Nice writeup. couple'a things though:
Clutches ARE expensive. They can cost between 600 and 2000 bucks depending on what you drive. So try not to smoke 'em
Reverse is not the equivalent of 3rd gear. if you want proof, put the shifter in 3rd and try to start moving. Unless you race the motor and therefore prematurely wear the clutch, you'll stall.
And 2500RPM is not very high at all for the imports. Shift around 4500 to 5000 in those, otherwise you'll never hit the engine's powerband and you'll be wasting a lot of fuel lugging the motor.