Can a Yaris be Sporty?

[Doowstados]

Hey, I'm a new member. I'm thinking about purchasing a used Yaris hatch, but I have a lot of questions...

My goal for my next car is to get something sporty with good gas mileage, great reliability and under $6,000. Ideally the car will have under 80,000 miles on it. The Yaris fits this bill, as do some other cars.

The reason I'm buying another car is because my current car, a 1991 Toyota Celica, requires quite a bit of upkeep. I recently swapped the engine in it and shortly afterwards had to move to an apartment so I can't take care of the minor issues after the swap (small coolant leak, wiring issues, no A/C, etc) because I don't have a garage. I'll be putting the car in storage until I finish college and need something to get me by until then.

I've been spoiled by the Celica - it was my first car and I've had it for four years. For those of you Toyota fans you know that Celicas, especially older ones, were pretty high end sports cars with great suspensions, awesome handling and all the bells and whistles.

I don't want to feel like I'm driving a big car that bobs everytime you hit a small bump - I like feeling laid back, sitting low to the ground and firmly planted in the seat. I don't speed but I like being able to redline it at lights occasionally just to get going and get thrown back into the chair.

Can a Yaris give me that feeling? What would I need to do, if anything, to get that feeling? The seats don't look very grippy (no support on the sides), I'll probably need to install some aftermarkets buckets or something from another car (maybe a Celica?) How does a short shifter feel in the Yaris? Is the manual mooshy?

Tell me all ya can! Thanks!