Yeah, there does seem to be a lot of shifting involved - but I still enjoy it. I usually get caught in about 5 minutes of heavy traffic leaving work - 1st gear is pretty nice for that. I just dump it in first and idle my way along, everyone else is stop/go. Depending on the situation or mood I will start in 2nd. 2nd in this car is about equivalent to most cars 1st gear, so I don't think there is any harm, maybe a little more clutch wear.

I agree with you on training a new driver. Finally convinced my wife to try to drive it and told her to just concentrate on letting the clutch out, don't even worry about the gas. She humored me and got it around the neighborhood but she still doesn't understand why I would choose a standard over an auto. Ah well - to each his (or her) own.

I had traction control problems going into 2nd until I swapped out my rear shocks. I don't know if new shocks helped with "wheel hop" or what, but I can pretty much jump on it going into 2nd now without traction control killing the power.

Ryan