[Fat Charlie]

Using the island of efficiency and every gear would be right for me if I were under load. Like pulling a yard of topsoil. But even my puny little 1.5l is overpowered for the task of driving me and maybe some groceries around.

Getting up to highway speed involves winding it up through second, then using either third or fourth to get to cruising speed. One end of my drive has an onramp where traffic is unpredictable, I may need to be going anywhere from 60-80 to merge easily. The other end is uphill from a light, where railroad tracks dictate a shift. I'd grab fifth there, but it's an uphill and I generally have cars behind me. The 1.5l isn't so overpowered that accelerating uphill in fifth from 45-50 is polite to others.