The whole point of sequential shifting is that it gives you one of the advantages of manual driving - anticipating road conditions that will require a lower gear. It's not "racing" stuff, in the sense that you can use it every day to optimise your merging into higher speed highway traffic, maintaining power up hills etc. But, if you don't like "driving the car" (for lack of a better term), then just don't use it, or pay extra for it.

All my cars have been manuals (I learned to drive in GB), but I am looking at the Fit as a second car which is frequently borrowed by relatives who come and visit etc. which is why I am looking at an automatic. Having the shifters is a big bonus because it will undo some of the lobotomy when I am driving it.

To be totally honest, I think the hardest part about driving a manual is not knowing when to shift, it's developing good clutch control for gear changes, hill starts etc. (and remembering to clutch down until the habit burns into your brain, if you learned to drive on an automatic). Something like the paddle shifters may help you understand gearing if you don't have a feel for it, but let's say if you were my kid trying to get me to pony up the extra $$ for the Sport with that argument, I wouldn't be persuaded

 

Best way to learn to drive stick is to just do it - forget about this paddle shift automatic crap. To me, the ability to drive stick is an essential life skill - might save your butt someday!

 

100% agreement. It's too easy to learn not to do it. It's not rocket science, nor black magic. You can be competent in a day or two; soon it will be second nature, and you will never want to drive anything else.

Give it a shot, and let us know how you do.

 

but is the flappy padle shifted auto anywhere close to the lap times of a 5mt fit?

 

It will never be as good as the 5-speed manual transmission simply because of energy losses in the torque convertor.

But it will likely be a little better than leaving the transmission in fully-auto mode when driven by someone who knows how to get the most out of it.