Most "fun" hot hatch/5-door saloon etc?

[w00tman]

Afternoon all.

18 months in the Type R have flown-by and, to be honest, the Mrs absolutely hates it - "the viewing angles of a german tank and a ride to match". Ahh well.

So, looking for something fun, 5 door this time, and around £18k - £23k budget.

Wants:

- Sporty (so mid-6 seconds or lower)
- 5 door
- less than 5 years old, ideally with more mod-cons - things like ApplePlay, satnav etc are a big tick in a box
- fun!

Clearly, I have no official definition of fun, but open to all ideas. I'd be looking at putting down £5k and financing the rest - potentially on a personal loan as I have a top-end credit rating (the one advantage of working in a bank!) unless there are good finance deals around.

The one car jumping out at the moment is the Hyundai i30N, nearly new for c.£23k - but open to all ideas. Golf R looks interesting (fast, 5 door, in-budget, mod-cons) but seems to lack fun - with the caveat I've not driven it. New Type R is out of price range even second-hand at the moment. No ideas about saloons or whatnot as all prior cars have been hatchbacks essentially.

[CrippsCorner]

Reading this my first reaction was i30N! Probably helps that one drove past me at lunch today... really like these, although subtle, they scream car enthusiast to me

Older A45 AMG or S3/RS3? Assuming they're in price range now.

I believe the Golf GTI is meant to be a bit more 'alive' than the R.

[TegTypeR]

Renaultsport Megane?

[300bhp/ton]

w00tman said:

Afternoon all.

18 months in the Type R have flown-by and, to be honest, the Mrs absolutely hates it - "the viewing angles of a german tank and a ride to match". Ahh well.

So, looking for something fun, 5 door this time, and around £18k - £23k budget.

Wants:

- Sporty (so mid-6 seconds or lower)
- 5 door
- less than 5 years old, ideally with more mod-cons - things like ApplePlay, satnav etc are a big tick in a box
- fun!

Clearly, I have no official definition of fun, but open to all ideas. I'd be looking at putting down £5k and financing the rest - potentially on a personal loan as I have a top-end credit rating (the one advantage of working in a bank!) unless there are good finance deals around.

The one car jumping out at the moment is the Hyundai i30N, nearly new for c.£23k - but open to all ideas. Golf R looks interesting (fast, 5 door, in-budget, mod-cons) but seems to lack fun - with the caveat I've not driven it. New Type R is out of price range even second-hand at the moment. No ideas about saloons or whatnot as all prior cars have been hatchbacks essentially.

Type R or not, you have a Civic. About as mundane as you can get. Not knocking the drive of the Type R, but I don't really see how you are going to solve "the viewing angles of a german tank and a ride to match".

Anything remotely similar... will be.. well, similar.


Also you can't have have a 5 door saloon, that would be an estate or a hatchback


What sort of age Impreza STI could you be looking at? Although not convinced it will solve your problem. Maybe a BMW estate of some kind.

[alock]

I'm looking for something similar, and keep coming back to the new Fiesta ST. The Golf/Focus sized cars are too big and powerful to be fun on a narrow country lane.

I can't quite bring myself to spend £20k on a Fiesta though!

[300bhp/ton]

alock said:

I'm looking for something similar, and keep coming back to the new Fiesta ST. The Golf/Focus sized cars are too big and powerful to be fun on a narrow country lane.

Really?

I have nothing against lightweight and nimble. And while a modern Golf is bigger than the original, it still isn't a big car. And bigger more powerful cars can certainly still be fun to drive on British B roads or smaller.

[alock]

300bhp/ton said:

alock said:

I'm looking for something similar, and keep coming back to the new Fiesta ST. The Golf/Focus sized cars are too big and powerful to be fun on a narrow country lane.

Really?

I have nothing against lightweight and nimble. And while a modern Golf is bigger than the original, it still isn't a big car. And bigger more powerful cars can certainly still be fun to drive on British B roads or smaller.

What's so surprising. 300bhp and almost 1600kg (depending on spec) is not my idea of fun. Everyone is different. I've raised 2 kids while running Octavias and Leons as our large family cars. The second car has always been something much smaller and narrower such as a Fiat 500 or Honda S2000. Not everyone buys a larger car every few years just because the manufacturers keep making them larger and larger.

And I never said B road. I said country lane, i.e. the unclassified stuff most of my 20 mile commute is on which looks like this.

[300bhp/ton]

alock said:

What's so surprising. 300bhp and almost 1600kg (depending on spec) is not my idea of fun. Everyone is different. I've raised 2 kids while running Octavias and Leons as our large family cars. The second car has always been something much smaller and narrower such as a Fiat 500 or Honda S2000. Not everyone buys a larger car every few years just because the manufacturers keep making them larger and larger.

And I never said B road. I said country lane, i.e. the unclassified stuff most of my 20 mile commute is on which looks like this.

I still can't see any issues using the cars you mentioned on roads like that. B or C (white roads) can still be enjoyed.

[ninjag]

w00tman said:

Afternoon all.
So, looking for something fun, 5 door this time, and around £18k - £23k budget.

Wants:

- Sporty (so mid-6 seconds or lower)
- 5 door
- less than 5 years old, ideally with more mod-cons - things like ApplePlay, satnav etc are a big tick in a box
- fun!

2014 Audi S3 Saloon 35k miles @ £20,495 or go auto with higher mileage for <5 secs 0-60

[jak kez 187]

Picked up a 2015 S3 sportback with DSG and 26k miles on the clock within your budget last month.
Having plenty of fun in it so far, highly recommend trying one.

[w00tman]

Thanks for all the replies folks, and thanks to 300bhp for correcting my usage of saloons etc etc

Not considered an S3 actually, nice looking things. Never used a DSG (or any auto or semi-auto for that matter) - presume pretty easy to adjust?

Going to try and get a few test-drives booked in, hopefully without too much hassle.

[aka_kerrly]

Given that a new Golf is as wide as a Ford Transit it is a very valid point to say that its too wide to go fast on country lanes.

[300bhp/ton]

https://usedcars.subaru.co.uk/used/subaru/wrx-sti/...

[N88]

My leased M135i is about to go back and I needed to find a replacement with a £20k budget (I've decided to buy rather than lease this time round)

My criteria is very similar to yours and after spending extensive hours looking round I've decided to buy another M135i... I just couldn't find anything as well rounded for the money.

Give one a go. You'll be able to get an M140i within your budget too.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the I30 N Performance ticks the boxes:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

XE S

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

C63

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

RS3

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

A45

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Insignia VXR

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Focus RS

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[jak kez 187]

w00tman said:

Thanks for all the replies folks, and thanks to 300bhp for correcting my usage of saloons etc etc

Not considered an S3 actually, nice looking things. Never used a DSG (or any auto or semi-auto for that matter) - presume pretty easy to adjust?

Going to try and get a few test-drives booked in, hopefully without too much hassle.

This is my first Auto and I can't see myself ever going back to manual if i'm honest. The DSG box is fantastic. Most of my miles are stop start short journeys and the auto makes it so much easier, essentially effortless driving but still loads of fun when i'm in a position to push it. Adjusted to it in no time at all as well, just keep your left foot relaxed and out of harms way and you're set.

I see the 135i/140i mentioned above and think they are definitely also worth a look too. In my opinion they do offer a lot more value over the S3, can get newer models with higher specs on the second hand market for lower cost than the Audi's. The main reason I chose the S3 over one is I wanted to try something different as I already owned a 3 series when I was purchasing.