Which is a better car?

Neither one is a performance car. You want to go fast, start with something fast, that's rear-wheel drive. The Scion is a low 16-high 15 second car. The RSX is a mid-high 14 second car (1/4 mile times) stock. The RSX is a much better car overall, that's why it has a price tag that's $12,000 higher (new). Also, there is far more available for an RSX Type-S engine than the Scion engine. Toyota should have kept the old Celica GT-S, 180hp 1.8L VVTi, was 10x the car the tC is.