OT: I need help choosing 'other' car, The firm says sedan. I say performace. Options

[airsix]

I am forced to find a new daily driver. The 914 is going to have go into semi-retirmement. I'm at a point in my career where I'm needing to shuttle around a few clients and business associates so the 914's days as my daily-driver are coming to an end (for now).

I need a se... I need a se... (having trouble breathing) I nnnnneed a sedan. (Oh I'm going to be sick) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)
Sorry about that.

My SM2 classed 914 has been my daily driver for the past 6 years. In fact, I've never had a daily driver with more than two seats. Hopefully this gives you an idea of the type of sedan (Oh, I'm going to barf again..) I'm looking for. Budget is $20k or so. It has to be "nice" to keep others happy, and it has to be loss-of-bodily-function fast and great handling to keep me happy.

My first thoughts were maybe an E36 BMW M3 or a 2000ish Audi S4. Sorry, no WRX's or EVO's. It needs to be something a little more suit-and-tie. What else should I be considering? I'm open to any suggestions. I've never been interested in perfornance sedans before now so I don't even really know what's out there. Extra points for easy power mods. Remember, it's got to be fun handling and powerful if I'm to have any chance of avoiding a death-spiral of depression from the loss of my twice-daily 914 drives.

Thanks for your help.

-Ben M.

[fiid]

Here's my non-biased answer to this question. I like to ski, and have done a couple of trips to Utah in the last few years so my requirement list had AWD and Turbo on it, which you may not have; which is how I ended up with the Legacy - but here is what I would consider. I also do not know what your budget looks like.

BMW:
The E36 M3 is a great car. People had better opinions of the older ones than the newer ones- I think this is because the newer ones are so polished that the fun factor is a little dulled. At some point they went to a much better euro engine and full sequential box though, which is worth having, but pushes you a lot further up the price curve. I would also take care not to overlook the 328 and the 325 as well - these are a little less likely to have been driven hard - so the same money might buy you a better condition model.

Audi:
Lots of cool A4s to choose from. The 1.8t actually seems to have more tuning potential than the 2.8 V6, unless you get an S4, but the used prices on S4s seem to be way high. These are pretty damned nice and some will get you AWD. They also seem to hold almost more cred than a BMW in Cali, since everyone bought at least one beamer during the boom.

Jag:
Being from the UK - I do lust after the Jags. There is a certain charm to them. Read some of the Jag enthusiast forums and you will learn that the reliability thing is restricted mostly to certain years, and can be avoided with routine maintenece. They are comfortable for passengers, and the supercharged models are scorchio. The XJ8s which came out in 95 or so are beginning to become realistic used fodder (for me anyway) price-wise. Only the top models have forced induction, and there is no AWD to speak of. Jag recently switched to aluminium bodies, making the very new stuff much quicker and nimbler in the turns.

Subaru:
You already know what I think about this. I'm very happy with the car. You can get a wagon if you need hauling space. I would get the Legacy instead of the "Pimp-my-ride" "I need people to think I almost bought an SUV" Outback - the 2.5 turbo engine puts out 250ft/lbs of torque at 3600rpm and peaks at 250hp at around 6000. THe engine pulls hard. More mild mannered driving will get you better fuel economy. This car is actually about .2sec quicker to 60 than the 5.7l Chrysler 300M/Dodge Magnum, and gets much better fuel economy. I probably have better fuel economy as well. It's really funny burning these off because they TOTALLY don't expect you to be able to keep up. I ended up here for the following reasons: Forced induction (for high altitudes), AWD (ski trips), 200+ HP, Wagon (kid on the way, and home depot/car parts/etc), and it makes a good shot at being a luxury car to boot.

VW:
VW is also trying to go upmarket, but have largely failed - you might be able to get something nice, and not pay so much for it.

Chrysler 300M:
I actually like these - The design (IMHO) is not pretty, but it's distinctive and innovative, and I like that. They do look somewhat button down, (although somewhat gruff with it) and perform well.

There are some nice Benzs around too - but my impression is you need to bring cash to get real performance there.

I'm not all that fond of Acuras, Nissans Toyotas or Lexi; which seem to be quite common on California roads. Acuras and Hondas particularly seem to be serious theft targets - One of Five integra owners I know has NOT had his car broken into. Of the others, one has been broken into twice. The Lexi might be interesting - I took a ride in a GS400 once, which was quick, but not amazingly so. The tiptronic-esqe gearbox was kinda nice, but I don't think it's anything more than a manual control auto box.

There you have it - hope this helps.