I'll try to answer this as short as possible. I owned my V2 '95 STI GC8 for 2 years and a few months. I bought it straight out of highschool and I knew nothing about mechanics/ engines/ cars - but I had a tremendous interest in them. Also like you, I was a huuuuge fan of them, and when my best friend bought one through an importer I realized the dream was easily a reality so I set my eyes on one shortly after.
They're awesome cars. They're RAW - Powerful - Loud. You'll blast through snow with the biggest uckfaying grin on your face. Everyone you know will think it's cool to drive in it (and people will always go to the wrong side first.)
However; When you're turning left at an intersection and someone across from you is also waiting to turn left - You can't see itshay. You can't see past that car because you're on the right side of the car. You just can't see without pulling far enough forward you'd be hit if someone was coming. So, you pretty much wait until you can see 100% or the light goes yellow..
You can't go through drive-thru's for Timmies. You can't go through the bank drive-thru either for money (this might not be a problem, see the next point).
They're an 15+ year old engine. It's an easy engine to work on, easy to learn things, there's a million resources online to learn things. Parts are somewhat tricky to find. You'll find tons of used parts and you'll buy them hoping they'll fix problems. You'll probably replace MAF (air sensors), sparkplugs, coilpacks, gaskets, seals, (valve cover gasket), fuel sensor, fuel pump, IACV, Camshaft sensor, etc. (I replaced pretty much all of these in my 2 years ownership). Price? I mean, I was making minimum wage at the time I owned that car. So you're constantly putting some money into things to keep it running well.
IMG_2423 by
Spencer, on Flickr