No wonder I find it fun to drive my wife's 1.8L New Beetle Turbo with 150hp (the new model has 180 hp) with far better than 1.2hp per cubic inch displacement (I think). I got no problem with speed and power; in fact, I loves it.
However, I like driving a stovebolt because it is a stovebolt. Yes, I do like driving my '54 with a modestly enhanced 261 (but it still has ancestral resemblance - it's ontogeny recapitulates its phylogeny).
Nonetheless, I like reading these discussions about Frankenstein monsters.
(What do you think, will this inappropriate statement get a rise out of a few people?)
Tim
