Yeah normal is better, performance I can't really comment on, because for some reason it needs to be selected every time you start the car, and who can remember to do that.
Economy seems to kick the car back quicker down hill for some reason, and I have noticed no change in economy since changing to the normal mode. The automated manual transmission chooses to use the engine as a brake downhill, just as you would in a manual vehicle. Sometimes it is a little extreme and I double tap the paddle to shift up, but I am mostly used to it now and given the number of comments on here, is normal for the transmission.