I think it is just the manual transmission she is struggling with (which can also be very vehicle specific especially with older cars - though new ones can be so quiet that you don't hear the "bite" - I kept thinking I had stalled my hire car). But the idea of driving an auto scares me - what do you do if you have to go through flood water, how do you get more power for hills... I guess it is just what you are used to...
However I will but the intellectual theory since I passed third time...
But I wouldn't pass now since they have added reverse parking to the test ..
Oh and I assign finding out who your friends are the bad way...