l am looking to get a 2005 Jetta GLl with an automatic transmission, how noticable and how different is it when l drive in D as opposed to driving using sportstronic and changing the gears myself?
and what about a manual, if a manual and an automatic were to race would it be about a tie?

The shifts themselves r exactly the same. In other words the speed from which u go from one gear to another. The difference is u now control when it shifts.

To me it feels very awkward using the tiptronic feature, no matter if l am using the bump shift or the paddles. It kinda takes some getting used to.

Keep in mind that it is totally electronically controlled & it wont let u mess up(over-rev)

l figure most folks put the car in drive 99% of the time. Then once in a while move over to tiptronic so they can see what the car will do.

For best fuel economy its probably best to go with drive.

If two of the exact car were in a drag race...one in drive & the other in tiptronic... l do not think there would be much difference.

EDIT: The manual tranny should be a bit quicker. The thing is, this tiptronic transmission u r asking about is nothing but a regular ol' automatic tranny with a bump shifter. An automatic transmission runs off a pump which circulates fluid through the valve body. This pump robs power from the engine before it can get to the wheels.

Matt makes a good point about the new GLIs with the DSG transmission. DSG stands for direct shift gearbox. This thing is an automatic STANDARD transmission. The core of it is a standard tranny(it has no pump). It uses electric servos & a couple of clutches to do the shifting for you. The end result is much faster shifts without robbing the engine of power!

The latest R32 is only available with DSG. Old schoolers may wonder why or demand standard shift. The truth is even the best race car driver can not shift as fast or as efficiently as the DSG!

The difference between the manual and tiptronic is the tiptronic though it feels clumsy it is actually faster. The 2005 is fun but leaves you wanting more, go for the 2006 it ups the HP to 200 from 180 and also gives you the option of the DSG which is a 7 speed tiptronic style but shift much more elegant and faster shifts too.