Starting in second is pretty hard.
Perhaps because I wanted a bit more aggressive first gear acceleration, without needing to press the throttle down too much.
But if done well timed, I can keep the needle between 1 and 2k rpm, and the clutch slips less than 2,5 seconds.
When starting from first, the clutch slips about 1-1,5 seconds, and from first to second it slips about 1/3rd to 1/2 of a second.
Second gear is slightly too tall for starting this vehicle in a good manner (plus, the risk of releasing the clutch too quickly, stalling, etc...).
Overall, starting in second gear is possible, and with some training it's even doable.
However, considering the time the clutch takes to fully grab, in traffic, you'd prefer to use 1st gear instead; even if 1st gear is a little slow.
For this reason I wished for 20% taller gears overall.
It would make it a lot easier driving around in the parking lot in 1st gear (2nd gear is too high for doing 10MPH or less), and highway RPM would be much better tuned.
I would also give the engine either a higher idle, or a little more power at idle. It's still running rough in first or second gear engaged while idling.
I've received quite some criticism on this forum about speaking my opinion, but I begin to see that it's mostly from those who aim to race the car; or look at it from a performance perspective; while I look at it from a commuter's perspective.
The demand of a commuter vehicle is totally different than a performance vehicle; and seeing a vehicle as if it was a race car, one would tune it different, than when it's a commuter car.
If you ask me,
My personal opinion is that this is not a race car; but more a commuter.
A fun commuter, which you can take out on the track, but might lose sorely on anything but a go-kart track, to someone having a larger car, with more HP.
Truth is, this car's gears are tuned neither for the track, nor as a commuter, and departing from 2nd gear isn't recommended, even after getting the hang of things; it's still better to depart from the slow 1st gear.