justbob
02-26-2017, 10:04 AM
My 14 year old son is my mini me out of the three as he is quite the little gear head and is very mechanically inclined. He has driven my crew cab in parking lots off and on for about two years now (my daughter as well since turning 11) and both have always displayed great attention and alertness.
He's been practicing on my manual shift Yamaha Warrior in my small driveway and finally the street after a big snow storm and excelled better than I had dreamed. Yesterday I asked if he was ready to pilot the car that he has turned down a couple of times and he said sure..
I found him a nice big parking lot and switched seats. OUTSTANDING skills! I think he stalled it only twice. We spent about a little over half an hour doing various stop and goes, slow turns, more aggressive turns (simulating rush hour), slight inclines first utilizing the line lock then without, power stops, engine braking, when to engage/disengage the clutch around turns and the proper gear to be in, and always hovering the brake in a turn for the unexpected.
Being used to the truck he had quite the awakening about throttle control once he thought he was getting comfortable enough to climb to 2nd LOL That gave him the fear we all call adrenaline. [emoji16]Keep in mind I bought this car when he was 2 and he has had plenty of thrill rides and he has witnessed it at the track take out plenty of "fast" cars. So the intimidation I'm sure was nerve wrecking even without the blower installed.. Hell, I don't even let the kids wash the car so if he crashes...
He did a great job! If he keeps his grades C or better I already promised him I'd enroll him into a private drivers ed program immediately into his summer vacation (he turns 15 next month), he can get his permit and serve his Nazi Illinois mandated 9 month permit time, and actually have his license thirteen months from now. Let's see if he keeps his end up unlike his brother who didn't really care and was over 17 before getting his license..
I learned how to drive on grandpas brown '77 column shift F100 Explorer when I was 12 or 13 on the back roads of the Tennessee hills spending summers down there. Those were the best of times. Man I miss that old truck.
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He's been practicing on my manual shift Yamaha Warrior in my small driveway and finally the street after a big snow storm and excelled better than I had dreamed. Yesterday I asked if he was ready to pilot the car that he has turned down a couple of times and he said sure..
I found him a nice big parking lot and switched seats. OUTSTANDING skills! I think he stalled it only twice. We spent about a little over half an hour doing various stop and goes, slow turns, more aggressive turns (simulating rush hour), slight inclines first utilizing the line lock then without, power stops, engine braking, when to engage/disengage the clutch around turns and the proper gear to be in, and always hovering the brake in a turn for the unexpected.
Being used to the truck he had quite the awakening about throttle control once he thought he was getting comfortable enough to climb to 2nd LOL That gave him the fear we all call adrenaline. [emoji16]Keep in mind I bought this car when he was 2 and he has had plenty of thrill rides and he has witnessed it at the track take out plenty of "fast" cars. So the intimidation I'm sure was nerve wrecking even without the blower installed.. Hell, I don't even let the kids wash the car so if he crashes...
He did a great job! If he keeps his grades C or better I already promised him I'd enroll him into a private drivers ed program immediately into his summer vacation (he turns 15 next month), he can get his permit and serve his Nazi Illinois mandated 9 month permit time, and actually have his license thirteen months from now. Let's see if he keeps his end up unlike his brother who didn't really care and was over 17 before getting his license..
I learned how to drive on grandpas brown '77 column shift F100 Explorer when I was 12 or 13 on the back roads of the Tennessee hills spending summers down there. Those were the best of times. Man I miss that old truck.
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