I dunno about your combat style, but I'm always directly behind my enemies.
There aren't many Wing Commander 3 spacecrafts out there that outmanuevre the Excalibur (if any).
This is not about lazyness... In theory autoaim means the fighter doesn't have unidirectional weapons, what could be good. However I find autoaim disruptive.
Autoaim does give you a wider angle of attack... But since the AI in the Wing Commander parts doesn't turns the ship full force it's not important. I sure hope that the AI in WC Saga doesn't hold back.
Not entirely on topic, but I just wanted to say that the Excal model from the latest screenshots looks fantastic. Looking forward to seeing it in action.