I have the opposite experience- a daughter who can talk cars, engines & driving technique all day long; often sports a "save the manual" t-shirt, and on her first solo trip to LA dragged her bestie to the Petersen for the day. But- she is absolutely frightening behind the wheel- without any sense of connection to the art of driving. Oh, she's been to driving school, Street Survival, and BMW Teen driving clinics- and it just doesn't stick. She can describe precisely how to execute a handbrake hill-start; heel-and-toe downshifts are explained like poetry- but in execution, nah. Her first car- a Fiat 500 Abarth sat in the garage until my wife appropriated it in exchange for a Golf Sportwagen, which the daughter loves. She loves the DSG ("it is *not* an automatic"), but pays more attention to the CarPlay. So, I appreciate the conversation, still enjoy long drives with her as my wingman, and am charmed and proud all the non-car stuff she knows and does that I can't even fathom or approach. Vive la difference!
... View more