I used to work at a rally prep/support shop. I'd work on evo's and sti's and the occasional group 2 gti or civic, turning them onto legit rally cars, and providing mechanical support at the races.
It really changed my perspective on cars. Having a really fast rally car with absurd traction is worthless if you don't also have hundreds of thousands of dollars to; enter rallys, replace tires, hire a service crew, ship your car out to races, keep it in shape mechanically, deal with any carnage that may (will) be caused by the race. And on top of that you have the money to be able to drive it as hard as you can, without worrying about totaling the car. If you don't have that extra cash, you will never be able to fully enjoy it. I was the biggest car enthusiast, but working around these rally beasts has changed the way I see them, they're just cars to me now, they've lost their magic, and I'm glad they did. My boss used to race cyclocross and crits, he said, "bike racing is for men, they make rally drivers look like *******."
People who try to turn their daily driven cars into racecars are idiots. Their cars end up driving like **** on the road, and they don't have the money to race where the car would be fully enjoyed.
A year ago, I found that my bike could fulfill all my transportational and recreational needs, and that my car would sit for months on end, I canceled my insurance policy. I've held onto my car this whole year as a security blanket, but I realized I don't need a security blanket anymore, and I'm selling it to a friend tomorrow.
I've quit the rally shop since then to work at a grocery store. Working on these cars was at one time a dream job for me. Now I find that I'd rather have a job that gives me more time to ride my bike, and enjoy my time/life.
lowlife,
Go for it, it'll change your life. See how long you can leave the car in the driveway, then you may want to cancel your insurance and it'll snowball from there. Remember the rush you got from the first time you fixed a car that wasn't running right? Kinda makes you feel like more a "man" then you where before. You get that same feeling from finding out you can navigate your region/ run errands under your own power. After a while, you won't want to drive, even riding in a car (in heavy traffic) will be a chore once you figure out you don't need the cage.