Insight for a new car perhaps?

Hey ya'll i'm new to the forums, so I'll introduce myself. My names Will and I'm 17. I don't have a mustang yet but I'm looking at either an 05-06 V6 mustang or an 04-05 Mazda RX-8, both manual. I've been saving up money for a while so I think it's about time to get a ride. My parents don't want me getting a V8 for insurance reasons and gas prices the way they are so I was wondering if the V6 is still a peppy car. I know it has less hp than the RX-8(Mazda has 238 hp) but it has about 90 more ft/lbs of torque. Has anyone had any experience in both? Hows the handling in the base model mustangs? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the replies. How is the manual transmission on the mustang? I haven't had much experience in different cars, but I did a skip barber racing school in RX-8s and I liked the shifter on that.