for fiscusfish first - just joking about the pre 98 ss shape, I love all SS's from the bevels to the MHe, always been an SS fan and the FE is one of the best.
As for the original question - I'm perfectly happy with my SS, it has plenty of real world performance. People are usually suprised at how well they go, that low down grunt making them so easy to use, they are even pretty usefull on a track, just those anoying 8 valve things tend to blitz it down the straight. (give 748's a hard time though)
[Edited on 23-4-2004 by STEVE M]