When I started tuning my 1.3 Astra I couldn't find any detailed information. So as I worked things out for myself by reading books and asking around I wrote them up on the website. The site is trying to answer what I want to know at any particular time. Therefore the emphasis is slowly changing as I get to know more. Hopefully it will help others out without them having to go through the same expensive process. I'm trying to upgrade the visual design here and there but still want to keep things simple for speed of design and download.

Nothing. It's not the fastest or best looking Astra GTE by a long way. I represent the average (ish) DIY performance enthusiast who use their car in an everday context. I aiming are to keep the car in good condition through DIY servicing. I'm trying to improve performance and handling in a reasonably cost effective way whilst keeping a sane and reliable vehicle.
The sort of cars you see in the mags are pretty rare. There are probably 500-1000 vehicles like that in the UK. If with a bit of work I can obtain reasonable performance figures (honest ones) then I will be doing fine. Most people lie about their car BHP figures etc.

I think the Astra GTE is a great car. It represents the last of the hot hatches before insurance quietened things down in the early 1990's. The standard performance is good enough to surprise a lot of newer car owners. The extra performance creep that the 16v gets pushes it into even more serious performance territory. The Astra has its limitations I'll agree. Handling is a well known area. With a bit of work it can be improved, but there will always be handling shortcomings due to its design. I haven't enough experience of various cars to know how it rates really. I've found it fine. Have scared myself a few times though.
I'm not doing any of this for logical reasons. I enjoy fiddling around and trying things out. There's a lot of satisfaction in finding out about modifications, doing them and then gaining an improvement from them. I started out in DIY servicing from necessity and as I got better at it I enjoyed it more and more. Nothing beats maintaining your own vehicle. When something goes wrong I usually know how to fix it. When fixing one thing I'll notice anything else that's wrong. It can be character building experience. Like epic jobs where a simple concept turns out to be difficult to execute... The Haynes manual says "drive it out" and it won't budge, and it's 1am, and you've got to go to work in the morning, and it'll take at least another hour to get everything back together.

I bought the Astra because it was a lot of performance for a ridiculously small amount of money. Then I started spending on it because I wanted it to be as new mechanically. Have no doubt, I've blown shed loads of money on this car. By the time I've finished I wouldn't doubt spending £3-4000 on top of the original £1000. 5K could buy a much newer car. It's still small beer when compared with the amount that some spend.
Essentially money is the key input to making something happen. And effort, thought even at 100% effort money is still needed.