i found my ls to be way more usable day to day than the '99 si i used to drive(it was an ex-gf's car). with the si, you would have to wring the snot of it to get any sort of speed.
when my ls was stock, there was power pretty much any time i wanted it. it would fall on its face over 7k, but by then i was usually winning or i was up to a good speed.