"Sporty" isn't what is interesting for me. Any kind of driving is nicer in a manual; including obeying all speed limits, giving right of way, stopping for pedestrians, etc.

I try to make it so that you can't feel that I'm changing gears, and that's next to impossible under "sporty" driving, where you can't hide the difference between hard acceleration and no acceleration during the rev hangs.

6 speeds gearboxes that have about the range of 5 speeds are great for smooth gear changes because the gear ratios are closer, and so if you accelerate gently and shift at low RPMs, the rev hangs are very quick. You can also gently pause and resume accelerations and shift during the pauses. The last shift at cruising speed is free of acceleration also.

I also use cruise control whenever possible. That's all the self-driving I need, thank you very much. Previous manual cars I've driven didn't have it! Manual + cruise = super!