New driver thoughts.

This past week my 16y.o. B-I-L got his learners permit.

The new physical NYS permit is completely different. It looks more like a school ID. Supposedly it has a built in breathalyzer that if you breath on part of it and it will turn black if you have alcohol on your breath.

He is already half way decent due to a few years of field cars and such. Manual lessons will be left to me.

His parents already have his first car, a '92 MB W140 400SE. MY F-I-L got it in a trade for his 200K ram a few months back and it has been off the road sitting since. I have my doubts about the reliability of a 22 year old "modern era" Benz, but that is for my in-laws to deal with.

Most importantly, I will bring him to an autoX when he gets his license.

Do they do street survival in your area?

Look for a Teen Survival school or the Skip Barber teen program.

I absolutely recommend the Street Survival program. And '92 should still be in the sweet spot of Benz overbuilding. If it was 10 years newer, I'd be a LOT more worried about reliability.

neon4891 wrote: The new physical NYS permit is completely different. It looks more like a school ID. Supposedly it has a built in breathalyzer that if you breath on part of it and it will turn black if you have alcohol on your breath.

I think you had better try out that feature. You know...for science.

bgkast wrote:

neon4891 wrote: The new physical NYS permit is completely different. It looks more like a school ID. Supposedly it has a built in breathalyzer that if you breath on part of it and it will turn black if you have alcohol on your breath.

I think you had better try out that feature. You know...for science.

I was going to say, that is the first thing you should try.

before you try.. make sure it turns back from being black first

For the breathalyzer, his other sister tested it. I'll look into the driving schools for them. As far as the Benz, I thought the w126 was the last really good one.

Nearest street survival is at the Glen in november, and Skip Barbar is Lime Rock. I will pas that on to the inlaws. But $75 vs 500 has me leaning with SS. At that price I would pay for it myself if needed. Thank you for the advice.

I'm not quite sure about the S class but the "good" E class cars went until 1995, or the end of the w124. The biodegradable wiring harness is the only major problem that is unique to the early 90s.

Doug Herbert's BRAKES program is expanding thanks to a partnership with KIA. Check the calendar on their web site frequently. We've had people from NY come to our school in PA nearly every time, but KIA wants one in NY pretty badly.