haper- I know *exactly* what you mean with the Corrado/e46 M3 fun-to-drive comparison! I felt the same way when I had some mighty good cars that just didn't put the same smile on my face that some "lesser" cars did. There's more to enjoying a car than its ultimate capabilities, especially on the street.
Honest-to-god, I sometimes think the most fun I *ever* had with a car (on public streets

) was my '87 VW Quantum Synchro wagon with a tweaked supension, at least when the weather was bad. I used to leave the Porsches/etc. in the garage because I simply enjoyed the VW more.