I've had a few belters
My Mk1 Astra was a bit of a bucket, but for a first car was OK.
The one I hated most was a Mondeo.. Mk1 1.8TD LX. Underpowered, handled like a tank. 1st gear was so short as to be almost unusable. Though maybe not far off the Sierra estate I had for a couple of weeks in the next job after that