My 16 year old son has now entered the "Learner's Permit" phase of his 
driving career. After getting his feet wet on his grandmonther's 
automatic-equipped Bimmer, it was time to teach him the fine art of driving 
a standard. 

My wife's Subaru was chosen for this duty over the EV (my mistake...). For 
the past two weeks the Sub was forced to endure dropped clutches, stalls, 
misshifts....to the point where Erik (my 16 yr old) and I were about to 
throw in the towel as far as standards were concerned....a MAJOR defeat for 
not only him....but me. 

So I figured, what the hell, lets take the EV out. We drove to a large 
parking lot....swapped seats...Erik was at the controls....clutch in...brake 
on...start it up...put it in first...let out the clutch...and....

sssssSSSSSSSMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTHHHHH.....

off we went. Hmmmm...try it again....sssssSSSSSSMMMMMMMOOOOOOOTTTTTTHHHH....

After 20 miles of backroads driving...the verdict..."Dad, can I get a van 
instead of a GTI??"

The EV came thru and rescued dear old dad's pride....

Ric