Torque is really what you feel and Horsepower is a number on a sheet of paper. Sure they are related but when it comes down to it torque is more important because that is what you feel when you accellerate. BTW, there are a lot of small displacement engines that have nearly as much or more torque as they have Horsepower.
Volkswagon GTI comes to mind which has a good balance of torque and horsepower and when you ever test drive one you will know that it feels a lot stronger than the Si. I just wish it wouldn't be so damn ugly then I would have bought the GTI over the Si in a heartbeat.
But overall I am pretty happy with the Si and with my mods I think I do have a nice push back in your seats feeling especially when the Nitrous kicks in
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