Once again, I had a similar problem, but with my Maxima. The explanation that I got mainly revolves around the fuel system. The theory was that as the car stands still, one of the injectors would not fully close, and thus some fuel would drip onto the engine. This caused two problems: low fuel line pressure, and also a rich fuel to air mixture in the chamber during startup. Thus, whenever I went to start the car, it would reach about 900RPM and die right after. I would restart using the accelerator at which time there would be a puff of grey smoke for about 2 sec that really stank. Pumping the gas for about 5sec after starting would stabilize the car, and everything would be normal. A DIY mechanic advised me to start off by using good fuel injector cleaner on a full tank for three consecutive trips to the gas station. If the problem doesn't resolve itself, then I'd just follow the fuel system: fuel filter, fuel pump, leaks, etc. If those don't fix it, then to follow with a fuel pressure test, or a fuel injector flush, those sort of things. The car is on its third tank of fuel with the injector cleaner right now and the problem hasn't reappeared since, so I haven't gone further yet. I also had the plugs, wires, and distributor changed last year, but that didn't solve it. Check out the
http://www.probetalk.com site -- they are really big and someone is bound to have had that particular problem with their car. I would try the simple things first that I could do myself, and go through an elimination process from there.
Hope this helps some and good luck!
Peter