Power steering delete, dump as much of the interior as you can live without, sunroof delete if applicable, lighter wheels and the cf parts will help. I just deleted my clutch fan without any problems, but I put it back on to add some refrigerant to the ac system. Fan delete won't do too much, but it is simple and quick. Anything you can do to make it lighter, and pull parasitics off the engine will make it faster. Lightweight flywheel can help in the lower rpm, as well as with decel time. Are all the ac parts pulled? There are a few pounds in the dash, and 15 or 20 in the engine bay. The 3.91 diff will kill a little of the acceleration, but stretch out the gears and up your top speed. If faster at the line is what you're after, go bigger number. 4.27 is the next step from the factory 4.10. I saw a 4.45 on ebay a few weeks back.
Saftey? I don't see any of this compromising saftey. Pipe dream? Definitely not. Being light is what the m42 is all about.