Bored of my car, cheap hot hatch wanted! Ideas?

[georgeince]

So I'm bored of my car.... pretty normal for us lot?

I've gone from a first car of Peugeot 306 GLX which had the 1.9 TD which was written off (not by me) which I adored and into an E46 BMW 318Ci and after a year and half of ownership I'm bored, yeah I'm not surprised I'm bored either..., so I'm looking for a new car. Ideally a hot hatch which will match or exceed the bimmer in pace.

The tricky part is insurance and budget; I don't want to spend more than a few hundred quid on top of the value of the bimmer so probably around £2,500 given it has 130k miles and is a '54 plate. The insurance part is a 20yr old guy with 2yrs no claims. I'm looking into Cooper S, Panda 100bhp, Fiesta ST and anything which ends in GTI, ST or RS, punching I know but any ideas? Any help would be appreciated!

[DKS]

When I was looking for (relatively rare) my Astra SRi 200+ I noticed the Cooper Ss were quite good value. Under £3k would get a sub-100k car in good nick. I think they're under 7 secs to 60 and known for handling. And weak gearboxes, but no car's perfect eh?

[DS197]

Clio 172/182 or BMW 325 ti

[MDMA .]

Clio Williams on a classic policy. Edit- just seen budget, may struggle with a Williams. How about a lupo gti

Edited by MDMA . on Sunday 7th February 21:31

[jayemm89]

Clio 182
Golf GTI Mk4 (not universally loved)
MG ZR 160
BMW 325ti

[georgeince]

jayemm89 said:

Clio 182
Golf GTI Mk4 (not universally loved)
MG ZR 160
BMW 325ti

Clio is def worth a look (Williams I wish!)
Sadly I'm in the group who don't love the mk4
MG ZR 160 could be worth a look I looked at them a while ago to replace the 306 but insurance counted it out, probably worth another look!
BMW 325ti not a huge fan of the look of them really and after running my bimmer could hurt on the running costs.

[s m]

DKS said:

When I was looking for (relatively rare) my Astra SRi 200+ I noticed the Cooper Ss were quite good value. Under £3k would get a sub-100k car in good nick. I think they're under 7 secs to 60 and known for handling. And weak gearboxes, but no car's perfect eh?

I think the 6-speeders are Ok - certainly had no issues with mine in 8 years.

[Slow]

Why not just get a slightly older e46 but with the 3l engine if you like the rest of it?

[Jimmy Recard]

DKS said:

When I was looking for (relatively rare) my Astra SRi 200+ I noticed the Cooper Ss were quite good value. Under £3k would get a sub-100k car in good nick. I think they're under 7 secs to 60 and known for handling. And weak gearboxes, but no car's perfect eh?

I've just got one of those for very little money. A surprisingly nice car!

[georgeince]

Slow said:

Why not just get a slightly older e46 but with the 3l engine if you like the rest of it?

Unfortunately I paid £2400 for mine and ended up having to put in another £600 or so to fix everything which needed doing like tyres brakes disks shocks and I can't afford to do that again

[Matt600]

Could get a very nice 306 GTi-6 for that money!

[moebiusuk]

georgeince said:

Unfortunately I paid £2400 for mine and ended up having to put in another £600 or so to fix everything which needed doing like tyres brakes disks shocks and I can't afford to do that again

You're discounting the 330i/ci based one used car experience.

How about the usual MX5 or Civic Type R?

[georgeince]

That's true I should probably reconsider it, at least I know what I'm looking at now! I was looking at the 306's again for sure just need to find one in decent condition with not huge mileage. Mx-5 maybe but I spend too much time calling my friend a hairdresser and I'm not sure I can eat my words and take that back... 🤔, civics I'm not a fan of the look of them really, prefer something a little less typical boy racer..?

[Pebbles167]

206 gti 180 isn't nearly as bad as everyone says. Fun car. But because everyone does say that, they are incredibly cheap for the age, condition and mileage.

[georgeince]

My issue with the 206 is that I just find them terribly ugly :/

[DS197]

Pebbles167 said:

206 gti 180 isn't nearly as bad as everyone says. Fun car. But because everyone does say that, they are incredibly cheap for the age, condition and mileage.

+1. Forgot about these. They look great when lowered with a set of masked headlights and rear led lights.

[Slow]

georgeince said:

Slow said:

Why not just get a slightly older e46 but with the 3l engine if you like the rest of it?

Unfortunately I paid £2400 for mine and ended up having to put in another £600 or so to fix everything which needed doing like tyres brakes disks shocks and I can't afford to do that again

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-330Ci-M-SPORT-COUPE-E46-/262278747519?hash=item3d1108157f:g:OP8AAOSwpzdWtfZY

Without viewing you dont know if they need £600 thrown at them.

[georgeince]

Now that 330 is actually quite local to me.... O.o but then comes the insurance.... :S

[anonymous-user]

I had a remapped ibiza 1.8t, around 200bhp, they are fun cars and great on boost. Might even get a cupra in petrol or diesel for toubudget, check out seat forum.

Also never hsd one but smartfour brabus or colt ctz turbo are worth a look, very light and fast.

[Patrick Bateman]

If you find a Clio 182 make sure it's not due a cambelt change for a while.