No doubt. The figure for the CBR929 I used to have was 2.9 seconds. It actually "felt" faster than the Ducati because of the manic 4 cylinder engine.
Jesus, every single post you make you pull out another cool rig you owned! I'm super impressed.
I miss my old 929, sadly, I killed her with a massive crash.
Anyway, I don't know if "performance car" and "sports car" need to be the same thing. The MX-5 is perhaps not a performance car, but I definitely call it a sports car.
As for reasons they don't want to make it like a Z3/Z4, there are many. The "Mazda Nerd" who spoke to us talked a lot about balance, and a lot about how power has a dramatic flow-on effect to the rest of the car and what you have to do.
The goal of the MX-5 is to be ridiculous amounts of fun at all speeds, including legal street speeds. Bigger, faster cars are only fun on certain roads, and far closer to the edge of legality. The MX-5's mission is fun and balance at all speeds. It's a sports car. It may not be your favourite type of sports car, and that's fine, but you don't need to wave your e-peen around all over the place to convince us of your argument.
You like more powerful cars - I happen to like those too. But I still love the MX-5.
Incidentally, have you driven one? I had a similar attitude as you til I drove one. Here's my article on my revelation:
http://www.autos.ca/car-test-drives/test-drive-2014-mazda-mx-5-gt/