I have an E350 and the transmission is very good. I do think you need to make the effort to learn how your transmission responds, no different to a manual really.

And for extra whizz while overtaking use the paddles to preempt the move by changing down a gear or two - exactly as I would in a manual.

I say this having owned numerous manual cars, including BMWs, gen 1 and gen 2 Minis and a ‘74 TR6.

Mind you it didn’t like driving over the Sierra Nevada last week. 9000 ft. saps a lot of power on a normally aspirated engine and it unbalanced the engine and transmission.

Edit: some words