Can't decide auto or manual?

Auto trans have definitely come a ways since the old days, though I'm still a fan of a stick shift. I'm not sure that it still applies with today's technology, but I always thought that a stick was supposed to have less driveline loss (15% manual vs 20% auto was always the rule of thumb I heard), so I lean toward a stick for the fun factor and potential power benefit. No doubt an auto is the better bracket racer, which I guess is the way that racing is going nowadays. I always thought that back in the day pretty much all the big drag cars had sticks and an auto was few and far between (though I didn't actually live it as I wasn't born yet, lol), hence the racier nature that a manual has in my heart at least. My family has pretty much nothing but manuals lately so I had a bit of a chuckle the other day when I got in an auto and slammed my foot on the brake (thinking it was the clutch) before I started it.