At last Alistair some logic applied to the debate .
Yes the argument Alistair puts is logical, but having owned a variety of what would be described as fast cars in my life of driving and a couple on the extreme end I would put forward this observation.
1. Virtually any car pushed to or beyond its limits will become interesting or will bite back if pushed too far, at what point and speed this occurs will depend on a host of variables, suspension, tyres, setup, weight and power output.
2. I like many when younger went for more powerful cars and as roads became more congested found that I was unable to drive or push them as much and certainly not safely if I had any consideration for others. This lead me to doing track days, and a few sprints. At this point I found out that I had never really experienced the limits of the car I owned at that time until I was off the road and on a track. I truly never experienced the limits of any of the cars as they were mine and I know I always held back as I could not and did not want to smash them up.
3. I own a 3.7 Roadster and is probably pushing about 300bhp with the sports exhaust. Would I chip it if available for more power to 330bhp, probably not, and certainly not if I continued to used it for road use only. If I hill climb it in the future then it would still be a no, the benefit would have little impact on time and it would become even more intractable when what you need is to keep traction to maximum cornering and exiting from corners. If I was going to race it on tracks then it would be a combination of power, and brakes and weight in balance that would be needed to be successful and in harmony.
4. I and a fellow TMer hill climb a 30 year old 125bhp MR2, you may laugh but it has shown me that power is not everything, too much and it will bite you. Controlling it is critical, smoothness and knowing how well the car will go round a corner, and brake is most important, this will enable the driver to get the most out of a car and maximise speed.
So in summary I own a 3.7 Roadster which is pretty quick when push and it has lots of torque which can be used when provoked, but needs caution or the rear end will soon break away. On the road for general driving it can be driven lazily and comfortably so for me a good compromise. I suspect an Aero in standard form will be much the same but with a better chassis and suspension and should be more forgiving. Would either benefit from more power for general road use, I doubt it, I suspect that both cars with more power would edge towards being unpredictable and awkward to drive, it would be a different matter if they were primarily going to be raced or used on tracks.
