Personally the whole reason i bought the car i did was to drive while i learned,learned,learned...then i learned more. so when the money was there i could build a car with my hands and know it inside and out. make it fun and possibly track it later.

I have worked on my own car on different difficulty of jobs and always felt better walking away knowing i didn't just drop it off with my money and be done with it. Ive done a clutch, pulled axles,brakes, and other random stuff that comes along with maintaining a car blah blah...

i'm not so sure you would find a gsr for 8 grand all that easily. i could be wrong.IMO a 92-5 hatch with a b16 would hopefully leave you with a few bucks for some other things if you spend your money well.(assuming prices go your way)

If you are going to build the car yourself(which i feel is more rewarding as previously mentioned in other posts as well) be patient and get a good platform to build off of.Once the car is there its decide whether you go fast first, or look cool first. If you want a fun car right now i think your budget will allow that if you look around for a swapped hatch.good luck