Hot off the line

019 - Citroen C1
Originally uploaded by gingerpig2000

You know the feeling - the lights turn green and the middle-aged, middle-class business type whose total contribution to achieving rapid take offs is his or her investment in an expensive driving machine. They have, as it were, bought a heavier right foot than you. If it were some lad in a cooking and aging near-future scrap yard material it is not so bad, it's what you expect - young and desperately pushing.

Why then, is my 1 liter Citroen C1 in standard trim almost always the first across the junction?

If you find yourself at the front of the queue at the lights, do not stop on the line but instead something like a meter before. Road regulations usually state something like you are not supposed to cross that line except when the lights are green - so you need to be rolling forward on amber in order to cross on green, hence you must first have stopped before the line.

When the light has been red for a while it is time to slip the car into first, lift the clutch slightly, hold the car stationery on the handbrake / parking brake with that little button pushed in, and your right foot resting on the gas - not on the brake. When the light turns amber / orange, start moving forward, the exact timing will depend on how long your set of lights spends on amber before turning green.

You will be surprised ho much advantage being moving makes, and you do not have to burn rubber to achieve it.