And i think with Mikes being a 16v and ours maz being 8v, his is going to have a better pick up.
Mike, I think maz (jonjay) was trying to say what you said but in a different way, as in 1st gear is "weak" as it realy doesnt do much in gettin the car going fast, its just too short of a gear to get any sort of good start off with.
Actually thinking about it, i wonder if they had changed the ratios in the gears boxes once they went to 16v, e.g. made 1st gear in the 16v engines a little longer?