What is the best car for the money?

The Civic SI has laughable torque and it's just not as fast as you might think. Go drive a Subaru WRX (AWD). You'll never want a naturally aspirated (non-turbo) car again. I own one and its just an incredible deal for going very fast and holding to the ground. It's ugly though. The RX-8 is fast but kind of unreliable. Lexus are nice but boring. It's a Toyota with fur. Lately, Nissans are breaking out as a good deal but their models alternate because moderately attractive and horribly ugly. Hyundai Tiburon is quicker in real life than it looks on paper if you can push past the Hyundai stigma. It's very nice looking though. Please. Don't get the Pontiac.