The most fun FWD cars?

[hoppo4.2]

The best ones I've had.

106 gti
205gti
Metro gti

Elan m100

Alfa 33 cloverleaf 16v.

[roystinho]

Owned loads and all have their areas in which they excel.

97mini cooper 1.3mpi - loads of fun at whatever speed, but speed was the thing it lacked. Was going to upgrade the engine to something that pumped out 95bhp but then kids...

Clio Trophy (x2) - I think everyone knows how good these cars are. Handling, poise and the fact you can wring its neck and not be overly concerned about losing your license (v things like Meganes etc which are too competent for the road for me)

MINI GP1 - always wants one of these. The supercharger noise is addictive and they have a nice little parp on the overrun. Was good fun but handling wasn't as good as a Trophy and it was so low caught on speed bumps all the time. Ended up selling for another T as thought you got a better drive for half the price, plus can take both kids out

Clio 200 cup - don't think this has been mentioned yet which is surprising. Had the same ability to be able to thrash it and not be going too fast and is more composed than a Trophy. But more fun(?), not for me.

Had a few other things too but nothing comes close to the above. A Megane 225 was a great cruiser, C2 VTS was my first foray into hot hatches but ultimately wasn't great.

So which is the most fun? As per usual the Mrs is the best judge She drives all my cars but reckons the Trophy is the most fun to take out, and I'm inclined to agree. Though if I could have just one final blast in one car I think I'd have to have a go in a classic mini with a bit of poke, a carb engined one or something

[Gtom]

It seems like I have done quite well with fun cars.

Fiat seicento sporting - just enter a corner at any speed (usually not that fast in the first place) and it went round

Rover 25 - it had koni adjustable dampers which helped a lot but with just a 1.4 engine it was good to thrash while staying fairly legal

Clio 172 - it's already all been said

Sportka - thirsty, rusty and rattley but it loved being thrown around, brakes were poor though.

[BuzzBravado]

My personal favourite was the CRX Si-R.

[TWPC]

Fiat Panda 100hp
- can't believe this thread got to P.5 without mentioning it!!

Oldsmobile Toronado? - does anyone have any experience?

I'll add my support for the Ford Ka. I only drove the basic 59hp one, a rental in Norway (!), but it was hilarious.

[300bhp/ton]

TWPC said:

Fiat Panda 100hp
- can't believe this thread got to P.5 without mentioning it!!

Are they really that fun? I know many motoring journo's praise them. But are they 'fun' in the grand scheme of including past masters and used cars?


I drove a Fiat 500 a few years back. The car itself was charming and I liked the interior, it was a happy car, something to make you smile. But it had probably the worst steering of almost any car I'd driven. This massively reduced the fun factor for me. I drove to the dealership in an old Nissan 100NX and was expecting to enjoy the 500 more so. And from a visuals point of view I did, inside and out.

But the actual driving experience was lacking big time. Ok it was more taught. But Nissan's steering felt like it was shouting at you by comparison (and I honestly wouldn't rate the 100NX's steering as great either, just subtantially better).

I thought the 500 had the steering in the city parking mode, but no. I pushed the button and it made it even worse.


For the record, I've also spent sometime commuting in a 1.2 Fiat Punto Sporting. It's pretty much the worst car I've driven and completely devoid of fun or enjoyment.

[HGFdodger]

My stripped out R53 JCW is fun fun fun and pretty capable.

MG ZS' are very well balanced and lot's of fun, especially if you splash out on a Quaife LSD.

[Bradley1500]

Leins said:

Frequently dismissed, but I'm a big fan of the R53 Minis. Supercharger whine is addictive, and the speed these things can carry over B-roads is impressive. Love driving mine

So much this. My dads recently bought one and I prefer it to drive to my Civic Type R, just so much fun and feels so adjustable. I also prefer it to the classic Minis I've driven.

Integra Type R, both generations are massive fun.

Clio 172/182, again huge fun, I'd love to try a Trophy one day.

Almera GTI, as another poster mentioned. Good fun but the one I drove was a bit of a dog so a little scary on the limit, I imagine a decent set of springs and tyres would of transformed that car.

[Timbergiant]

Ford Puma is the one for me, Racing more so, turned up to 11.
Tried to buy a regular 1.7 one recently but bloody thin on the ground, would love to get a Racing again but it would need to be a minter, "brand new in the box" sort of thing but I'd never want to drive it though :/

[darren f]

Another vote for the 205GTi from me (I had 2 in the 80's and 90's). The steering felt so direct and 'go-cart like', only my Caterham has since bettered it in terms of having a feeling of 'direct connection' between steering wheel input and road. The problem with the Pug was, depending on pre turn-in entry speed and driver inputs, you could never quite be sure the back end was going to follow in the same direction . When driving with any enthusiasm I found it was advisable to adopt a subconscious 205GTi mantra of 'don't lift off..., don't lift off'

[brman]

darren f said:

Another vote for the 205GTi from me (I had 2 in the 80's and 90's). The steering felt so direct and 'go-cart like', only my Caterham has since bettered it in terms of having a feeling of 'direct connection' between steering wheel input and road. The problem with the Pug was, depending on pre turn-in entry speed and driver inputs, you could never quite be sure the back end was going to follow in the same direction . When driving with any enthusiasm I found it was advisable to adopt a subconscious 205GTi mantra of 'don't lift off..., don't lift off'

This is the thing that I don't get about the old pugs, everyone raves about their handling but then say lift off and you are doomed. Doesn't sound like good handling to me.......

I found my mk6 fiesta 1.6 great for a cheap, small fwd car. Drive it like a shopping trolley and it behaved like one. Drive it hard and it was loads of fun - nice revving engine, decent brakes (up to road use anyway), good steering feel and just the right compromise between grip and having fun. Oh, and lift off into a corner and it would oversteer but never to the extent it could not be controlled. Lots of fun but never felt it would bite me

[Rangeroverover]

205 GTi 1.9 or even more brilliant because you can have such fun in it due to multilink suspension is the Alfasud 1.5ti, the proper one not the shrunken gtv6 copy coupe thing



The most sporty moment I had with mine was when the right hand cylinder bank had an oil leak which found its way onto the front right inboard disc. Made it dead good at left handers, even if the road remained straight. The other quirk was in the winter while running demister, lights etc etc the lights would dim right down.

They are a hoot to drive, you can have fun while not going to warp speed, the "connected" feeling while braking and cornering never got dull.

[PH5121]

I will always have a soft spot for an old mini, but many years ago my dad had a Volvo 850R. It had terrible brakes and torque steer, that is what made it great fun.

[M1C]

I'm not the first one to mention it...but here's my daily driver...

I think it's good enough to be included in this thread!




BUT...I'm not blinded by what I've got....I'd still say a Ford Puma 1.7 is even better to drive.....(apart from their brakes, agree, they are the weakest point), but handling, steering, gearchange, engine....fantastic combo. Just excellent.

[darren f]

brman said:

This is the thing that I don't get about the old pugs, everyone raves about their handling but then say lift off and you are doomed. Doesn't sound like good handling to me.......

Don't get me wrong, a Pug 205 GTI wasn't a complete psychopath of a car, ready to kill you at the first opportunity, you had to be taking stupid liberties to provoke it (e.g. in my case on one memorable occasion, an entry speed of c.30mph quicker than sensible, with an abrupt lift off). For 99.99% of all driving it would be a neutral as you would like, with little body roll and a genuine go-kart 'point and squirt' feel to it.

Better drivers than I were able to utilise the 'tail happy' nature and get into the 'dark arts' of using the oversteer for better turn-in etc. but not being such a driving god I never voluntarily explored the limit to that extent. Nor would I want to on the public highway, which often makes me wonder how 'lively' a standard set-up 205GTi would have been for track-days? My Pugs were long gone and I was into Scoobys when I started doing TDs (... where I'm sure AWD grip covered up for any talent deficit on my part).

[anonymous-user]

The integra DC2 was, and still is amazing. 205 GTI lot's of fun and is put the AXGT right up there. A well sorted original Minj would still hold its own but the ride was always a bit hard going. My favourite though was the Alfasud. It made a nice noise, had enough power to actually use but not bite. The ride was amazing as was the ability to go from understeer to oversteer quite safely on the throttle. Apart from the brakes which were a right pain to keep set up and the rust...

[masermartin]

steviegunn said:

The ones I've owned or driven that stood out, Peugeot 309 1.9 GTi, Ford Puma 1.7, Nissan Almera GTi.

Did they change the steering weighting/feedback on the Almera GTi over the standard car? I had a non-GTi as a hire car once and it was disgustingly light and devoid of feeling and the car felt so beige.

[jof]

Had enormous fun in a mk1 Golf GTI in my youth, then later a Corrado VR6 which just felt so balanced. It would just grip and grip

[Buff Mchugelarge]

Clio 197 (I owned one) and Fiat Seicento Sporting.. No, seriously.. It was a riot!
106 Rallye too, mostly for that engine tbh

[Robert Elise]

300bhp/ton said:

TWPC said:

Fiat Panda 100hp
- can't believe this thread got to P.5 without mentioning it!!

Are they really that fun? I know many motoring journo's praise them. But are they 'fun' in the grand scheme of including past masters and used cars?


I drove a Fiat 500 a few years back....

For the record, I've also spent sometime commuting in a 1.2 Fiat Punto Sporting. It's pretty much the worst car I've driven and completely devoid of fun or enjoyment.

i do hear good things about the Panda 100 from people i respect (including a track instructor). the 500 is not the same car, i have driven that and agree with you.
I know there share a lot of underpinnings, but there must be substantive differences.