Congrats, especially if this is your first car... heck of a first car
I too have a black one, they are hard to keep clean but are sexy/sleek when clean. Manuals are bit harder to find then the A/T's, they are similar in speed though so it comes down to driver engagement. I didn't feel like dealing with all the traffic with a manual... but I like the A/T on this. it's pretty responsive and the first 3 gears are super snappy. The 5SX in my opinion is best bang for buck on the market when it comes to having both speed and space at this price point. Have fun and be safe 