WTF should I buy (A consolidated list of bad decisions)

[ScottyB]

That makes sense. I drove polen's 8th gen many moons ago and enjoyed it, but I'd be interested in checking out a 10th gen.  If I'm shopping Veloster N's though, I think a more direct competitor would be the CTR which may come down in price, especially if I'm getting the N with the performance package.  I'm seeing the veloster N with performance package for upper 20's and the CTR with low 30's. SI's look to be low 20's for a good example, too.  I need to find some places that will do test drives around here....

Polen had a 9th gen. similar body style but they moved over to the K24 engine, up .4L over the old K20. no more dual-cam VTEC, lower revving, and not nearly as easy to untap power because the exhaust manifold is an integrated, single-runner downpipe and no longer 4 seperate exhaust runners. suspension got less playful as well. good cars, just as fast and probably even better as a DD because of the torque....but not the same screaming banshee as of old.

CTR is a LOT of car for the money. the benefit of the N is that its playful everywhere. i'd do some research to see if the R community has solved the overheating and grinding synchro issues. downside of the CTR is that its limits are so high, it might be hard to have much fun with it on the street. talk to G about his, he had a champ white one for a year or two.

10th gen Si is a great car for the money if you want to trade a little speed for practicality. the powertrain is very flat IMO though...lousy noises, flat power band, very little character. they dominate G Street in autocross. worth a test drive to see if it would make you happy or not.

if you liked the BRZ, i'd look at another 2015+, with the performance package brake setup like what Evan has. most of the bugs are worked out, the brakes are monster size and the aftermarket's only gotten better. great compromise between hatch practicality, small car racing consumables, and RWD fun. i want one.