Hey mate, thanks for posting these, it was/is a very nice read.
Your whole mentality about the car is very close to mine.
I just bought the car a month ago and I'm still undecided which way I actually want to go (NA or FI) I'm similarly disinclined to spend on useless stuff. Altho my ruling isn't *that* strong as yours, something like spending thousands to make the car sound different is completely unfathomable to me.
My main motto is "to have fun with the car" - which means track days. I haven't yet been to one.
Anyway, good read, keep up the journal, please.