About a year and a half ago, I had the automatic-only restriction removed from my driver\u2019s license. When I got my license at 18, I thought, \u201cI\u2019ll never drive a manual, so an automatic-only license is all I need.\u201d<\/strong> I never imagined the day would come when I\u2019d change my mind. The reason I finally went for it was simple:<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband was going to buy a 981 Boxster GTS with a manual transmission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDriving a manual is way more fun! You have to get your license unrestricted before it\u2019s delivered!\u201d<\/strong> my husband kept insisting. I held out until the last possible moment, saying, \u201cNo way, no way,\u201d but his enthusiasm eventually won me over. I discovered that a driving school near our home offered lessons to remove the automatic-only restriction (though apparently not all driving schools offer them)<\/span> and reluctantly signed up.<\/p>\n At the driving school I chose, removing the restriction cost \u00a557,000 for four hours of lessons and a test<\/strong>. All four hours were behind the wheel. I\u2019d assumed we\u2019d start with a classroom lesson on the theory of using the clutch before moving on to practical training. Instead, I was told to study the details on my own.<\/p>\n Booking lessons was another challenge. Very few people apply to remove an automatic-only restriction, so there weren\u2019t many available time slots. I remember how much harder it was than I\u2019d expected to juggle work, driving school, and life with a two-year-old.<\/p>\n Still, once I\u2019d committed, I wanted to take it seriously and pass on my first try without paying for extra lessons. I studied the textbook ahead of time and brought indoor shoes to make driving easier, feeling fully prepared for my first day.<\/p>\n But then\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n I was so nervous about driving a manual for the first time that everything I\u2019d learned from the textbook vanished from my mind.<\/p>\n \u201cKeep that clutch pressed right down, okay? When you stop, press the clutch and the brake together, or you\u2019ll stall,\u201d<\/strong> the instructor told me. Then I\u2019d take my foot off the clutch and get told off.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the car sounds like it\u2019s struggling, shift gears,\u201d<\/strong> he said. I had no idea when to change gears, so I got told off for that, too.<\/p>\n Naturally, I stalled over and over. I couldn\u2019t get going before the traffic light turned red again, and at the railway crossing I\u2019d rev the engine\u2014\u201cVrooom!\u201d\u2014but still couldn\u2019t pull away because I couldn\u2019t get my foot off the clutch. By the end of that first hour, I was completely exhausted.<\/p>\n Then, somehow, things started to click during my fifth hour (I had to take an extra lesson, so I gave up on passing in the minimum time)<\/span>. I took the test after my sixth hour and, to my delight, passed.<\/p>\n So, have I driven a manual since then?<\/p>\n \u2026Not at all. (-_-)<\/p>\n The only manual I\u2019d driven was the driving school\u2019s Toyota Comfort, with its light, easy clutch. The first time I got into my husband\u2019s Boxster, I was stunned by how heavy the clutch was. It was so stiff I thought, \u201cIs this a workout at the gym?\u201d<\/strong> My leg felt like it was about to cramp, and I just couldn\u2019t bring myself to drive it. I\u2019ve only driven it about five times so far.<\/p>\n My husband drives us to somewhere quiet, then we switch seats and I spend about ten minutes going around in circles in first, second, and third gear. That\u2019s about it. (LOL)<\/p>\n At the start of the year, I declared, \u201cThis is the year I finally learn to drive a manual!\u201d<\/strong> But will that day really come? No, I shouldn\u2019t give up. I went to the trouble of removing the automatic-only restriction, so I need to keep at it! That\u2019s my renewed resolve these days.<\/p>\n I later wrote an article outlining the full process of removing the automatic-only restriction from a driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\nNo Classroom Lessons\u2014Just Behind-the-Wheel Training<\/h3>\n
I Worked Hard to Remove the Restriction\u2014but\u2026<\/h3>\n