I'll toss in a vote for the Subaru WRX at around $25,000 or the WRX STi for around $32,000. The WRX is 5.6 seconds 0-60 with 227hp. The STi is 300 hp. (I think the Mitsubishi Evolution is about 270hp). The Subaru WRX is lacking in interior trim if you're also looking at the Volvo's. But my buddy just sold his 9-5 convertable Saab to get a WRX after he took a few test drives. I guess "fun to drive" was worth more to him than "interior comforts".

At your price point, the Maxda RX-8 is damn sexy and so is the Nissan 350Z.

The 1.8L VW's are pretty sweet for what you can get out of them, but those chips only provide torque at low rpms. Also, you can only add so much power to a FWD car before you get tons of torque steer.

There are quite a few WRX owners here on the board, so install wont be a problem for your empeg. (me, Jim Hogan and ithoughti to name a few).

Whatever you do, take TONS of test drives. They're free! I was SO convinced I wanted a Wolfberg Edition VW Jetta w. 1.8L Turbo but after 5 test drives I finally realized that it didn't have enough "umph" for me. I got over the WRX's bug eyes (which I somehow grew very fond of) and still take rides in it just for fun after nearly 2 years.

It all depends on your personal needs, someone else's perfect car isn't necessarily yours.