biketeacherdave said:

I have no idea why you would use 1st gear to pull away in that car unless pulling a heavy load.

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Because they don't pull away in 2nd gear very well either and sometimes you just don't need to be going as quick if you are stop start traffic. So there are 2 reasons, pretty sure there more....

300bhp/ton said:

lol, but no.

The Td5 Peak Torque is 1950rpm, so only 50rpm lower. Hardly anything a driver could notice.

The Tdi is something like 2200rpm and the V8 3000rpm. And I'm willing to bet the Puma makes the flattest torque curve of the lot as that is how modern engines are designed.

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I had a Tdci in my Mondeo. It was auto, and it was pretty fast. The autobox made it difficult to tell what it was like off the line, you just put your foot down and off it went.
But I didn't hear great reports of the Tdci Pumas that the WPD drivers had. Not sure why. Could have been just rose tinted spectacles for the Td5s they used to have.

If you like the sound of the 4/203 engined 109", I will just mention the 6/354 Engined Range Rover my mate built in the 90s.
That didn't have a problem pulling away in any gear, but it wasn't very clutch friendly either.