I have noticed that in the diesels we drive that the gear selector goes D-3-2. Normally, my 300SD starts in first. If I floor it and leave it in 2nd, the transmission stays in first and leaves a good smoke screen behind. At this point, I am not paying attention to the speedometer or tachometer, but to the the size of the smoke cloud behind me. So, I shift into 3rd based on the sound of the engine and soon the transmission catches up. Does anyone know why these transmissions were not designed to be manually shifted down to first gear?

I suppose that some could put a micro switch on the shifter to kick down the transmission. Anybody do that?

Thanks.