I've owned a 156 & a 147, both with Selespeed gearboxes. I liked them both a lot, but for different reasons. The 156 was leagues ahead of my previous 155 in terms of build quality, but being the brand new selespeed it had all of the initial faults with the gearbox. Something like 5 visits to the dealer in the first 6 months from gear selection failure - not funny when you're driving along a busy dual carriageway! The 156 was a very useable family car which carried all of our baby stuff at the time with ease. Did several trips abroad and aside from the gearbox issues early on it never missed a beat. The 147 was bought as an interim car between my Range Rover and 3200, I only kept it for around 10 months. It was also a really enjoyable car which was dirt cheap for such a well-specced car. I was amazed to find the build quality had moved on again and couldn't believe how well it handled. My wife had an Impreza at the time and I honestly believe the 147s handling wasn't that different.
Now I have the GT which I wasn't very excited about buying, but after 6 weeks or so of ownership I've really grown to like it and enjoy driving it. Yes, it's a diesel, but on the move you really wouldn't notice from the sporty sound inside. Now the geometry's been addressed, the new tyres are bedded in and the tuning has woken a few things up it's actually really fun to drive. 45mpg is optimistic, but have been achieving around 37, even with some spirited driving!
Now I have the GT which I wasn't very excited about buying, but after 6 weeks or so of ownership I've really grown to like it and enjoy driving it. Yes, it's a diesel, but on the move you really wouldn't notice from the sporty sound inside. Now the geometry's been addressed, the new tyres are bedded in and the tuning has woken a few things up it's actually really fun to drive. 45mpg is optimistic, but have been achieving around 37, even with some spirited driving!