The biggest problem with a hand choke is forgetting to take it off after the car is running. If anything, I would think the auto choke is possibly more of a gas waster than a hand choke, except for the fact that with an automatic choke you don't get into the problem of forgetting.

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..."The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self...” --Whitney Young