Originally Posted by Goldwing
The tranny generally is NOT smooth-shifting from 1st to 2nd. I have 36k miles on mine and it is still notchy and picky about sliding in smoothly. All the other gears are great. Aside from the stupid cup holder, it's my only pet peeve about an otherwise outstanding vehicle. As IBLUBYU said, watch the top go up/down once and you'll know what we mean.
I have yet to figure out what 1st gear is for??? Stump pulling, perhaps? My normal shift pattern is 2nd to 4th to 6th. So much torque in all gears, it handles it beautifully. Starting from stops in 2nd gives a much, much smoother take off, and a much much smoother shift into the next gear.