I agree with you on a lot of things. I will point out a few exceptions though. A Carrera 4 running 5.1 is a huge gap on a 5.9 second car. Thats almost a full second by 60 mph. Thats a big gap. On a 9 second 0-60 car thats not much but the lower that number gets the harder it is to knock a few tenths off. You also have to take into consideration that the times tested in the magazine are on normal roads most of the time....and while I'm not talking about slicks, even with street tires there is far more traction at the track than at the street. I would bet money that their are very few type Rs that run under 6 seconds 0-60 on a normal road with normal street tires. Things change at a track though.
Also, My comment about the similaritys between the typeR and the S2000 were strictly regarding engine achitechture. Thats it...other than that the two have nothing in common. My point was that engine break in and regular maintenance is very crucial.
And I'm sorry but I've seen an ITR run a 14.0 on street tires with nothing more than a removed exhaust and all the extra shit in the car removed (spare tire, tools, etc etc) They are S2000 fast....it's the other things that set an S2000 apart.