I tried driving a friends promatec and when I floored it I didnt like the lag. Driving pleasure is subjective. For me the manual was better. Yeah there is a lot of difference performance wise and fuel wise. I get 12-13 in Islamabad. I havent checked the avg on long but it would be very bad as I hit 160-170 a lot.
One weird thing I noticed was when I was approaching 190 on a decline the car suddenly hesitated. like the power disappeared for a second or so before coming on. It wasnt hitting the rev limiter as the rpm was around 6000 and the rev limiter comes on near 6800 or so. Did the injectors or fuel pump run out of gas or not enough air was getting in? I dont think it was the ECU as these are old cars. Mine is an EXI.