If you start looking at the numbers, this car does not appeal to people like me. No matter how light it is, how fun it is to drive, how good the weight distribution is, etc., the fact is that this is not a fast car by any means on paper(and in real life as well). I come from owning many cars that easily put down 400whp or much more. I've owned Supra Turbo w/ single turbo, STi w/ GT30R, Evo 8 w/ 2.3L, GT35R, and meth injection, FD RX-7 w/ LS6 swap, IS300 w/ GTE swap... Hell, I can't even remember all just from top of my head. I was actually waiting for a TRD/STi version. Until I actually drove the car, I simply thought I would never be happy with such an underpowered(well, at least in my standards) car. Hell, it is more than 1 second slower to 60 than my daily driver(Chevy Caprice V8). It took me 3 years since its release to at least give it a try to see what all the fuss was about. I just wasn't interested in 200HP car with the same very reason why I was not interested in any Miatas.
After I drove the car, and it all made sense. The driving position, steering feel, balance of the chassis, great visibility, great feedback which lets me know what each tire was exactly doing... The closest thing in driving feel of this car was from FC and FD RX-7 I've owned. The biggest difference? Having "only" 200HP lets me actually use all the power on the street without killing myself, which actually makes it more fun to drive.
The reason why this car can keep up with cars with much more power in winding roads is simple. The balance is great, and the power is just the right amount. It really is scary to push through mountains in any cars that have more than 400HP. You spend most of your time fighting the power in corner exits. With the twins, you just put your foot down and enjoy the experience. Since high powered cars cannot use even 70% of the power unless the driver has no concerns for safety, the twins, being able to use most of the little power they've got along with the great balance of the chassis, can keep up with the big boys.
This car is not about the numbers and I somehow have an allergic reaction when people try to convince others that it's actually a fast car. No, it's not. I've been around way too many fast cars(not only in straight line but also in corners) to believe that bullshit. This car in stock form is not something I consider to be fast at all. But is it fun? Oh, hell yeah. It was so fun that after one drive, the numbers disappeared in front of my eyes and I became an owner after a few days.
So let's just accept this car for what it is and enjoy it.
No reason to find any excuses and start comparing numbers just to say, "oh, this car at least is better in these areas than supercars."
BTW, getting to know our cars also made me want to try ND MX-5 to see how the driving experience compares to the twins. 10xx kg sounds delicious!
