accelerate, I had to
slow down to 92 and use full throttle. It would then change down and
would accelerate up to about 107. I know this is above the speed
limit, but it was on a road with visibility possibly over 10 miles (US
50 I think, loneliest road in the states). A similar thing happened
going up some hills at much lower speeds.
I could not get it over 107!!! I could get more that this out of my
1.3 astra, and this is a 2.5 V6! May not be a fault of the auto box,
but I am not convinced. It never really gave the impression of being
a powerful car.
Not sure if it is a problem, but when waiting at traffic lights, you
either wait with your foot on the brake in gear, which really feels
like the engine is pulling against the brake (so probably not to good
for anything) or you take it out of gear, and putting it back in is a
lot fiddlier than a manual as you have to get the right place on a
straight line. Equally when maneuvering in tight spaces you are
slowing yourself down with the brake, which somehow feels wrong.
I expect I shall think of some more soon, I may add to the list. I am
sure someone will come along and tell me I cannot drive, and / or this
car was rubbish, but these are my thoughts.
[1] Ford contor, roungly mondeo shape / size. FWD, 2.5 l V6.
Smallest car in most car parks by some margin.
I didn't understand a word 
