yeah - there comes a point, after trying things like this, that you just say "been there done that", and either deal with the realities, or move on.
there is also an infinite number of levels of acceptability. i won't except uncivilized unbalanced cars. i won't accept chassis twisting and rattling. i definitely would not accept listening to a V8 roaring and droning at 3400rpm all day on the freeway. it's not good on the engine either. other guys might not mind this kind of stuff.
in the end, i found that the 968 can handle about 320hp, and maybe about 310 lb/ft, with some minimal changes. after that, a lot of work needs to be done. even at that though, more brakes, bigger tires, and more suspension really need to be added in order to be able to drive the car to the level of which it would be capable. more power and more torque would only increase the need of those reinforcements. there are other issues, like the axles, the drive shaft, the drive shaft bearings, etc, all of which need to be beefed up. it's really very basic math.
like i said, i'd love to see one done right, but so far, no dice. so far, all i have seen are people cheaping out. those cars keep changing hands. it's easy to want more power. it's easy to get sucked in by all that torque. but, once you live with a bad setup for a while, you get out and sell it.
but hey, when i was a kid, i drove some really crappy setups on V8 conversions too. i had them for a few months, and then either wrecked the car, or sold it.
the real issue here is hat nobody who has one of these wants to admit publicly that it didn't come out the way they had hoped. if they would grow a pair, and step up, we would all be much better off. instead they just advertise how much power, and completely skip over stuff that really matters to most drivers, and we all get caught up by the power demon at one time or another.
like P.T. said, "there's a sucker born every minute". i've definitely been that guy once or twice
