How much car is too much car? Do you need to be driving a car that is capable of 150mph? Do you need to be able to generate 1.2g's of lateral force? Is getting from 0 to 60 in three seconds important to you? I used to think that I needed a car that could do all that as my daily driver. But once I built a high performance car for myself I discovered that all that performance is a waste for a daily driver.
I used to drive a lot of mundane cars. Four doors, automatic transmission; my cars looked like a cross between a refugee from a rental fleet and an undercover narcotics officer's reject. But I always had visions of driving a real performance car, something along the lines of a turbo Porsche or a high end Corvette.
As I ventured past the happy side of 40 years old I experienced a very typical mid-life crisis. Many men in my situation throw off the yoke of bland suburban living and try to recapture their lost youth with some desperate measures. But I know how pathetic that sort of behavior is (and my home state of California is a community property state) so I decided to build myself a performance car.
Building a performance car was a more attractive option than just buying a hot performing car. I could have the satisfaction of building a car to my exacting specifications. And I was too cheap to spend 50 large or more on a car that my wife would never understand.
The basis for my motor fantasy is a 1987 Honda Civic CRX Si. 91 ground-pounding horsepower wrapped in a 2,000 lbs. Body. OK, it does not sound like the most intimidating road machine. But over the years I have modified that car to generate over one g of lateral force around turns and it now boasts a power to weigh ratio that rivals high-end sports car. It may not look like much but it can make the Kessel run in less than 12 parceps. This is one hot number in a plain brown wrapper. While top speed is limited by the car's final gear ratio, I can match speed with anything on the road up to 100 miles per hour. You want proof? That little Honda was featured in the July 2004 issue of Honda Tuning Magazine.
Great! The car of my dreams. Let's go out and play! But I can not press the car to its fullest ability of the streets; it is neither smart nor safe to drive at a car's limits on the street. And traffic in Los Angeles reduces pleasant cruising to an infuriating crawl. Once or twice a year I get to take the car to the local autocross event or an open track day at my local racetrack to really open her up. But all that potential is made to simmer in a tightly restricted container 99% of the time.
So unless you need to be able to impress the valet parker at your local eatery, there is no reason to aspire to a higher velocity car for your primary street machine.