3) do you notice any hesitation through the powerband, especially when you get around the 4K range?
could be a multitude of problems, but my ex's saturn did this once, and turned out that it was burning oil and she was getting low. At higher rpms, the oil pump sucks everything up from the pan and throws a CEL if there isnt a correct volume. I could be wrong though, as i dont know so much about the 3. Def. get it checked out though...