[jimmaswell]

Maybe I'll try it in real life someday, but I've tried manual in some sim games (Richard Burns Rally and Assetto Corsa, racing wheel/pedals + oculus setup) and it wasn't more fun, it was just a distracting chore. And that's not even having to use a clutch pedal, which would make it even worse.

[larkeith]

As another poster noted, racing simulators will never be able to do anything close to replicating the experience of driving a manual. In an actual car, there's a constant physical feedback throughout the entire vehicle, from the vibration of the pedal to the sound of the engine to the acceleration from releasing the clutch, none of which can be effectively simulated. It's easy to tell you're much more directly connected to the road and in control of your vehicle in a manual than you would be in an automatic, where you have an impressive, but imperfect, software intermediary attempting to translate your actions into vehicular control.

[jimmaswell]

I don't see any reason any of those couldn't be simulated. The sound of the engine and acceleration properties are already well-simulated and I'm pretty sure more expensive setups can do the vibration. All this plus a VR headset and the only thing missing is the g-forces.

[hellogoodbyeeee]

I enjoy driving a manual because of how it feels to change gears. I don't think a racing Sim will ever be able to capture that feeling because you are only moving a joystick, not forcing a complex machine to change gears.

[emodendroket]

Doing it in a video game is nothing like in real life, where the car is shuddering and responding to your movements. No game captures it well at all, even the Gran Turismos and Assetto Corsas of the world.