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your requirements interestingly resemble those of mine so closely
1. mainly transport, but want something special and want one car that will be for transport, travel, autocross, and track
2. absolutely need my golf clubs and couple of my friends', absolutely need to fit my guitars as I play/carry around every week
3. fit people, family and friends for sure because I love to travel by car, I need room to accommodate that
I ended up with a E90 6MT and have been so happy to own/drive,
but for your case, let me share some of my thoughts
When I was shopping, I test drove several cars around that price/performance/class.
C63
great power, amazing sound. But was out of choice in the beginning because one of my requirement was 6MT. 7-AT on C63 was so boring. After driving my friend's C63 sedan several times, I was bored of just straight line speed. Plus, i don't know what his driving habit was like, but he kept changing tire every 4 months (he DDed his car, never tracked)
S4
Probably recommend you if you want something other than M3. I test drove 2012
and recently went to see the 2013 (facelifted), I like it. It's got enough room and trunk space, I like the 6MT shifter feel (actually like it better then the M3 one), I like the responsiveness of 3.0T, and can easily track it if I needed to.
Good gas mileage is big +, quattro is big + in NJ/NY area.
Car was not special enough than the M3, physically and emotionally.
Yet the S4 was probably my no.2 candidate before I ended up with the E90.
S5
similar to S4, but like me who loves sedan, S4 beats S5 (although S5 looks amazing)
One thing I want to point out was the HUGE S4/S5 seats Audi offer to US models. Jesus they are huge and take up so much space. They are not even comfortable than the M3 ones.
GTR
out of your equation. Trunk space is tight, I wonder if it will even fit a acoustic guitar hard case. Interior quality? 0
IS-F
'm sure it runs good with the yamaha tuned V8, but having IS250 as a family DD car, IS-F is just so similar to IS250 to my eyes. 8-AT is disappointment to today's standard. It was a good try by Lexus, and am sure the second gen IS-F will be amazingly good and totally different from the "mild" first gen IS-F.
CTS-V
never test drove one, never was interested, but I am recently very interested in GM's quality and development. I am even amazed by driving the most recent Chevy Malibu. Their quality has definitely been enhanced. With a solid powertrain, CTS-V sounds pretty interesting. 6MT + RWD fits your requirement.
Final: If I was in the same situation, I would look at some nicely maintained CPO E90 6MT sedan. Also, I would testdrive the S4 6MT. Whynot CTS-V.
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