Re: So what is it like?
Bloody excellent, in summary. Not overly powerful, at 197bhp, but in a 1.2 tonne car that's quite brisk enough - it'll romp up to illegal speeds in a wonderfully frenetic way when asked. However, because it doesn't have a stupidly powerful 5l V8, it makes a practical everyday car as well. Oh, talking of practicality, I discovered the other day that you can fit a pushbike in the boot with the rear "seats" folded down. Wasn't expecting that.
But what you buy it for is the handling. And boy, does it handle. Any corner, any speed, the steering is wonderfully quick and precise, the centre of gravity is lower than a snake's belly, and the driver aids are nicely unobtrusive so that you can slide it around without ever being in serious danger.
If you do get a test drive, make sure you try the paddle-shift semi-auto. The manual gearbox would be great on the track, but on the road it's horrible, you're always searching for the right gear and never quite finding it. The auto box has a much better spread of ratios, and the manual over-ride stops all the most hateful issues of an auto box in a sports car.
Overall? Buy one, immediately.
GJC