I think there was another 2 seconds in that car yesterday. I figured out what I was doing wrong after I drove the course in my Yaris. The turn-around was a REALLY slow maneuver, and I was taking it in 2nd in the 325. As soon as I let the clutch out in 2nd, the back end started sliding around because I was going too fast for 2nd and there wasn't enough grip on the rear tires to hook up and bog the engine. Then I started trying to accel out of the hole (gently) and just spun the tires until the car finally got up to a 2nd gear speed where the tires could hook up. THEN I was able to accelerate through 2nd. I think I might have actually done better to downshift to first gear to accelerate out of the turn-around.

Anyway, the car is running well... for a lemon. We'll have fun!