I have heard some people / reviews mention that the ten speed automatic has too many gears. Others say the six speed auto with paddle shifters is better? Car will be mostly daily driver with some beginner hpde. How is the paddle shifter speed, upshift, downshift speed?

 

are you picking the model year based on the transmission? pretty sure you only have one choice in each model year

for HPDE I think you still really want an old fashioned manual, but I'm also interested to hear about the paddle shifters . . . last time I tried them, I found them very awkward but I guess they just take some getting used to