i agree that dropping weight does wonders for handling but you live in houston. ive lived in houston decades ago so i know what it's like. there's no such thing as canyons or any kind of serious curves you'd carve in your area unless you go to the track. so im guessing your primary goal is acceleration since your roads are flat and straight, and some braking benefit.
you see, ive been modding cars basically for street use for many years. after all the weight reduction and intake/exhaust forced induction mods, suspension, etc ive done, it comes down to this... most sport/sporty cars these days are built pretty damn well out of the box. especially for street it runs very well. you make changes to the car you sacrifice something else. unless you do dramatic sacrifice you're not going to gain much.
street cars you shouldn't have to sacrifice anything.
