That is one thing I really loved about my 1990 Ford F-150 Lariat long bed regular cab V8 with 5 speed manual. It was all blacked out with limo tint and I would watch the headlights behind me disappear as I shifted from 1st to 2nd, yet not a soul dared hit their horn. LOL!
Sold it in 2000 due to growing family. Every truck after that was automatic and felt more like a full size SUV than a truck.
It would be nice if my Mazda6 were that intimidating... but no, not so much. Good on you, though, with your positive experiences with a manual. Incidentally, if I am on even a slight down gradient, I will usually start in 2nd gear to avert this clobbered from behind scenario. I will start-off, barely a crack above idle, and of course I will still be letting the clutch out, for a greater linear distance (and accelerating, therefore, slower than surrounding traffic... but with no interruptions in my acceleration rate - and therefore predictable for the guy behind), for a considerably longer distance than if I were starting in first-gear... but the way I baby it, I really do not expect an appreciable amount more of clutch wear. A bit, not a lot. And then I totally can end up going quite a distance before I actually shift into 4th gear... Funny, the ratios in my Mazda6 are pretty short-ratio... and I often can go from 1st to 3rd to 5th, then sometimes 6th... or 2nd, 4th, 6th.
That's another thing... having too, too close a ratio manual gearbox is a bit of PITA. Yeah, high performance and all, but it is really "luxurious" by way of a drive-feeling for me, to have a reasonably tall first gear, and then to get appreciable "distance" out of each subsequent gear.
