I went through this stage of questioning a month ago when choosing my new car. So here's my experience and words of wisdom...
When I first started shopping around in May '05, all I knew was I wanted turbo power that I could mod, and that I'd loved Skylines since I was 13, so naturally I went straight to the GTRs, The Shit of the Skyline family. I test drove a range of R32 GTRs and GTS-Ts, but the GTRs were a little out of my price range at $22,000 and for their age, I wouldn't settle for less than a GTR.
I also drove a few R33 GTS-Ts and they were great, definitely loved the comfortability and mmm, the 6-cyl turbo power But of course, when it came to actual driving, they handled like the big car they are and that turned me off a bit, since I was used to smaller-sized vehicles and the way they handle. Not necessarily a fault of the Skyline, it's just my past experiences and current needs/comfort levels coming through... quite the contrary, I love the bigger size of them, aesthetically speaking.
Getting a bit disappointed with the quality of the cars I was test-driving (private sales, didn't want to go dealership or import if I didn't have to), my mate eventually convinced me to have a drive of a 1996 S14 series 1 200SX. Now, I had looked at them on carsales and tended to avoid them, thinking they were more rice than race, so I was hesitant about meeting up with a guy for a drive. I wasn't exactly fond of the body shape on first glance, it looked pretty Camry-like, as people have already posted, (although the sleeker, bullet-shape did snag me) and I was definitely still in love with the fat-ass of the Skyline, how low it sits and fat it looks on the road...
...but after the first test drive I was hooked; the handling was very responsive, the driver seat was comfortable (I love the "cockpit" feel), hitting boost in the lighter car felt awesome, it just zoomed along with almost no effort. It handled better than I ever thought it would, and there was more power than I imagined for a 2.0L 4-cyl engine. There are many more pro's to it that I am personally attracted to, such as the fuel economy of the 4-cyl as opposed to the larger 6-cyl, the relative cheapness of mods, and the look once decent body work is done
I'm also after looks and some mild-power from my S14, around the 225rwkw area, which that can be achieved with mild-mods (exhaust, injectors, EBC, ECU, fuel pump, pod filter, etc, but too much more power and you'll be wanting to mess with SR20 internals... $$$).
So I bought it. And I love it. Sometimes I see a Skyline on the road and feel a bit guilty for admiring that sexy whale and also for betraying my first love, but when I'm cruising down the highway, hugging tight Kiama corners, or rolling through a parking lot and get some glances to see what it is, I know I made the right choice.
That said, it's most important you choose what car to buy based on your experiences and tastes. Test drive them all, and then some!; put each car through it's paces. Think about what you want in it and see which car has those things. Do you like the body shape? Does it handle as well as you expected, is it as responsive as a sports car should be? Does the size of the car matter?-- city driving/parking/overall feel? What about age of the car?-- you'll notice the difference between the interior of a '91 R32, '93 s1 R33 and a '96 s1 S14 (I know which I prefer!). And safety-- R32/s1 R33 without airbags, or s1 S14 with driver and passenger airbags? Will you be putting mates in it on a regular basis?-- Skyline has considerably roomier rear seating. And how tall are you?--not much headroom in the S14, although at 6'2 I fit rather snug.
You said it'll be a daily driver, no track use, but will you still mod it? Research costs of owning (insurance?), running (fuel costs?) and maintaining (services?) each car. No doubt you'll be wanting to give it a run down the highway once in a while, just to, y'know, make sure it's all in working sports-car order.
But most importantly, pick the one you feel comfortable driving, especially if you'll be driving it a while