[Grobbo]

I had a Swift Sport for a while and man that thing used to put a smile on my face. I love RWD more than anything but a decent hot hatch can still be epic fun - especially when you can move the tail around a bit. The ST is WAY better than the Swift Sport too.

However, hot hatches really do encourage you to cane it everywhere - they're actually more of a hoon car than a V8. At least in a V8 you can sit back and cruise a bit and still enjoy the ride...

One thing I will say in favour of the Fiesta tho - it's small enough to chuck around and have some fun at sane speeds, once the FWD hatches get a bit bigger - ie Renault Megane 265, Focus ST, Astra OPC et al... You really have to be flying through the hills or on a deserted back road to really enjoy them. At anything below 60 km/h they just have too much grunt for the front wheels...