I was at this delima one time. V6 or I4? I think your future plans have to be with what is your plan for the car. I mean do you want to mod the crap out of it and go fast or do you want to get the family to the grocery store in some style without being punked by ever ricer that goes by. I personally chose the V6 with the big slush box over the I4. The thrust to weight ratio is about the same when you measure it down to a fully modded v6 and a fully modded i4. You'll just have more money in it with the i4. I'd look at the market for perfomance parts to see what I'd buy. Check out comptech's dyno runs.

My vote would be for the V6 auto.