asking the same questions as you are now . . . i say go with a N/A. Thats what I did, and it's true about them being slow, My list of mods can go on for days, and i barely break low 13's(only cause i'm auto). But as far a being reliable, they damn sure are. My only issue so far with the car has been the transmission, a N/A auto can't take much power gains. As far as working on them, they can be a bitch, but i still try to do all the work myself. Examples are . . . Plugs took almost 45 min.(yes because you have to remove some lines from the intake), water pump actually only took me less than 2 hours! When you do find one, i recommend you replace all hoses and lines you can, because of the tight space they tend to crack and get brittle. Other than that they are great cars, usually last until the mid 200k's *with proper care* As far as doing a twin turbo swap on a N/A. DON'T DO IT, it can cost as much as buying a Twin-Turbo by itself.