we (my wife and i) own a 96 g20 and a 2k passat. I love the g20, and although it is often lacking in power (until it gets to about 5500 RPMs!!), it is more fun to drive than the much more luxurious passat.
If I had to replace it, I would choose a wolfsburg jetta with the 1.8 turbo engine (+ traction control), or a used A4 with quattro; but I am a VW/Audi fan... Having said that, if the g20 had AWD and a beefier engine it would certainly catch my attention and might even make me break away from my VW/Audi finaticism!!
Now that I have had the g20 for a year and a half, I have realized that it would have been 100 times better with a manual and the limited slip diff offered with the g20t. I have even though about trying to find one like that and trade in ours!!