Mopar vs Rice

The thing that amazes me, the "tuner" guys spend thousands of dollars to run 14's. I would like to have the same money invested in my car. Now if you ever see a really fast "tuner", it usaually breaks on a regular basis. The only "tuner" type 4-cyl. FWD cars that have impressed me are the Neon SRT's. These seem to run quick & dependable.