well it sorta depends on what your plans are. Do you want to go for more of a straight line car or a car that's good in the twisies? SRT4 is the fastest from a roll. If you decided SRT-4 there tons of easy cheap mods that give you great power. Also make sure it's an 04 or 05, 03's have smaller injectors and no LSD. WRX's are quick as well. They will out handle a SRT easily. Not sure on the price to power ratio for the parts available. The new MazdaSpeed 3 is nice as well. Pretty quick too. The only problem you'll probably have is it's a new car and they're probably not to many parts available for them yet but I could be wrong. Good luck on your decision and make sure it's what you like