But I doubt I'd class the (circa 1850kg) Kuga PHEV as nimble!. I believe they mustered 225bhp originally or 243bhp now (presumably a facelift),.......

For a heavy car to be nimble on a twisty hilly road, it needs lots of power and four wheel drive to use it. This electro-mechanical lump has neither. Astonishingly, it is only two obese passengers short of the quoted kerb weight of my heavy, but very nimble, Audi A8 (2035Kg - 4WD -450hp).

Maybe I'm weird but try a little EV a Fiat500e. Absolute hoot, little go kart. Bags of get up n go.

I've just signed up for an MG4 coming end of the year ( factory order). Just done a test drive but that was pretty nimble too, despite being 1.7t.

It's because the C of G is so low on an EV. Eats up the battery though.

I remember cars from the late 1990s being fun to drive. That thrill seems to be missing these days. Getting into a car feels for a journey, feels more like a chore than something enjoyable.

Interesting - I've found the opposite. I bought my Swace which uses gen 5 Toyota HEV (not PHEV) gubbins and wasn't expecting to find it "fun". You know what on twisty roads up and down hills it really puts a smile on your face. Even though it has a good ride the handing is surprisingly good and that's before the slingshot exiting a corner where petrol power combines with electric as you power out of the corner. It might be because it's a low car though with a low centre of gravity. In this car the hybrid batteries are located under the back seat - obviously much smaller than for a PHEV.

In 1996 I can't remember my 1990 1.6td Passat Estate being fun although I had a 1989 1.3 Astra for a while and yes I suppose that was ok. The last Escort produced wasn't fun at all but the first version of the Ford Focus was.

I think you're right. Possibly because automatic gearboxes are now good. You used to have the choice of an auto that was incredibly slow or a manual that meant you had to have a hand free for changing gear. These days, you can hold on with both hands, point and fire.

Our little twingo (manual) is a great laugh too, though. I suppose pretty much everything having turbos or electric assistance has made it more fun.

I owned 2 Golf GTi Mk2 1.8 8 valves from 1986 to 1986. During those 10 years I covered about 160,000 miles and I enjoyed every one of them. 185 60 14 tyres and 112 bhp, seems puny compared to the willey waving number manufacturers insist we need in todays GTi's. Kerb weight was quoted as 960 kg. On the roads you could enjoy the performance with no cameras to worry about, just the occasional bobby with a speed gun lurking in a bush to be aware of.

Then in 2018 the wife got a Fabia 1.0 TSi 110 PS. Pretty much the same size as the Mk2 Golf, very close on power but it weighed more, 1055 kg according to the price list. But what it did have was 148 torques at 1900 to 3500 rpm instead of the 112 torques at 4000 rpm in the Golf. It also had 45 profile tyres which never make any car better IMHO.

Like Golf the Fabia was a hoot to drive, keep the revs above 2000 and no turbo lag and power all the way to the red line, brilliant.

The Fabia also averaged about 48 mpg over the almost 6 years we had it, never recorded the figures for the Golf but doubt if they were any better than the low 30's.

Both very enjoyable cars in which you could exploit the performance safely.

To me enjoyable driving is effortless comfortable insulated driving at any speed on any and every surface, with adequate easy power on tap good all round visibility (that alone rules 90% of moderns out) and without any inferfering nannying from the vehicle.