I'm not a psychic but I see the following in your near future:

-5k clutch dumps
-stop light drags and revving up to anything with wheels
-excessive speeding/showing off
-tickets
-trees
-ditches
-guard rails
-collisions

... you see where I'm going with this?

 

I have had my 2011 WRX for a couple months now. Nice little car thats fun to drive and can easily get you in trouble. Not a car for a 16yr old, its a car that begged to be ripped through gears and tossed into corners. Maybe after a year or two of driving under your belt your ready but as of now not. Youtube and Tv distract from how fast cars are nowadays. I haven't modded mine yet but the power level isn't bad for a 3200 pound car. I am 23 and if i had this car at 16 i would have wound up in jail. Because its a small displacement turbo car the speed creeps on you and can be surprising when boost hits. Ive had an Rx8, mustang GT and a G35, the WRX is by far and away the most fun to drive around town. But because of the grip and little turbo i find myself going 30+ over way too easy. Get a car you can learn to drive in that wont get u wrapped around a tree or in jail. Master that then up the level of car. PS power level is actually closer to 280ish...
-Kyle

 

We know from our own experience that when we were 16 and how reckless we drove. Personally I am lucky I am alive for the stupid things I did in a car, my first car was a 90hp 4 banger that got 45mpg, thus it was very difficult to get to high speeds. The main thing is I had very little idea of car control and what the car could handle around corners and bends until I lost control a few times.

When I was 25 and started making good money I got a new vette which I was still very immature and reckless, but had much better car control.
Now that I am a little older, married w/children, and with much more powerful cars, I have SAFE fun with my cars.

Whatever you do, just be careful.
There is a reason why so many of us replied saying that this is a bad and dangerous idea.

 

Please, don't do it...and this is coming from a die-hard Subaru fan. Like many others have said, this is a recipe for disaster. I'm in my mid-20s now, and already had 2 major accidents. The first one, SURPRISE SURPRISE, was at 16.5 years old in an Audi A6 2.7T (parents' car//relatively new at the time). With AWD and German Engineering, I thought I was invincible, even on a flooded street...boy, was I wrong. Hydroplaned in ~4" deep water run-off on the curb-side during a crazy rain storm, smacked into said curb, and basically ripped off the front bumper w/ parts and one rim. Airbags deployed, etc. Second accident happened in my '07 STi Limited a little over a year ago. Some d-bag in an Infiniti M was tailgating me on a freeway interchange because he probably thought I was challenging him/driving enthusiastically in the rain/cut him off/etc. Whatever the reason, I stupidly took the bait. Well, I ended hydroplaning AGAIN, hit the dirt, rolled the car onto the merging freeway, and ended up UPSIDE DOWN. Since it was late and raining really hard, there weren't many cars so I was VERY lucky that I didn't roll onto someone or that somebody didn't ram into me...I WOULD HAVE BEEN CRIPPLED OR DEAD. Instead, I walked away with a very sore neck and vertigo.

I know what you're thinking: "This guy BLOWS at driving, and it will never happen to me." To counter that, I propose, then, why all of us have similar stories? If you want my advise, buy a '11/'12 VW Golf 2.5 or '12 Ford Focus if you're into hatchbacks. I'm assuming since you're looking at brand new cars that your family doesn't want to buy used, and that's understandable...my family is the same way: never used. These both have manual options and are a great first manual car w/ "enough" power.

I'll leave you with this link: http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...-5-killed.html
If you take the time to read through it, the members on there actually found the teenager's M5Board username ...very tragic

 

It's almost 3 months later... I wonder what the OP plans to do.

 

I REALLY hope he didn't end up like that M5 teenager...