The mental association of power with a gearset and the associated feeling of the shift are inherent to automotive pleasure. These aren't fake manuals so it's not a case of the physical process of heel toeing and moving a gear lever. It's just the feeling and the illusion of control.

I'd say there are two different types of "fun" here: gamification and stimulation. Engine/exhaust noise and blips can be fun stimuli because of their associations, yes. But there is also gamification: driving is a set of skills, and it is fun to improve and use those skills. A shifter and a clutch aren't just traditional, they add two more levels of difficulty to a game.

Also the author brings up that the fake noise, when implemented well, does become part of the game and the skillset:

Engine noise and fake shift “blips” provide reference points drivers can use as mental shortcuts, rather than relying on guesswork. The absence of audible feedback can also make it difficult to understand what a car is doing at any given moment. Synthesized noise may be fake, but because it’s synced to the car’s performance systems, it still reflects both the electronic and mechanical behavior of the machine itself.

“As humans, we’re really good at pattern recognition,” Romano says. “So if I’m coming into a corner, and I’m hauling butt towards the corner, and I come off the gas and I do one downshift, listening to the sound of the engine is giving me a really good idea of what speed I’m entering that turn with.”

This proves a strength for the Hyundai, which also incorporates a simulated “transmission” with equally simulated “gears” selectable via traditional wheel-mounted paddles. Sure, it’s a gimmick, but Romano gives it high marks for tying in nicely with the rest of the car’s performance gadgets.

Cheromcha echoed Romano’s praise for the Hyundai after a back-road drive.

“It feels like any other sports car, in its element, doing what it’s supposed to do,” he said. “It feels like the 5 N is designed specifically for the driver experience.”

Without the feedback they provide, it’s much more difficult to establish a rhythm. This comes up again later, when Romano takes the Charger on track. Unlike the Hyundai, it has no stepped “gears,” and the awkward throttle map is both finicky and unreliably synchronized with the car’s synthesized feedback, offsetting the utility gained by having it in the first place.