Hey, Zate is the one making excuses for ya. I'm just agreeing with him that its hard for a stickshift newbie to be really good at it. If Zate was right I don't think agreeing with him on that fact would be cutting you down.

I have never made a big deal about your performance at the auto-x since I had figured you don't drive Zate's car all the time. This despite the fact I have driven a couple of WRXs and both the wagon and coupe appeared to be very user friendly (but too bad my wife wanted the jetta instead).

Now that you have cleared up the misconception about your shifting skills I guess your loss to my 'old beater' (as you once put it) is all about your driving skills. As Zate said, once you get to practice this driving thing a little more (and as old age takes its toll on my car and my skills) you might eventually get around to beating me.