I think that the Impreza has compromised too much of its race car heritage and is actually a more compromised car than the jack-of-all trades Civic 2.0S.

But compromised is not something for GH. So go for the two all-out cars, the Lancer and the Focus. Personally I haven't experienced the latter but from all I've heard and read, it doesn't go as fast as its looks. But perhaps that's because it looks so damn good. Also the extra 100k+ on the GT-A is a negative point.

So Focus it is for you. I personally don't like the interior, and the exterior isn't much better either, but I'm sure that for you, those are trivial when compared to the benefits of the TDCi engine and the DSG transmission.