Last year my car was garaged every night of the year, my new house has no garage so I was SOL and it sits out to brave the elements. I have definitely noticed some serious differences in performance since. Sorry to state the obvious just wanted to reinforce the point.

 

Sounds like my I30 not my G35. Of course I wouldn't use the word lurch to describe my cold starts in the I30 so this issue could be different than what I feel is normal operation. I would say the shifts are further up the RPM range than normal and I'm always relunctant to go full throttle until I'm sure the engine has warmed up.

 

despite being worst on cold starts, I still feel and hear the THUMP when I am 1/2 throttle 2nd to 3rd.

yea, it lurches big time cold start

 

That is VERY common with all later 04 cars. All my late 04 and 05 loaners have done this.