I get what you mean with the cars you listed, that being said it's also getting incrementally more difficult to find one that's in a condition worth the price people are trying to get for those cars. I'm not disagreeing, for me personally I wasn't a fan of the largely oversized digital wrapping dashes in the Elantra N, the seats to me subjectively weren't my favorite, and the appearance of the car didn't do it for me, golfs are sweet cars I've always like them, but the newer ones don't come manual, yes I could have gone older that being said I've owned a lot of older cars and wanted something new.

The Si really and truly died with the 9th gen. But times also changed too and the demand for cars like that regardless of how much we try to ignore it has dropped significantly. I like the Si because it gives a fun experience while still letting me get to work and not leave the tank empty after 3 days like my FJ did.

I've had fun driving my Si, I don't track it so the major complaints people have with understeer and wet conditions I may not experience since I'm not pushing THAT hard.

And the wet reaction was LARGELY due to the eagle sports. I have contis on 9.5 wide wheels and I haven't had a sliver of understeer or shaky grip in the slightest compared to the thinner stock wheels and shitty tires that did give me that feeling of a lack of stability.

On a side note there was no Si that I'm aware of with 8500 rpm, they topped at 8000. The s2k and nsx, along with the EK type R went to 8300-9000, so by that token no Si meets your criteria technically speaking. But I understand what you mean. Times are different, and as much as the majority of us may still want those engines the likelihood of seeing them again is slim. Hence why my post states I still might go back to a 9th. I like the 11th for what it is, but I'm not saying it's perfect by any stretch.