Am I the only one that doesn't get interest in hot hatches?
Discussion
danlightbulb said:
Its hatches in general that are the issue for me. I owned a 3 door hatch once, hated it. Impractical for anything. Fed up of having to get out to let people in the back. The reclining seat broke after a few months too. And it isn't a getting old thing because I was young at the time. I have always much preferred large performance saloons and estates, with strong aggressive styling. For similar reasons I have never much liked small sports cars either.
By a 3dr hatch with no rear seats = sorted! 
You, in your Boxster, come up behind a new RS. By the time you've got to the end of the sentence, "why would you buy one of those?", the RS driver will be at home halfway through his dinner.
I once had a 300 horsepower ST. I test drove a Boxster S 3.2 along a road I know extremely well. The journey took so long that I grew a large and fulsome beard during. I was bored to tears come the end. Plus, I had 4 seats, a large boot and, had I been the one to spend the ticket price, a warranty. I'd have none of these with the Porker.
I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree. Not being a fan of a hot hatch is fine. Trying to argue objectively that an average Porsche (or anything else in that class) in average nick is the better bet on outright merit (as opposed to your personal preference) is a battle lost before it has begun.
I once had a 300 horsepower ST. I test drove a Boxster S 3.2 along a road I know extremely well. The journey took so long that I grew a large and fulsome beard during. I was bored to tears come the end. Plus, I had 4 seats, a large boot and, had I been the one to spend the ticket price, a warranty. I'd have none of these with the Porker.
I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree. Not being a fan of a hot hatch is fine. Trying to argue objectively that an average Porsche (or anything else in that class) in average nick is the better bet on outright merit (as opposed to your personal preference) is a battle lost before it has begun.
forzaminardi said:
They don't especially appeal to me, either, but I can understand why others like them. If I needed five doors and a degree of sensibleness, though, it'd be hard to see past a Golf R. Perfect small family car imo.
Small & family are words which just don't go together.I think anyone who has a small car just wants to get out of doing stuff in it. 'Sorry mate, can't help you with that, it won't fit in my boot'. 'Sorry kids, no park today, can't fit the bikes in my boot'. 'Sorry love, can't pop up to B&Q for those new garden plants today because my boot is too small'.
They aren't the ultimate expression of driving purity no but they have a clear appeal: they do everything fairly well at a very reasonable cost, both to buy and run. As for buying a new £30k hatch, no it makes no sense to me either but a used Clio 182 or similar for £3000 or less offers an excellent blend of performance, practicality, reliability and fun for an unbeatable price. I can afford multiple (cheapish oldish) cars so I now go for other things but I've enjoyed several hot hatches and I totally get why people buy them.
Hot hatches appeal because they do everything.
They're fast.
They handle well.
Generally, they're pretty discreet
They can take the shopping
They're affordable.
Some are fun to drive.
They're comfy
They're reasonably economical.
To get the same in a saloon/estate, you're going to need to spend quite a lot more, and more running it.
How much more would a year old Audi S4 estate cost to run, compared to my Megane RS? That's without mentioning the purchase cost.
They're fast.
They handle well.
Generally, they're pretty discreet
They can take the shopping
They're affordable.
Some are fun to drive.
They're comfy
They're reasonably economical.
To get the same in a saloon/estate, you're going to need to spend quite a lot more, and more running it.
How much more would a year old Audi S4 estate cost to run, compared to my Megane RS? That's without mentioning the purchase cost.
Essentially this boils down to FWD vs RWD. I'm sure we'd all rather drive a FWD or 4WD hot hatch than a longer wheelbase (and therefore duller) saloon or estate with the same drivetrain, I know I would at least. Ergo I see hot hatches as the pinnacle of FWD and 4WD fun. The only thing that's going to tempt you away is RWD, which is why I think this question boils down to FWD/4WD vs RWD, which is of course totally subjective.
Blanchimont said:
Hot hatches appeal because they do everything.
They're fast.
They handle well.
Generally, they're pretty discreet
They can take the shopping
They're affordable.
Some are fun to drive.
They're comfy
They're reasonably economical.
To get the same in a saloon/estate, you're going to need to spend quite a lot more, and more running it.
How much more would a year old Audi S4 estate cost to run, compared to my Megane RS? That's without mentioning the purchase cost.
I can see the appeal, but they're not particularly comfy and not that economical from my experience. They're fast.
They handle well.
Generally, they're pretty discreet
They can take the shopping
They're affordable.
Some are fun to drive.
They're comfy
They're reasonably economical.
To get the same in a saloon/estate, you're going to need to spend quite a lot more, and more running it.
How much more would a year old Audi S4 estate cost to run, compared to my Megane RS? That's without mentioning the purchase cost.
My V8 5 series would get 25mpg at a constant 75mph where as my old clio sport or type r wouldn't be much better.
I also wouldn't say they're fast anymore, yes, they're quick, but not fast. Fast to me is sub 5 secs to 60 and sub 100 in around 10seconds. (Supercharged exige for example)
All the chav's know what they are so try and race you in their cheaper hot hatches.
Most things can take the shopping. Not really a benefit.
Some handle well but fwd is not really the pinnacle of car balance.
I generally find modern hot hatches objectively impressive but for me they fall down subjectively - I just don't actually enjoy driving them very much. They typically just have too much grip and too little feedback. I like our Octavia, it's a great family car/load lugger/tow car/everything else practical, but it's not a car I'd take out for a drive just for the hell of it.
The exceptions tend to be the small, relatively slow ones like the Suzuki Swift Sport and Panda 100hp, which still maintain that key (for me) hot hatch attribute of being fun at low speeds.
For what it's worth I'd level exactly the same criticism at things like the current M3, though. Big heavy cars with power assisted everything just aren't fun for me, however fast they are.
The exceptions tend to be the small, relatively slow ones like the Suzuki Swift Sport and Panda 100hp, which still maintain that key (for me) hot hatch attribute of being fun at low speeds.
For what it's worth I'd level exactly the same criticism at things like the current M3, though. Big heavy cars with power assisted everything just aren't fun for me, however fast they are.
Edited by kambites on Tuesday 9th February 08:55
johnwilliams77 said:
Blanchimont said:
Hot hatches appeal because they do everything.
They're fast.
They handle well.
Generally, they're pretty discreet
They can take the shopping
They're affordable.
Some are fun to drive.
They're comfy
They're reasonably economical.
To get the same in a saloon/estate, you're going to need to spend quite a lot more, and more running it.
How much more would a year old Audi S4 estate cost to run, compared to my Megane RS? That's without mentioning the purchase cost.
I can see the appeal, but they're not particularly comfy and not that economical from my experience. They're fast.
They handle well.
Generally, they're pretty discreet
They can take the shopping
They're affordable.
Some are fun to drive.
They're comfy
They're reasonably economical.
To get the same in a saloon/estate, you're going to need to spend quite a lot more, and more running it.
How much more would a year old Audi S4 estate cost to run, compared to my Megane RS? That's without mentioning the purchase cost.
My V8 5 series would get 25mpg at a constant 75mph where as my old clio sport or type r wouldn't be much better.
I also wouldn't say they're fast anymore, yes, they're quick, but not fast. Fast to me is sub 5 secs to 60 and sub 100 in around 10seconds. (Supercharged exige for example)
All the chav's know what they are so try and race you in their cheaper hot hatches.
Most things can take the shopping. Not really a benefit.
Some handle well but fwd is not really the pinnacle of car balance.
My car is classed as quick then, but a 6 second 0-60 time is still quicker than most cars on the road.
They appeal as a do-it-all type car, a prime example being if you were unable to have 2 cars, then a hot hatch would appeal.
It's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other, and it's mostly subjective. I don't tend to like SUV's, other people swear by them.
Sometimes it's about a balance of priorities and they change through the lifespan. Ten years ago I just had to have a two door, sub 1300kg, RWD with 400bhp and the idea of a hot hatch, as my main car, would have been ludicrous, I just couldn't have seen the point. I recently bought a five door hot hatch as a "best compromise" car and it's been anything but, immense fun and it's made me really enjoy driving again, a very pleasant surprise. I'm sure I may move into something else at some point and enjoy whatever else I go for too
johnwilliams77 said:
I can see the appeal, but they're not particularly comfy and not that economical from my experience.
My V8 5 series would get 25mpg at a constant 75mph where as my old clio sport or type r wouldn't be much better.
I don't know which exact Clio sport you had but I would suggest it was broken if it wouldn't do much better than 25mpg on the motorway. My 182 consistently did over 40 (on 98 RON) both on and off the motorway.My V8 5 series would get 25mpg at a constant 75mph where as my old clio sport or type r wouldn't be much better.
The modern Golf GTI's are the pinnacle of the hot hatch, in my opinion.
Cheap to run. Very well build, pretty fast, fun to drive, lots of intelligent space usage inside.
They are fantastic in every way. Where as most other cars have their flaws, I really don't think you can point faults in such a car. Other than "Its not the fastest" "its not the cheapest" Whereas a Boxster its got quite a few flaws that every Sportscar has.
Cheap to run. Very well build, pretty fast, fun to drive, lots of intelligent space usage inside.
They are fantastic in every way. Where as most other cars have their flaws, I really don't think you can point faults in such a car. Other than "Its not the fastest" "its not the cheapest" Whereas a Boxster its got quite a few flaws that every Sportscar has.
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