I'm just a throwback kinda dude. To me, a hot rod has three pedals. When driving easy, you might tach out a few extra hundred RPM before shifting - just because it sounds good. You blip the throttle to rev match coming into a corner, you nail powershifts coming out. If the light turns green and the chick in front of you is texting, you don't honk the horn. You throw a little rev.
Modern race cars have astounding performance with their dual clutch paddle shifted manualmatic gearboxes using air solenoids and hydraulic circuits to disengage one computer-modeled gear ratio and engage the next. Like nearly everything else, modern technology has made a simple thing like shifting much faster, more precise, more sterile, clinical, and... boring.
I get it that the autos are really REALLY good and really quick, but you'll never convince me they're more fun to drive. Even on a drag strip.