More than anything, it comes down to what you want from the car... is it a weekend-only toy, your daily transport/only car, or what?

Personally, I think a lightly-modified car is the way to go. Plenty of people (myself included) get carried away and end up with money-pits they they never drive. Instead, there's a lot to be said for a retrimmed interior, tidy paint, and a basic performance upgrade - eg simple brake upgrade, some suspension improvements, and a change from an a12 to a standard a15.

i'm building another car at the moment and deliberately buying a turbo that's "too small" so that I can enjoy the car more. otherwise you end up replacing diffs, tailshafts, injectors, etc etc etc.

if you must do a late model engine swap, consider something you can get in and running with a small or standard turbo, the standard ecu, etc. after years of playing cars, 200hp is more than enough in a small car - you are better off making the most of what you've got.

instead of spending money getting more lag, spend money on brakes, suspension, etc & use your 200hp wisely!

very wise words shifty

I like them granny-stock, with at most a touch of cubes and maybe a puff of forced induction will bring out the best of those traits, without sacrificing the tractable and reliable characteristics we all love.

They do sound amazing revving out with the side-drafts though, even if they're not going particularly fast. :)