160 Horsepower is the new 300 Horsepower

You've heard people (usually 50-year-olds) say that 50 is the new 35? Well, I am discovering that 160 horsepower can provide just as much automotive engagement as 300 horsepower. It is making me like my Honda Civic Si more and more. What's funny is that what makes the Honda fun has a lot to do with its lack of power, if you can believe that. Don't get me wrong--this car has plenty of pep, and it can go fast enough to scare normal people. But the power it has is useable, fun, and refreshing, and this is the key to my growing affection for the car.

The Honda has now become the car I have owned for the longest. We are going on 1.5 years together, and I feel a strange lack of desire to get rid of it. This car gets a lot of things right. So I felt some validation when I read this article (note that this car is the newer version of my car, and my car is not an R-Type. But the principle they observe is what I am talking about):