Direct injection doesn't hit the stem area of the valves. I've been a dealer vw/hyundai tech for 10 years. Valves get coated and ports get clogged to shit within 10k on a lot of DI platforms. Oddly enough, my mazdaspeed3 after 80k looked waaaayyy cleaner. That was a ford-ish engine, fingers...
I think you should hit the right pedal, get into boost, and run the gears out way past 2500. I'm tuned, drive it hard, and am at average 26.2 since new, now at 6300.
I've also been curious about 3.73s. Although the gears are short, I run 285/40r19s, 28" tall. The couple seconds it takes to get into boost sometimes feels like forever. Gears would probably help with the instant gratification, with the trade off of shifting quicker, less time in each gear...
I just figured I'd throw this up here because I haven't seen it mentioned yet. The pic doesn't look real, and more angles would be nice. Maybe nobody actually has one yet. Not everybody's taste, but I'm sure it's all about function.
I like the look, but provides air to the brakes, doubtful. Maybe the front of the rear tires, but I see no ducts that direct air to the back of the rotor.
I don't have them either. What I do have is a paint run in my front bumper, which I think is a PP bumper?? My car is a base. Think I bought a f'd up car at the dealer.
Car sounds great. I think the single is the way to go. I live about 20 minutes from you down 90, maybe some day we could meet up and I could hear it in person. I had a 01 pewter z28 before too.