A disheartened 4.6L owner

[98gt5sp]

I recently bought a 1998 Mustang GT, with a 5sp manual tranny that's in great condition with around 40k miles on it. So far, I have done the things listed in my signature.

I have been talking to people, and everyone is indirectly (and directly) telling me how stupid I was to buy a 4.6L instead of a 5.0L. Some of the comments I have heard include: "Its a torque-turd", "You'll spend twice the money for half the gain on mods as compared to a 5.0L", "They cut out power at high RPMs", and others. Is this true? Am I doomed to waste my money until I can spend $3000 on a Cobra Long Block, Cobra Heads, or a supercharger?

Also, I have been told that with my current mods I should be able to run a mid 14 on the track, but when I went, I consistently got 15.9s. What the hell?? My 60 ft times were around 2.6 sec and higher. I have a lot of trouble connecting with my tires on the track. Some help with ideas on what I could get for a relatively small amount of money (I have a rather small budget) to make my car at least semi-respectable on the track would be greatly appreciated (this may include shifting advice, or other driving techniques since I am not an experienced racer). Thank you very much,

-A very frustrated 17 yr old mustang owner