There are plenty of other cool/economical cars out there. Don't run yourself broke on the price/payments of the car. Start cheap and put money into having fun with it. If you have any interest in any kind of racing or learning how to really drive, this would be your best bet (autoX, track days/HPDE, drag etc...). If you want to spend less on the car, I'd look at something a little more underrated like a older Subaru 2.5RS, or Legacy, Neon ACR (I dare you to laugh at this), Celica GT-S, MR-S, Miata, S2K, Sentra Spec-V, Focus SVT, Integra GS-R...or something on those lines. If you want to spend more, early (2004/05) GTO, newish S2K, 350z/G35, Legacy GT, Mazdaspeed 6, Volvo S60 or C30, IS300, MINI S or Genesis Coupe. The only thing on those being the Volvo and MINI could have a higher repair cost compared to the others (which should be a little more DIY friendly). Don't forget about insurance costs too. That EVO will run up pretty high and is a rather thirsty car. I've never been a fan of VWs, so I can't comment on them.