Do you always set off in first?

[Cyclone]

I drive a minibus and a car, 6 and 5 gears. When your vehicle is fully laden, you might require first gear on the flat, but not when its just the driver.

When I passed my test, most cars were mainly 4 gears, is that uncommon these days?

 

4 gears would be pretty much unheard of, many cars have 6 now.

 

Setting off in 2nd will still stress the clutch more than 1st though.

[pacman123]

Used to always set off in first,but now got Auto and love it point and go....lol

[alchresearch]

Just curious but why still drive manual shift? I've driven manual shift and just find it inconvenient and a nuisance in heavy traffic. The old theory that cars drive better with a manual shift has no validity. The automatic transmissions that cars are equipped with today are the best ever

 

That's a very good point. My assistant has just bought a new car and he was very restricted over what he could get because he can only drive autos.

 

Then when it broke down the dealer struggled to provide an auto courtesy car, having to loan him a demonstrator for a day before hiring him an automatic from a car hire firm, who again were very restricted in what they had in automatic.