Appearently some of the poeple in this thread need to spend less time shooting off there mouths on the internet, unplug from the computer and visit a track or five. Ever see an auto Grand National, Supra or any other factory F/I car launch? Are they just sitting there at idle right before the light drops, NO. They have one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake. Is the car still at idle even tho they have the pedal matted, but it's not moving? NO. Tho the car is sitting still the RPM's are up and the load on the engine is enough to spool the turbo up much more effectively than what could be accomplished by just holding the revs up with the clutch in on a manual transmission vehical. Before the automatic car even gets moving off the line the turbo is already spooled up, if not producing a healthy amount of boost as well. Granted this is rather rough on the drivetrain, but hey whatever cuts those 1/10's off or wins the race right?

Most of the fastest Supra's have autotrannies, because they are easier to launch and much more consistant, thus being generally faster. Also auto's are geared longer has well than there 6-speed counterparts.