Whit,
Nice pic, at least that isn't my car yet :-)
Question about the shifting because I think my car does the same thing and I always though it was a "BMW thing".
What my car does is some of the times it fells like it's shifting back and forth, like it cannot make up it's mind what gear it wants to be in.. if I give it a little more or less gas it goes away, it's something it does at right about 45 - 55.
-Charles