everyone raves about these cars, but i just don't get it...sure, 265HP (with generous torque) is nice, but it sounds like it does suffer a little turbo lag under 2500 RPMs (pretty much unnecessary with today's advanaced turbocharging systems), and the cars look 50% sporty, 50% Corolla...it reminds me of the "kids" who buy a civic/corolla, slaps on a spoiler, a fart pipe, an aero kit and rims and think they drive an F1 race car...i've never driven one, so maybe that's the thing there, but i don't even find the interior to be all that "nice" looking.
it reminds me of a review i read about the Mits EVO X...at $50k, it has a heck of a drivetrain...too bad the inside is still an $18k Lancer.
at $40k for a well equipped model, i would rather get a nice C-Class Merc...i know, the WRX and STi will run circles around it, but the Merc simply looks better inside and out...personally, i'd rather have a car i can live with, than one i have to "hide" in.