Manual gives full control at all times for enthusiastic driving in a performance vehicle.
So does an s-tronic. I agree if you put it in D and let the car drive itself in would be boring but I never do that. I always drive with the lever in the tiptronic position. I decide when to change gear, both up and down, in exactly the same way as I have always done in my previous manual cars, which included several Golf GTIs and a Golf VR6 and two A3 1.8T Sports. Hardly dull cars to drive.
The only difference is that I don't have to kept pushing a clutch pedal down when I want to change gear. I can change up with my foot on the floor and no loss of power - try that in a manual. When I stop at a junction or roundabout my car selects first gear ready for the off and all have to do is press the accelerator.
The only time the gearbox overrides what I would do is if I try and do something stupid like change up with not enough revs or change down at too faster speed or too many revs, other than that I'm in control all the time. I make all the decisions, change down before a corner, hold the revs up the max torque if I want to, pre-select a low gear ready to pass another car . The only time I ever use the auto function is if I'm in a queue of traffic that is creeping slowly forward. With the new 2013 A3 it's possible to get it to do that automatically if you want to using the Automatic Cruise Control and s-tronic together.
I'm an ethusiastic driver in a performance vehicle (2.0TDI-170hp) who drives fast when the conditions allow and often up to 140mph when I'm on the autobahn in Germany and to at least the speed limit and sometimes more in this country on motorways, dual-carriageways and even country lanes and the s-tronic just adds even more fun to the driving. I still often go out and drive for sheer pleasure, not going anywhere in particular. The only thing that's missing is an old-fashioned clutch pedal.
I have driven with a manual gearbox for 33 years and with an s-tronic for 8 years and I know which I think is the best and so do Audi, which is why they are fitting the to all their 'performance' models including the new version of the R8. Porsche also have fitted a version of the s-tronic for many years, all of which I think you will agree are 'performance' cars.
Have you ever driven a car with a s-tronic or DSG gearbox for more than a quick road test?
The best way to think of an s-tronic is a manual gearbox with an electronically controlled automatic clutch. It bears no resemblence in construction or the way it works to a conventional automatic. It can be the best of both worlds, an automatic or a manual, whichever your prefer at the time. Even in the manual mode you have the choice of changing gear using the gear lever or the paddles, whichever you prefer at each gear change.