I'm quite sure that Mr West is better behind the wheel than I'll ever be and clearly has proven so in the past, although obviously I didn't know that he had driven at a high level in the past at the time I made the somewhat flippant original comment following his criticism of modern cars and driver skills.

What I'm arguing about is the notion that just because racing technology has moved on to the point that F1 cars now have advanced sequential boxes that make shifting gears simpler than before does not mean that racing F1 cars is now "video game stuff" or that racing one requires "few skills" compared to those of a few decades back.

It's a different set of skills, not a subset or a diminished set.

Have since bought an automatic and actually enjoying it. It's an 850R and weirdly, the gearbox seems much better then the S70R I had before and a V70R I test drove on Sunday. Also rather oddly, it's made me slow down and so is most definately much more relaxing to drive. Given the state of my license, that's no bad thing!

Your deluded by the Elises 'sensation' of speed! I've been a passenger in one and it feels fast, but really they are just roadgoing beach buggies that jump all over the road unless its perfectly flat like a track. My Corvette is no firebreather, but it can hang onto the rear of my nephews EVO6 on the twisty bits (in the dry). There are 3 of us 50 somethings who have this twisty section of 'b' road all to ourselves in the morning (the other is a Boxter). I have a struggle on my hands to fight off the Boxter, but the Elise, nimble as it is, has no weight to hold it on the road especially in the wet.. Skittish, i think the term is. Ok for posing of a Sunday down the seafront, but any half decent saloon will lose them.

Autos certainly have. Modern 7 speeds are excellent for making deisels far more useable. The general speed and smoothness of changes are far better.

They are certainly capable of making cars faster in a foot stomp, I do wonder whether economy improvements while clearly existing are not quite as good as published numbers as they will be programmed to work best for the standard tests etc.

For mile munching and lazy driving they are unbeatable but I have a car with paddle buttons on a conventional auto and I never use them because I just can't get used to them. You never need them when cruising and when having fun it's just too difficult for my little brain to keep track as to which of the 6 gears I am actually in. So unless I am on a known twisty where it is just a matter of flitting between 3rd and 4th I dont bother.

One advantage though is that when you know a corner you also know what gear you want to be in as you clear the apex and with these boxes you can simply select down to that gear as you break into the corner and absolutely slingshot your exit, doing the same with a manual and matching the speed requires a lot more kafuffling about. It's a marginal advantage.

The only solution is one of each and to pick and choose depending on your mood or the task at hand or the conditions etc.

I suspect that it is simply not sensible to tackle those roads any faster than can be achieved in the Corvette - cornering speeds are more often determined by how far you can see than by the capabilities of your car.

Not a standard one anyway, but it might against a 'modified' (aka ruined) Elise.

Whoever is driving the Elise you are on about, can't.

Sorry, I just can't see a 1500kg, automatic, leaf sprung car keeping up with a 750kg Elise on a twisty road, no matter how good the driver. The Elise will go round the corners a lot quicker, and will certainly outbrake the Corvette, it may be touch and go on the straight but even a standard Elise has a 0-60 time of less than 6s. Granted, they feel faster than they are because you sit so low down, but across country on real roads they are genuinely quick, largely due to not having to slow down for corners.

My 528 suits the auto/steptronic box very well. It very much is a drivers car, in sports mode it suprised me how good it was when navigating the twisties all things considered. Of course it has a manual change for all 5 gears, which obviously isn't as sharp/quick as a proper manual but still pretty good. And I will never get bored of the kickdown. I wouldn't want a manual in my car, but then again I wouldn't want an auto E36.

I was put off autos as they were slow etc etc, but the newer DSG thingies seem v. interesting but out of my price bracket.

But then I came across the SMT in the MR2...and we've been together for a year (9k miles) and all is sweetness and light.

OK it isn't the last word in sophistication - some of the changes can seem abrupt, even slow, but 1) it doesn't creep in traffic and 2) it adds just 10kg to the weight (so good for 40+ mpg on average) and 3) it blips the (electronic) throttle on downchanges.

The car retains all 6 manual ratios, but also adds stability control to the ABS and traction.

However, I still enjoy driving our manual Jazz simply for the rifle-bolt gearchange.

But the MR2 is much better in traffic than the E46 325 before it, and many autos I've had as well.

Such a shame Mr.T did not develop it further.