This has got to be one of the silliest lines I've seen posted, how can you seriously expect anyone to think you speak for "enthusiasts" beyond yourself with such a silly proposition?

So if you could afford a Ferrari Enzo, "enthusiasts such as yourself" would be expecting mods to get 900-1000HP?

?

Enthusiasts such as MYSELF try to buy cars that are built with sufficient horsepower in the first place, so we don't need to throw away the reliability and proven technology that automakers spend countless millions of dollars on developing.

Not to knock what Vishnu and Cobb do, they provide a valuable service for enthusiasts who seek more than is offered through retail/factory channels, but with the understanding that their customers take on some risks, including possibly long term reliability, fuel economy, and smog compliance.

For some- but certainly not all "enthusiasts" those are trade offs that they're willing to take on.

People that race their cars are usually limited in terms of modifications allowed for different classes, so except in the least restricted (most expensive) classes, most race car drivers are getting by with somewhere between stock and maybe 30% over.

Sure there are drag racing, and prototype exceptions to that, but I'm thinking in terms of cars that "enthusiasts" drive daily, at least apart from their track time.

in my opinion, anyone who wants 50% more HP than their car has in stock trim should be someone with a (massive) budget and passion for experimenting and doing this kind of work themselves (maybe that's you- DashingMax, I don't know...)

or else they simply bought the wrong car in the first place-

I mean if you start with a 120HP econobox, then maybe asking to bump it up to 160-180 might be worth some effort, but to take a factory turbo motor that comes off the boat with 250-300 ponies, fully capable of out accellerating most cars on the road, and throw more money at it to try to wring out half again that much, I just think there are better things to spend the money on.

 

Whoa! where did that come from?
40%-50% is possible on certain cars. And yes, you do give up reliability, comfort, etc. Not all "Preferences" are practical.

I'd "prefer" to just buy a ML55 AMG, but my preference is not affordable.

My question was that since very high horsepower is definitely done with a WRX, maybe, something similar may be possible to do on a Forester XT.

Cheers!