Since I have the other side of this view here's my 2 cents, I love my auto and don't even need anything but a good touch on the skinny pedal. That being said the biggest issues with running an auto is downhill, you won't have much if any engine braking so you really need to know what you are doing with an auto in that situation. Other than that I love me auto.

If you leave it in 1st with duals it has plenty of engine braking.


I switched to an auto and duals after 10 years of wheeling a single t-case 5speed.   I am really starting to love the auto.   I also switched to a v8 because I know the auto costs some power so if a 22r/re is going to be powering it I can see why many people would recommend the 5spd   That being said the only thing negative thing I noticed about the auto is that when crawling down hill the engine isn't turning enough rpms to let the power steering pump do it's job very well.  Hydro assist should fix this issue but I don't have it yet.  I found myself putting it in neutral so I can rev up the engine to help the steering.  A 5spd you can just clutch it when you need the pump pressure.   I'm now building a 5spd with the same engine so I'll be able to compare apples to apples.