In a straight line it is, but not around corners. My first one was 100% stock (facelift) and was pretty awful handling and composure wise. Much less poised than the CTR, more roll, more understeer etc. My current one has 40MM lowering springs a solid front brace and it is much better than my old one but still not brilliant to be honest. It doesn't roll around but the understeer can be unpredictable and there isn't much steering feel.
mine was an 02 plate, but i didnt find the handling that bad considering reviews state it wasnt as sporty to drive as it shouldve been and mine was completely stock, was too expensive to run to mod it lol, off public road i could take bends at 80 plus perfectly compared to other cars i had, okay i was very addicted to lift as ive never driven a car like it, so the speed/overtaking/sound was great fun even with a fully loaded car of flat pack furniture, but still fun on the handling side for me, i had mine for almost 2yrs, but idle control value problems, cooling problems, brake balance issues, exhaust tip falling off(seems common ive noticed lol) just cost too much so i had to sell it, mine wasnt the best of examples i found out shortly after buying it. did manage 350miles to a full tank of steady driving ha which i thought was good. it was good to have people think it was a basic corolla with alloys and a spoiler untill i hit lift, just a shame about the costs.
everyone has their own preference on what they think is a good fun car, ive had fun in a 1.8 125hp mondeo saloon, but ive had a mix batch, had an early 1.8 MGF, had a 01 fiesta zetec S that was puma powered and had upgraded suspension, those were fun cars, but when your like me who goes from a t sport to 2 x 1ltr cars to a 1.4hdi now my 1.6 pug you always manage to find that fun factor.
anyways, there are a lot of underrated cars out there, some probably shouldnt even be upgraded, like the metro gti or the renault 5 turbo, never got to own one, but they were great cars in their day and quicker/more fun than you wouldve thought, just like the nova.