Thanks for the welcome, all. I stayed up *way too late* reading various threads here - it looks like there's a lot of brilliant folks on this board with some really great ideas.
I'm actually from Vancouver, WA - which is just across the Columbia from Portland, OR.
While I'm not necessarily interested in squeezing out every last horse possible, I am interested in maximizing efficiency. This car's gonna be a lot of fun - and I'm almost certain it would be a good idea to get the extended (third party) warranty on it. Though I'm not sure which one... a thread on that to come, if searching doesn't do me much good.
regards,
Nik