A while back I found out that if the automatic selector is in 2nd, the car will start in 1st rather than 2nd. Well, I tried this last week and I've gotten quite adept at changing from 2 > D keeping the rpm near 4 to 5K. Suprise, suprise I now no longer think the 300E is the slug I always thought. If you haven't tried it yet - do give it a whirl - highly enjoyable. My yen for a 5spd roadster has decrease markedly.
cheers, guenter