1993 was was 17 years ago. That was the VX launch era, not 1984. Although, it was on the drawing board before 1993, probably at least three years before. Now we're debating whether it should be a performance upgrade candidate? That's like thinking you should be boosting performance on a Mercury Sable, or something. It's just passe technology-wise.
And your very right the transmission was a huge weak spot. If the VX was meant to really perform they would have offered a standard transmission. But they didn't, although it shows up in the parts book due to the fact that Isuzu built five VX's that way for Rally Racing.