The way that driving has always been done. In order to drive in
manual, you control a clutch and a gearshift in addition to gas and brakes.
Manual transmissions give you much more information about your car such as its feel, its power, its engine to gear
ratios, etc.
Newcomers to manual transmissions often
stall out and get frustrated by the addition of extra controls. But if you practice at it a lot, it becomes delightfully challenging, you will feel out of place in an automatic by comparison, and the feeling you get when you drive circles (or donuts) around your friends is totally worth it.