VW's are really nopt that great. being a college student you prolly wont have the time to do mods on this car. plus with this being turbo and all the parts are going to be that much more expensive. I knew a kid once who had a GTi stock and we raced in my SOHC del sol and i crushed him! Then a month later something broke and he couldn't afford to fix it then he sold it and bought a civ hatch.
my opinion get a SRT-4, GSR, miata, Civ Si, 00+ Celica GTS, 240sx, 98-99 eclipse GSX, impreza 2.5RS, VW GTi, Tiburon GT, BMW Z3
list above in that order
I ranked the GTS a little low due to price but these are in order of performance/price/maintence/aftermarket all combind to make my list
hope this does something for you!
my opinion get a SRT-4, GSR, miata, Civ Si, 00+ Celica GTS, 240sx, 98-99 eclipse GSX, impreza 2.5RS, VW GTi, Tiburon GT, BMW Z3
list above in that order
I ranked the GTS a little low due to price but these are in order of performance/price/maintence/aftermarket all combind to make my list
hope this does something for you!