When discussing 80's hot hatches..
Discussion
matt uk said:
Well, I went against the flow back then.
Not many people have even heard of them...
You Sir are a legend. This is one of those cars that I quite like the idea of owning (if I could find one). Ultra light with a pokey little engine and made out of tinny materials, you can't beat it...Not many people have even heard of them...
I quite fancy a Strada too, another car that has seemingly fallen off the world. I love the wheels they came with!
There were a few rwd "hot hatches", but mainly if you go back to the 70s - Chevette HS, RS2000?
Had a mate with a Lotus Sunbeam. Never let me drive it, as it spent more time off the road than on. He claimed it may have been owned by Senna when he was racing in the UK prior to F1 (Senna was based around Reading back then?). Sold it and bought a 205XS. Reckoned it handled better ....
RWD 80s hot hatch - Corolla GTi, wasn't it the AE-86? I had the FWD AE-82 model, all with those fantastic little 4A-GE engines that could touch on 8000rpm before the rev limiter pulled it back.
Had a mate with a Lotus Sunbeam. Never let me drive it, as it spent more time off the road than on. He claimed it may have been owned by Senna when he was racing in the UK prior to F1 (Senna was based around Reading back then?). Sold it and bought a 205XS. Reckoned it handled better ....
RWD 80s hot hatch - Corolla GTi, wasn't it the AE-86? I had the FWD AE-82 model, all with those fantastic little 4A-GE engines that could touch on 8000rpm before the rev limiter pulled it back.
i had a mk1 gti, and an xr3i mk3, the xr was much better inside plusher, more refined, handled well and was quicker, the golf felt like my previous 1600 sport mk2 escort, rattley, noisey inside, cheap looking dash, ok it handled well, but all the mk1s round my way were left for dead off the lights by the 3i.
RobM77 said:
My favourite runner up is the Citroen AX GT.
You'd be surprised at the number of car journalists who actually rate this as their favourite 80s hot hatch. James May for starters actually rated it as the only perfect car he's ever driven in a column a few months ago. I had one as my first car and absolutely loved it. The handling was utterly sublime.
H231BRN - my old GT in red. Handled like nothing else I'd ever driven... You'd be surprised at the number of car journalists who actually rate this as their favourite 80s hot hatch. James May for starters actually rated it as the only perfect car he's ever driven in a column a few months ago. I had one as my first car and absolutely loved it. The handling was utterly sublime.
...and then I took it to Demon Tweeks where the fitted lowering springs and adjusted the torsion bar at the rear. At the same time a Janspeed exhaust was fitted and it was shod with Yokohama A510s... by christ, that thing went around roundabouts!!
In 1989 I was driving a 1985 B-reg Fiat Strada Abarth 130 TC, just like this one (but RHD). It was fantastic - stupidly light, brilliant induction roar from the twin carbs, it did suffer from lift-off oversteer, but not as much as the Pug 205s did. I took it up the Alps as part of a skiing trip, and it handled perfectly.
Unfortunatly it was starting to rust even when I bought it
AFAIK there was no UK 125 TC Abarth
Unfortunatly it was starting to rust even when I bought it
AFAIK there was no UK 125 TC Abarth
mat205125 said:
MrMoonyMan said:
Any excuse to post a nice original Mk1:
Oh and if we are talking LATE Eighties you can't beat a small bumper Mk2:
Preferable to the later big bumpers imho:
matt uk said:
Also, let's not foget the AX GT
Never did a car feel so fast and so likely to kill you
Never did a car feel so fast and so likely to kill you
I'd be with you if I hadn't (about 10 years ago) graduated from an AX GT to a R5 GTT. Although I loved both cars the little turbo'd Renault had the greater 'imminent death likely' factor!
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