In answer to John's original question of whether it will transform the car or not.... the answer is a resounding YES!
Until you drive a properly sorted Mk3 / 4 escort, you really dont know how bad the standard one is (and you might think its bad at the mo, but when you drive a properly sorted one, you realise its even worse than you thought!!!)
I've had the pleasure of 2 track days at Donington in Tony's RS1600i, and after the 1st time, the thought of tracking my S2 was a a little depressing to say the least as proper handling is what you want!
And like Tony says, the setup is personal preference to how you like it to behave!