What a well balanced thread of the pros a and cons of Tip and manual , I have a tip C4S and have developed a technique of blipping the throttle when approaching a bend or a roundabout to to fool the box into thinking I wish to kick down and hey presto she drops a gear just by my blip of the pedal ,! Only needs a quick stab and she drops a gear . Try it in a road your u are familiar with but don't be gentle when you try it at first it's takes some getting used to but the rewards are worth practise