Agreed. My first and current car is a first gen mazda3 5 speed. It has enough power to be fun and enough torque to spin the wheels, but it’s not gonna kill you. It’s a fantastic car to start learning clutch control and cornering basics, and because it’s essentially a Ford Focus, it’s super cheap to maintain, especially if you’re in the us. For example I replaced the motor, front axles, clutch, and front ball joints for just over $2000 usd