If you were looking a hot hatch...**Decision made!...Finally!**
Turbo Mini Forums

Actually, it's not too bad in that pic. Hmm...

my mate works at a volvo garage and has one of these- i really like them

they do this optional body kit-the car was beige and the kit was obergine!!!!it looked incredible

Leon gets my vote, hate the new civics, they look like people carriers!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fusion-Fabri..._homepage_panel

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

i may be old before my time, but when it comes to hot hatch i pretty much rule out anything built after mid 90's.

Anything much later than this and the cars just got bigger and bigger but were still classed as hot hatches

personal faves have to clio 16v/williams, 205 gti, and r5 turbo

they still give the new stuff a good run for its money too

i guess most people like a new car to run round in which counts out older cars

if i had to pick out your list, then it would be a bmw cooper 's'

happy shopping

:)

save yourself 5K and get a Clio 182 Trophy :)

...and a short time to get there!!!!

A C30 is a very nice car. If not, the new Fiat Punto Abarth is my first choice :)

www.shag.no

Right well after throwing the Mazda MPS and Leon out of the eqation for both being a 5 door (shame as I like the leon!), the Volvo went as it gets pricy when you actually want paint on all of the car (why do most car manufacturers leave grey/black plastic around the arches and bumpers?!), the VXR was a bit Chavesque, the ST isn't not so nice to look at, the Brera... well who would spend £27K on something thats probably made from bits of chewing gum and sticks (or something equally robust) it looks like the Type R has won through. I must say it's nice and sharp looking in the flesh and inside it nice. There is a 2 month waiting list (at least) but hey I'm just glad she came to a decision! Nothing actually bought yet but maybe soon.

Any sister pictures yet?

shame I would have gone for the volvo..same 2.5 liter as in the focus ST but less noisy and just as fast.

and a type R just does not make much sense if you're uncomfortable revving an engine

Edited by Sir Yun on 7th Apr, 2007.

That sir, is not rust, it is the progressive mass reduction system

http://aseriesmodifications.wordpress.com/

One word ....

Golf?

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

No that was never in the running for some reason, can't remember why. I think she thinks it's a bit common.

Common because it's the best hot hatch out there and has been since 1979 perhaps?

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

Well in my experience people fall into two catorgories when VW Gti's are concerned ..... those people who can drive like them .......... and then there are the useless dumb asses that don't!!! LOL

Just my opinion but I am entitled to it.

I have driven at least and owned most of the so call opposition and can honestly say the only ones I have any time for are the Civic Type Rs, the very latest Astras and the late 80s early 90s Corrola Gti.

IMHO the escorts were to floaty and drank fuel like it was going out of fashion,
the Focus so uncomfortable I can't spend ore than an hour in so impractical,
earlier Astra where just totally out of balance and too soft to throw with confidence,
the only thing that stops the 205 being right at the top of my most hated list is the 206 built badly, tiring to drive due to the noise and skitishness of the 205 and the 206 feels like every joint in the mechaniscals are made of jelly,
the Fiats never ran long enough to be a contender,
Renaults have always steadily fallen apart from the day they leave the factory and parts are stupid prices,
Apart from the two mentioned the Jap cars have always been duller than watching paint grow
.
.
.
.
all that leaves the VW stable.

My golfs have always given me high 30s for avereage MPG, lasted years without troubles, parts are cheap and working on them is a breeze. handling wise they will live with just about anything no mater how bumpy the surface gets but I will be the first to admit that the brakes on Mk1s left something to be desired.
If there is a better handling, more refined FWD chassis in production than the current MK5 Golf and it's variants then it must be a very closely guarded secret!!!!

At the end of the day car choice is a personal thing. Most of the pretenders to the Golfs crown have tried to hard and failed on one of the atributes where the Golf has consistently managed to be a jack of all trades and a master of most. To my mind a hot hatch has to be a blast to drive when the mood takes but as refined as a big saloon the rest of the time, capable of good pace when desired but give excellent MPG when driven to work or the shops.

I believe the "hot hatch" is the hardest car to get right in a range as it HAS to be all things to all people as those purely interested in performance will buy an Elise or similar, those purely on practicallity with buy a small engined run around, those wanting only refinement will buy a big saloon.

Edited by RogerM on 9th Apr, 2007.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

Make sure you have a good test drive of the type R. I drove one from Norfolk to Wilstshire last week - very underwhelming, the ride is horrible, like a chaved up xr3 on 1000lb/in springs- cornering was good - on billiard table smooth surfaces! engine was a dissapointment - no torque and didn't feel like 200bhp as the car is so heavy. Seats really comfy, nice interior, good gearchange and thats about it!

JK

If Carling made Mini engines
it would probably be like this one!

The Mk3 was a little flabby and softer to drive than the Mk2 but then again what else would you have had at the time?

The trouble was that the Mk3, like many others, came out just as emission and crash / safety regs tightened up significantly. Like most other new releases at that time the car got heavier to cope and the emissions guff prevented a healthy torque increase.

To be fair the Mk3 was murdered by the press and like sheep most peoples view followed what was writen rather than go and work it out for themselves.

The 2l 8v engine produced enough to get the car along but I admit it asn't really GTi material.
The 16v engine though was still very lively and the cars performance figures were up there with the rest of that generations ..... a couple of manufactures got lucky buy putting their stuff out before the regs came into force and gained a small advantage for a couple of years but the rush to get them to the market showed up with the problems the cars had at a couple of years old.

The handling of the Mk3, with it's wider track than Mk2, was on a par with anything to come out of France or Japan and the more compliant ride might have not shaken your teeth like previous Golf GTi's over nasty surfaces but that was a good thing for the traffic jam generation that bought the car!

It's all things relative .... did the MK3 loose out to the competitors? Not really as it sold really well and the number of cars still out there in good condition show how well it was built compared to many.

Not that it's important but to my eyes it's also the prettiest of all hot hatches, the shape is just so right. Again a personal preference.

Whould I have another Mk3 GTi, yes I would.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

You see my sis aint a driver, she likes the look of things first and potentially things that count to us (handling, performance etc) come way down the list (typical of most girls really). Golf doesn't tickle her fancy, neither the Astra when she saw it up close but she likes the Civic so that's the first hurdle over.

The test drive is the next big step. Her current Alpha has an awful pattery ride that knocks the wind out of you and it gets 34 mpg (it's a 1.6!) so if she can stick that she'll get on with the Civic fine. As far as the low down limp wristedness of the Civic is concerned, I don't think she'll notice, as long as the power is there when you drop down a few gears (quite a few!) for overtaking etc. I would rather have her in something torquey but hey it's her call. If she likes the test drive then grand, if not it's back to the drawing board.

Sorry to slightly hijack this, but

Roger- I have no experience of the lastest golf, but after the mk2 i wouldnt call any golf a hot hatch, more of a comfortable cruiser

They are all lardy things which could do better in the power and handling stakes

Ive now fallen in love with my clio and in its defence it will run rings around any stock mk4 golf gti (n/a, 20v turbo, aniversary), it out handles them and is much quicker

(sentance removed due to me being a dick)

The mk1 and 2 made the name, its like those boys that were at school who had a 'hard' older brother and so gained the reputation but never did anything to prove it

Please note i havent included the r32 in this

Edited by Nic on 10th Apr, 2007.

agree with roger on this, have always been a golf fan. Yes, the new clios are fairly entertaining, and the 205 was a cracking little car, but they have such shitty build quality. A well sorted 205 is a car i'd like to borrow rather than to own. My mate had one and the quality of it was shocking.

Agree about the lardyness of the mk4 (i have one) but it's better than a lot of new cars. Can't be brilliant handling and comfy on long journeys.

As for people without a great knowledge of cars liking golfs... not sure i agree with that. I would say people lacking in knowledge of cars typically buy french. (yes i know tomf is in to pugs, but has a german car for everyday....) Choosing a car can be a gamble, and getting a golf is a pretty safe bet.

actually yes you may be right there ric, i wrote it in a bad mood, apologogies to all

im just thinking of a fool i know, infact thinking about it every car has that problem

oops