One thing people don’t fully realize until they drive some back to back, or maybe what I should say is…raw performance #s don’t tell the whole story. I too have owned/driven a lot of performance vehicles on/off road, on tracks some too, I have a crazy fast/overbuilt C5Z vette 718whp w/ nearly every nut & bolt touched in one way or another on it, but if I was going to add another vehicle to the stable many of my choices are much less powerful/“slower” than the Z & yet provide more enjoyment in other ways.
Civic-R, M2 comp, Cayman-S, Subie Sti, CT4V blackwing manual, Chevy SS 1LE, new upcoming Nissan Z, - there’s more to driving enjoyment than pure straight line acceleration or eye popping braking force. The way a vehicle feels overall, steering feedback, cornering feel, a drivers seat that feels like a cockpit, switch gear that looks like it’s yanked outta a race car, exhaust growl/burble, heel toe rev matching, power shifting, Having An actual transmission w/ gear shifts you can feel (or better yet- perform on your own), intake growl, a mild rocking/shivering @ idle from a slightly lopey factory cam, I could go on & on….sometimes it’s nice to drive a slower car as fast as possible.
If you’ve ever ridden sport or dirt bikes I think the concept of enjoying a “slower” bike that you can actually ring out every gear to screaming redline is more rewarding/satisfying than a liter bike+ that can’t be ridden to its full potential even on a race track unless a) it’s a big friggin track & b) you’re a REALLY good rider. Sure- I enjoy straddling a Busa or a Vmax too, but for entirely different reasons.
