The stock Yokohamas are garbage. Even cheap "performance all-seasons" blow them away. Grippier tires are a little more than the stock suspension can handle, but the perfect setup to make up for it Racing Beat's springs, which are just stiff enough that the car feels as agile and responsive on sticker rubber as it does on stock, but you'd never know it wasn't stock when looking at the car or riding in it if nobody told you. When I first drove a 2 in the canyons, my exact comment was that the car needed an inch of drop, 10% more spring rate, and a size wider tire. Racing Beat's springs are almost exactly those specs, and after driving my friend's 2 with RB springs and 195s, I can say that it's an awesome setup. I tried his car on the intermediate setup; tires but no springs, and the handling is a bit vague.
I daily mine with the same springs and they're great, but I'm on stock rubber until after winter. Just to make it clear again, the springs don't feel aftermarket and the car doesn't look at all modified, it's just slightly sportier than before. A Mini Cooper S or Civic Si (my previous DD was an '09 Si) is a good comparison, totally daily drivable. I've driven like 12,000 miles on the springs in the last six months, including four or five trips of close to 400mi each way, and I don't have any complaints about the ride quality. (Tellingly, neither does my GF, who'd be the type to complain about it endlessly if it were a problem.)
There are three things that I wish my 2 had - bluetooth, USB input, and satellite radio. A 2013 takes care of the first two and there are options for the third if you care.
I'd hesitate to call it underpowered, by the way. It's certainly by no means the slowest thing on the road. 100HP doesn't sound like much but I never feel frustrated with it, even after owning a pretty decent number of reasonably quick cars. (WRX, S2000, G35, etc.)
