Some of you guys are really funny.

I guess some people wouldn't consider you a good driver if you couldn't drive, talk on the cell phone, and read a map, all at the same time. It does seem that the definition of "good" has many meanings when it comes to driving, so I guess I need to find a better way to qualify some of my thinking.

If you go to any kind of driving school where manual transmissions are used, you will be taught to keep both hands on the steering wheel at all times, except when shifting or operating other controls. It is not a fatal error to do otherwise, but it's not generally considered to be a good practice. After I installed my RPSS and others started reporting that the shifters buzzed (mine doesn't), I started feeling of my shifter more often, and at the last Evolution school my instructors kept having to get on to me for resting my hand on the shifter at the starting line. I'd picked up a bad habit, and was having a hard time breaking it.

Is it hard on the transmission? Well, get in the habit of hanging on to the shifter, and see what happens when you are on the track or an autocross course and experiencing high force levels. You are very apt to end up putting way more pressure on the shifter than you intend, and that isn't good for the gearbox. The bad habits we have on the street almost always carry over to the track.

Anyway, you can hold the shifter or a cell phone in one hand if you like, but that's not what you'll be taught if you ever go to a good driving school.