Fun thread. About ten years ago I migrated away from trying to make the car faster and just concentrated on making her better, more reliable, and tuned so that it was pleasant to drive slowly while on the street in traffic/brutally hot days/etc. Either the car has gotten faster by itself, or my perception of speed has gotten skewed. Either that or the tires are past needing to be replaced as just last weekend she was breaking her rear loose with barely an inch and a half of throttle coming off the line. But, I haven't had a break down
<knock on wood> in maybe a dozen years and, even with 475
true and honest horsepower, she handles the heat and in-town traffic as well as one of my daily drivers. But it did take a while to learn all the nuances of getting her there. And even after 15 years with her I'm still learning.