As stated, to start in first gear and run through all four gears . . . while stopped, put the gear selector into "2", then back to "4". Upon accelation, the trans will go through all four gears. It will only stay in first gear for a few seconds before shifting to second.

There is a way to manually shift through all four gears. Again, at stop, put the shift lever in "2". Upon starting, keep it in "2" until it winds out and you want to shift into second gear. To do that, briefly shift into "3" and right back to "2". That will cause to shift to second gear. Then, when appropriate, shift to "3" and finally "4". It helps the shifting if you let off on the gas momentarilly when shifting. It seems to go into the new gear sooner if full throttle is not applied when shifting in a manual method.

Or . . . you could use the kickdown switch, but that just wastes a lot of petrol.