I have an '01 SE Auto with about 6K on it. Sometimes after the car
has sat for a couple of hours, the RPM will jump to 2200+ for just
a second as the engine is starting. I usually don't have the problem when starting completely cold or hot just during this in between
state. This seems excessive to me. Any ideas?

 

Mine does that. I'm sure the ECU is calibrated this way to ensure that oil is rushed into areas that need protection faster.

 

same here.. thats the primary reason I went to synthetic oil, I wanted as much protection as possible when it does that..

 

its for the emissions system, cats dont work till they get to a certain temp. The engine idles faster at first to get them warmed up.