HOT HATCHES are amazing now. But.
Discussion
CampDavid said:
TREMAiNE said:
Clio Trophy, shirley?
Over a Wildcat or an FF? Are you on crack?Cheap and disposable so you're not going to worry about crashing, getting parking dinks.
Cheap to run and repair.
Fun.
Harry Metcalfe did a video on it not too long ago - shows it in all its glory!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTTI-aMKn60
I allways wanted a Lotus Sunbeam.
The grippiest hatch i owned was White Metro Turbo , the most fun was a Citreon AX Gt , the fastest was the Astra 16 valve..until my Civic type r came along.
I allways thought the 205 gti possibly the greatest , in the purest form as a 1.6 non sunroof version.
But i still love my EP3 Type R as a great all rounder.
The grippiest hatch i owned was White Metro Turbo , the most fun was a Citreon AX Gt , the fastest was the Astra 16 valve..until my Civic type r came along.
I allways thought the 205 gti possibly the greatest , in the purest form as a 1.6 non sunroof version.
But i still love my EP3 Type R as a great all rounder.
I've had many over the years. None of the 80' crop would stand up to todays in raw times but would beat them hands down in steering feel etc.
If I could have one back, the one I regret selling the most, it would be the '89 MG maestro turbo I bought with 32k and no mods. Absolutely cracking car.
If I could have one back, the one I regret selling the most, it would be the '89 MG maestro turbo I bought with 32k and no mods. Absolutely cracking car.
Edited by irish boy on Wednesday 23 July 11:22
thiscocks said:
Kitchski said:
I've driven more than I can remember, but the ones that stand out as being good/great are...
Certainly an impressive previously owned garage! I have always been tempted with a ZS 180 but cant quite make myself like the styling enough- although they are bloody good value for what is a pretty sorted saloon with a 2,5 v6.How do you compare the BX 16v engine with the ZX 16v one? I have only briefly driven the 306gti but the ZX16v seems much more mid-range focused. Very smooth power and torque but doesn't really ask to be revved.
BX 16v engine is more aggressive than the ZX 16v lump. Like you say, that was more mid-range focused (it had some daft vacuum-operated secondary flap manifold thing....was pretty rubbish) whereas the BX 16v lump is just big valves in the head and long tracts in the intake. It's much more peaky (even with the long inlet tracts) and doesn't wake up until 4500rpm, which is right about the time the ZX 16v's lump is going to sleep.
The engine in the GTi-6 is the best all rounder, because it manages to match the mid-range of the ZX lump, with most of the peaky-high revving nature of the BX. The did do a ZX 16v with the GTi-6 engine fitted; it was called the Dakar, had Xsara VTS alloy wheels and different trim inside. 6.8secs to 60mph was the book time. Would have been great, but we never got it over here.
Had we had the Dakar or the 309 GTi 16, I suspect I'd be plumping for one of those, but sadly I've never had a go in one!
irish boy said:
I've had many over the years. None of the 80' crop would rand up to todays in raw times but would beat them hands down in steering feel etc.
If I could have one back, the one I regret selling the most, it would be the '89 MG maestro turbo I bought with 32k and no mods. Absolutely cracking car.
Agree, for me something about the hot hatch that I always liked has been the fact that the power isn't ridiculous, or a massive engine shoved into a small car, but nimble, lightweight with good steering feel and response. Some of these power figures are ridiculous when you think a Suzuki Swift can be more fun.If I could have one back, the one I regret selling the most, it would be the '89 MG maestro turbo I bought with 32k and no mods. Absolutely cracking car.
pad58 said:
ging84 said:
are you talking about the best performance outright, or best performance for the money, there are a generation of 300hp+ hot hatches now which sort of make comparisons to anything else fairly pointless.
But at £30k+ the cars themselves seem fair pointless as part of the appeal of a hot hatch in the past has been the affordability.
Absolutely right. But at £30k+ the cars themselves seem fair pointless as part of the appeal of a hot hatch in the past has been the affordability.
ETA: This may be useful, it allows you to see the value of a certain amount in different years http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1...
Edited by blprice1 on Wednesday 23 July 10:34
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