Ok, here's some more info... I want something practical with a little power, maybe more than a little. An EVO is definitely in the running, my co-founder used to have one of those (until he crashed it into a wall at Infineon). Don't care about the badge but I do care that it has three seats/seat belts in the back.

If three seats in the back aren't an absolute must, try a MINI JCW. Love mine. Exhaust pops violently on overrun shifts in sport mode. :)

Just don't drift with the ebrake on gravel like this guy.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XztrcAgRxP8

Otherwise the STI and EVOs are both great cars. I personally prefer the Subaru interior though. As for coupes, the hyundai genesis definitely meets your mark for power. If you're going to tune/mod it yourself I might actually suggest the 4cyl turbo so you can easily replace the turbo & manifold/etc for easy power (vs a more involved setup of putting a turbo on the N/A I6)

The Audi A3 also has a pretty vibrant tuning community. A used Audi S4 definitely meets your power + seats criteria too.

If you're interested... here's a bunch of threads going on about this on Ford, Honda, Toyota, etc's social media pages. The problem now is I have about 10,000 opinions. Now what do I do?

This is a pretty interesting experiment in how social media can be used. We just posted a note on the FB pages of the manufacturers and our FB page.

http://www.facebook.com/carwoo/posts/164850626908575 http://www.facebook.com/carwoo/posts/10150255637960049 http://www.facebook.com/Nissan/posts/10150574147450375

Two issues I see here:

1. Ultimately, there's a fairly finite universe of cars that meet your criteria, even if you consider the much wider used market. If you pick, say, an EVO MR, how do you pick who gets the prize when multiple people would have suggested it?

2. We ran into this a lot on our automotive board. Someone says 'I want RWD, MT, 4 doors, under $35k' and got a bunch of answers.

But cars are ultimately pretty personal - e.g. I hate VW's interiors, but many love them. Since you've got to go look at them personally, at best you're narrowing down the universe of things to go check out. Unless you're committing to buy the one that gets the most votes.

Could be interesting collect the responses, graph them, and run some analysis on how vocal each brand's fan community is.

Great idea Tommy. Way to leverage social media and go through the process of "eating your own dog food." Glad you guys are OK.

Hondas are pretty safe, when I totaled my Acura I didn't even feel the impact, when I got out I was pissed thinking I now had a dent in my front bumper...only to find out that the whole front end was destroyed

Agree. For how hard we got hit in the accident, it was amazing how little anyone was hurt. Honda FTW.

My anecdotal evidence agrees - I was a passenger in a Ridgeline that hit a parked (empty) bus at 45mph, everyone walked away with minor bruising.

you need a bit more criteria.

if you want performance, an EVO will work well or an STI wagon

if you want a bit more luxury G37/Acura TL/TSX

if you want the badge, BMW 328i or C300

based on the Civic SI being your old car, the STI wagon would probably be your best bet...plenty of power and utility.

or

you can go used, and buy something a bit more exciting: last generation MB E63 AMG, E60 BMW M5, Audi RS4 etc.

I have a Civic Si, and I would say it's a good compromise of many things. It's more powerful than a base Civic, but I still get 35 mpg highway. It's small, but it's roomy inside and it has a big trunk. It has also been very reliable, as they tend to be.

Maybe get another one.

Also consider: Miata. Because they are the most fun.

Crowdsourcing = definitely the future of social media.

He should use the crowd sourced[1] car rather then asking which generic branch car he should buy.

[1]http://www.local-motors.com/

I bought a Mazdaspeed 3 on the recommendation of some people here a couple of years ago, and I love it. I actually prefer it over the other 2 "fun" cars I had before - a BMW 330i and a Nissan 350z.

FWD does take a little getting used to though.