[///M1]

Originally Posted by Artemis

When slowing down towards walking pace in 1st gear (for example cruising in a parking lot on the lookout for a spot), you can release all pedals without the risk of stalling the engine despite still being in first gear (instead of neutral) and not pushing the clutch. In most cars with manual transmission revs will continue to decrease until the point of engine stall, which is avoided by timely pushing the clutch or putting the gear in neutral.

Not so with the 1M: apparently the engine is programmed to constantly keep up the revs at a minimum level of 700rpm in 1st gear during movement and maintain the constant cruising speed of 5mph or 9kph, as long as you don't interfere the movement by touching any pedal.

Discovered this because I wanted to find out at what rpm the 1M engine would stall in first gear. To my suprise it did not stall. So I circled a couple of tours in a parking lot, letting it slow down on the straights to the automatic cruising speed of 5mph or 9kph. It is as if you set cruise control at that low speed (which is impossible because inactive under 20mph or 30kph). I guess it only works on flat surfaces in 1st gear (did not test how it reacts on uphill slopes or in 2nd gear).

Try it if you don't believe me.

True that. I find it comfy during slow moving traffic. FWIW my Audi has it too, so I reckon a lot of manufacturers have this feature.