Well, i went for an evo4 because of the looks, if you have that for a budget you will find a very nice 4, dont forget you have to factor in your age how long you have been driving/ no claims bonus or any points etc for insurance which is group 20 the highest you can go,, at the moment there will be good bargains and examples out there, some will have a later interior in as the 4 interior wasnt the best looking, and some will have the brembo upgrade as brembos were only fitted as standard from the e5 onwards, my advice is go if possible and look at as many as possible before settling on 1, not sure where you live, but check autotrader/pistonheads and other forums too..
Mitsubishi Lancer Register is very very good, also the running cost will be high too, with them needding serviced every 4000 miles are so and if something goes wrong, generally parts arent too cheap either, hope this hasnt put you off, good luck with your search and hope i mite have helped!!!