I've got an issue with my '98 OBW, 2.5L, manual. When I'm in 4th or 5th gear and come off of the gas while traveling downhill or in stop/go traffic (so I don't run into the back of someone) and then slowly put continuous pressure back on the gas pedal, it will not immediately respond with smooth power. The pedal will travel down without responding until it finally kicks in with a jerk and small explosion of power. Can anyone point me in the right direction before I hand it off to the local stealership?

It could be time to replace the engine and transmission mounts. With age they get softer and allow too much movement, causing the jerking. Usually more prominent in lower gears though.

The pedal will travel down without responding until it finally kicks in with a jerk and small explosion of power.

Are you 100% sure that the pedal is travelling at first? I've seen similar problems on other cars where the pedal takes an unusual amount of power to get it moving in the first place and then slams down to the floor all of a sudden-like. In those cases, the butterfly valve in the throttle body has worn a wee groove in the casting so that the valve gets a little bit stuck. When this happens, you can adjust the valve a little so that it's out of it's groove, but eventually you run out of adjustment and have to replace the throttle body.

 

Just something to check...