Yes, it seems to be something like that. It could just be my driving style.

Perhaps it might be the Bowden cable? The car has a nice stiff shift, but sometimes I have to floor it (but not hit the kickdown switch) to get the thing to downshift out of 4th in order to accelerate.

Can you please explain low torque breakaway? Is that why when under moderate acceleration, the engine will spin up to ~2500RPM and hold there while the car speeds up? Kind of reminds me of how a sprag clutch works in a helicopter.

Also, how do I check the voltage of the O2 sensor while the car is running?