Ok peeps, money may have made the decision for me. I had today off and did my final round of testing, and brought a friend along for second opinion. Went back to Kia and tested the automatic Forte (no manuals) and the manual Soul. Went and tested the Chevy in manual trim this time. And then went to retest the Elantra and ask about the possibility of finding a manual on that.
I'll start with the Elantra. Retested it on the dealer's test track. The thing performed awesome. The stearing was heavier and more direct than I remembered. Not a ton of body roll. The suspension was compliant and quiet. And the engine felt surprisingly strong for a 1.8 L. The bad news is they only have 2 left. One with the Preferred package which bumps it to 19,6 and one with the Limited package which pushes 24. I asked about finding a manual and they said 0% chance. Basically 96-98% of the Elantras shipped this year came with autos. So we ran some numbers on the Preferred package and with $2000 down the monthly payments would be $240. Thats $40 more than the very high end cap I wanted to put on my spending. So unfortunatley my favorite car is out of the running.
Moving to the Chevy, I finally got into the manual version. The fuckers put me in a POWDER BABY BLUE car.
This was the basic LS trim. Initial reactions were that the clutch was just buttery smooth with nice short shifts. Engine was a tad anemic. Apparently the meshy interior I liked so much on the auto I tested is only in the LT and up. My LS came with ugly 2 tone plastic. Chevy wanted $2450 down and $182 a month. Sticking to my $2000 down limit would mean the monthly payments would go up $10 to $192. That is $200 for a car that doesnt even have electric side mirrors or alloy rims, and is the most cramped.
Finally tested the Forte 4 door and it was nothing to write home about. Nice heavy steering feel and a pretty planted suspension feel. Engine was somewhere between the Hyundai and Chevy. Because they have no manuals in stock I couldnt test one, it has steel wheels with hub caps, and it would be much more than the Soul, I threw it out.
The Soul seems to fit the most for my current situation. They have plenty of manuals in stock in many color options. At the price of $16,300 you get all the necessities plus things like alloy wheels, ipod hook up, cruise control, key fob, etc. It has the most leg and head room. It is by far the cheapest in insurance too. They are offering $159 a month with $2000 down. I could take $500 off of that down payment and roll $10 in the payment a month too. I might actually do that. And the salesman told me if I wanted the upgrade to 15k miles a year lease he could do it for free.
I'm still mulling it over, but I might bring home a new Soul by Monday....