Playing devils advocate, for Wizard, the devil in this case. The Evo's do have lag the higher up the power spec range of cars you go. You have to make sure its dropped into lower gears to shift the bugger along, hence the gear shifting comments. The chef in the pub next door (White Horse, Wasso, you know, the place with cheap beer ) had an older Evo which was tuned up a fair bit and he hated it, took me for a spin in it and it seemed a bloody faff to drive. With a Zed you do get all that great lazy power.
The Zed I found was disappointing when I first got it, but with the berks, exhaust etc and up rev became a whole different beast that felt very quick.
Once the current crisis is sorted at the coldel household I plan on getting another toy. Would I get a four seater hatch, even though the Focus ST or Evo for instance is loads of fun and powerful? Not in a million years. I got a Focus, and its for ferrying the family around in. Two seats and a sports car look all the way for me