WRX STI VS Lan Evo IX

[w_alloy]

I want to buy a new car soon, I want to pay around 35k (but im flexible), I want to drive it hard and fast and I live in Alaska with lots of snow.

The car I have now is fine but boring and somewhat slow (2001 saturn SL1), and I promised myself I would buy a new car if I hit poker goals this year which I have long since passed. I will be paying cash (literally if there's no reason not to). I have never bought a car before except my current ride, which was used from a friend so that doesnt count.

I have 4 main questions.

1) Are there any other cars I should seriously consider? I've thought about a G35 or 3 series bmw but I care less about luxury then I do about it being fun to drive.

2) STI or Evo? It seems more people on this forum have STIs, and I was slightly leaning towards it. After doing some more research (example) I am now unsure. I plan on test driving both but am interested in opinions.

3) a. Although I havent talked to the dealerships yet, on their sites they list the cars at 1-5k over msrp (1.5 for the STI, 5 for the evo). This is also weird because the respective dealers (the only ones in Alaska) list only 2 STIs but 12 EVOs. I understand that cars cost more in here, but 5k seems a bit much. How should I factor this in when bargaining for a price?
b. I want to simplify the "haggling" portion as much as possible. How reliable is the information from edmonds on invoice price and fair market value? How much over this should I ask? I dont want to spend a lot of time on this but anything else I should know?

4) In 10 days I am leaving for Enlgand, and will be there for 24 days. I really want to buy a car now, but the logical part of my is saying to wait. Please tell me now is a better time to buy a car than late December so I dont have to wait over a month to purchase one of these.