I think you’ll find the difference in time is due to the gear ratios and more relevantly the fact that you can drop the clutch on a manual from much higher revs, the auto has to spool up from engine idle, so the initial launch is quicker on the manual. Having driven both, the auto, when in sport manual, shifts are much, much quicker than you ever can with the manual. ( however, this does depend on the gearbox software which was hugely improved over the life of the Evora, an early IPS is very different to the later ones ). Also, with the IPS, the more load it’s under, the quicker the shift. Regarding the DSG boxes. There was no DSG available for a transverse install that would take the torque of the blown V6, and the other consideration was that a DSG box weighs very much more than a TC auto box. As for it being old technology, a lot of manufacturers, BMW for one, are going back to the TC box because there have been so many improvement to the epicyclic gear boxes recently.