1,8 tsi estate with 4x4 here. Cannot fault it. Powerful, relatively smooth, very capable on ice/snow.

When in manual it wont change by it self untill you hit the rev limit.

interesting new feature there i think .......

interesting new feature there i think .......

But dont take my word it. I havent tried it my self, but others claims that is how it works. 

I think you'd do better to consder it Semi-Automatic rather than manual, if you hammer the brakes to a standstill it also changes down the box too, pretty sure you can get kickdown too which does tend to encourage you to feed the power in.