[RJasonKlein]

Don't worry, things will improve over time as the car breaks-in and you get more used to it. It's a tricky car to drive for a number of reasons, firstly because the clutch engagement point is very high and, secondly, because it's a very hard car to shift smoothly. I find when starting from a dead stop, it's best to use virtually no throttle and just master releasing the clutch so smoothly that the car can move forward with torque right off of idle. Once you've rolled forward a few feet and your foot has come completely off the clutch, you can feed the throttle in for very smooth starts. Obviously, you'll need to master balancing the car with the clutch when on slight inclines or when you need to start quickly, but that comes with time. The clutch take up is vague and that, combined with the high engagement point, make starting off smoothly difficult when learning the car. Concentrate on smooth engagement/disengagement of the clutch, and you'll master starts in no time.

Shifting the car from first to second smoothly is difficult, but you'll master it in a few hundred miles. Many people here complain that the car shifts poorly, but I've found shifting issues to be more related to the driver than the transmission. The car is very sensitive to the timing of when you ease off the throttle as you initiate the shift in relation to when you move the lever itself and the engagement/disengagement of the clutch. I'm not telling you to overthink it, but just to let you know that you can eventually find a rhythm that allows you to shift smoothly. Once you get past the break-in period, you'll also find that the car shifts more smoothly when shifting at higher RPMs. Don't get too concerned about the issues you're having with poor performance, because the car is harder to drive smoothly a low RPM and the performance will improve dramatically once you can wring it out - it really comes alive above 4,000 RPM!

Relax and enjoy the newness and once you get used to things you're going to have a blast - I've had two Porsche 944 Turbos, two BMW M3s, an RX-7 Turbo II, and a bunch of other fun cars and this car is the most pure and rewarding car I've ever owned. It's a classic and the fact that you have to work to master it just makes it that much better, in my opinion.