Originally Posted by SeattleYates

I haven't used the brake at all (to hold back while starting to rev), but as for the gas pedal, I've found that putting it into S, then downshifting to first gear (i.e., in M), if you floor it, when it reaches redline, it forces itself to shift up to 2nd, and (when it redlines in 2nd) 3rd, etc. I can't tell if that's really any better than just leaving it in S and flooring it, but it seems at least as fast...