Well it is fast and it rates up there with most of the other hot hatches you can get.

The handling really sets this car apart from others as I have just found out in the last 10 minutes.

Was in the overtaking lane on the dual carrigeway, went past 3 lorrys and was nearing 75 in 3rd. I needed to take a slip road off so I quickly pulled left across 2 lanes to be in the sliproad thinking, Right, 75 mph, sharp bend coming up, oh dear. Braked hard, car was squirming under heavy braking and slight left hand bend. got down to about 45mph and went round a 90 deg left bend with ease.
Parked in the car park, got out and said what were you all worried about?

0 - 60 in 7.9 seconds
Top speed - 130-140 mph

What people mean is it could be faster for a 2.0.

But, the bottom line, if you have driven a Scooby or Civic Type R, its going to feel slower. If you have driven a 1.2 - 1.6 Fiesta or similar it does feel fast.

Just take it for a test drive and decide yourself. Reading reviews is only part of the car choosing process, until you drive it, you can't fully make a decision.