On the peppiness:
Drag speed off the line is not the same as stability at high speeds. I learned this in my old tuner days that small city zippers or drag setups are lousy at sustained high speeds in general.

Case in point. A properly setup honda 4 banger will beat a v12 lambo in quarter mile runs at a fraction of the cost.

Past a quarter mile,the longer the distance: Byebye honda.

Comfort is another factor. Suspension and mounts soak a lot of wheel HP to be comfortable.