Help with 5 Door Hot Hatch Decision

[350Z on the Wolds]

Hello to all. In the last couple of years i have had quite a lot of change in my life. I owned a R53 Mini Cooper S (tuned) when we decided to try for a baby. While i could i swapped it for a 350Z with a view to changing that before the birth, which i did. I went back to a Mini Cooper S (R56) thinking that i could make it work and i loved my old R53 (less so the 350Z). Unfortunately there were complications with the birth and we lost my son the day after he was born. Now, coming up on 2 years later we have been blessed with a baby boy and i still have the Mini. I am slowly realising though that it may not be big enough once we start to need it. My partner has a Juke.

TLDR: I have a baby and think i may need a 5 door.

I love hot hatches but have quite the specific list of wants. I've mulled over this for ages but thought i would ask the collective PH to see if there is anything i'm missing. My list of wants is:

Hot hatch (more hot hatch than GT)
5 door
LSD (or something very very close, the only thing the Mini is missing)
Good sports seats

Looking for a budget not really more than £15K really. Any bright ideas or reccomendations?

[resolve10]

350Z on the Wolds said:

Hello to all. In the last couple of years i have had quite a lot of change in my life. I owned a R53 Mini Cooper S (tuned) when we decided to try for a baby. While i could i swapped it for a 350Z with a view to changing that before the birth, which i did. I went back to a Mini Cooper S (R56) thinking that i could make it work and i loved my old R53 (less so the 350Z). Unfortunately there were complications with the birth and we lost my son the day after he was born. Now, coming up on 2 years later we have been blessed with a baby boy and i still have the Mini. I am slowly realising though that it may not be big enough once we start to need it. My partner has a Juke.

TLDR: I have a baby and think i may need a 5 door.

I love hot hatches but have quite the specific list of wants. I've mulled over this for ages but thought i would ask the collective PH to see if there is anything i'm missing. My list of wants is:

Hot hatch (more hot hatch than GT)
5 door
LSD (or something very very close, the only thing the Mini is missing)
Good sports seats

Looking for a budget not really more than £15K really. Any bright ideas or reccomendations?

I am sorry to read your back story but pleased to hear you now have a healthy baby boy.

A Mk8 Fiesta ST with the performance pack (LSD) sounds perfect? The wife and I had a mk7 Fiesta 5 door as our family car whilst the kids grew up. It was just big enough for a pushchair and was easy to get them in and out of.

[BUG4LIFE]

Congrats! I bought a Subaru Forester STi when my son was born. Practical, fun and didn't lose much money in the couple of years I had it. I've got a Jag S-Type R now; slightly bigger than the Foz, more relaxing for the commute to work, and of course has a V8

If I had £15k to spend on a hot hatch, I think I've try to find a Golf R [I'd want the estate]. Or maybe a Leon Cupra [again, the estate].

[jdizz]

Sorry to hear about your first born.

I'd recommend a Mk3 Seat Leon Cupra/Cupra ST?

[Mully1906]

This may be a biased opinion but, mk8 Fiesta ST seems to tick those boxes. And you could probably pick up an early one with the Performance Pack fitted for £15k.

[tonyb1968]

A Peugeot 308 GTI 270 (avoid the 250), get it from a dealer for a 3 year old car (there is one in your price bracket up for less than 15k with 20k on the clock at a Peugeot dealer, you want the Peugeot Warranty as there are 1 or 2 minor issues that can be sorted quite easily but the warranty is very good and its extendable for not much per year, upto 100k or 10 years).
5 Door, big boot, LSD, huge brakes, very economical, pretty quick, handles very well, great seats and a little over looked (though you won't look like a chav as most fiesta ST's do) which is a bonus as the GTI 270 is pretty discreet.

[350Z on the Wolds]

Thank you all. I'm trying to avoid going down the estate route as A) i prefer lighter cars and B) my drive could manage it, but it would be easier to go hatch back. I must admit that the 308 has been on my radar but the Fiesta ST has not, just did not think of it as i assumed there was no LSD. So that's something to look at.

Appreciate the thoughts so far and i'll continue to lurk.

[Nelka]

Golf GTi Performance?

[Wonderman]

350Z on the Wolds said:

Hello to all. In the last couple of years i have had quite a lot of change in my life. I owned a R53 Mini Cooper S (tuned) when we decided to try for a baby. While i could i swapped it for a 350Z with a view to changing that before the birth, which i did. I went back to a Mini Cooper S (R56) thinking that i could make it work and i loved my old R53 (less so the 350Z). Unfortunately there were complications with the birth and we lost my son the day after he was born. Now, coming up on 2 years later we have been blessed with a baby boy and i still have the Mini. I am slowly realising though that it may not be big enough once we start to need it. My partner has a Juke.

TLDR: I have a baby and think i may need a 5 door.

I love hot hatches but have quite the specific list of wants. I've mulled over this for ages but thought i would ask the collective PH to see if there is anything i'm missing. My list of wants is:

Hot hatch (more hot hatch than GT)
5 door
LSD (or something very very close, the only thing the Mini is missing)
Good sports seats

Looking for a budget not really more than £15K really. Any bright ideas or reccomendations?

Firstly Congrats!
Had a RS Clio and BMW Compact when first was young, you really don't need 5 doors and Mrs found it easier to get in the back to drop the seat in rather than twisting with tight 5 door room, so much the so RS Clio became her daily whilst I commuted by motorbike/ had a saloon 330i and stayed that way when #2 arrived.
Buy the smallest buggy/ car seat combo that fits in the Juke that the car seat fits in and keep your car for fun... we had loan Rover 75 estate that we managed to fill for first holiday but you'll soon thin out what you actually need.

I had Golf-R estate and the seats were awful and other than the engine I found it a bit meh and didn't miss it after 23k miles, 2wd GTI perhaps be more interesting or at £15k Ford Focus ST? I recently went lease again with RS Megane which in less than 150 miles is more engaging than the Golf-R I had but appreciate you might just be straight purchase preference.

[ChrisH72]

I sold both my ‘sporty’ cars before our son was born. Looking back, I could probably have kept the Celica (which I loved) although it would have been a bit tricky at times.

You will never need more space for stuff than you do now with a new born. As they age you need to carry less and less and things like car seats get smaller. My boy is now 5 and has no problem in my mk7 fiesta ST as he climbs in and out himself and doesn’t need a boot load of stuff.

Are you likely to have more kids? That could affect your decision.

Also depends how you and your wife organise your car use. For most people with one child, just the one family car is enough. My wife has a small MPV which does all the family duties so maybe your wife’s Juke could cope?

15k is a lot and will buy you all manner of cars. If you like your minis then how about the newer 5dr cooper S or even JCW (not sure if they do that in 5dr?) or should I wash my mouth out for suggesting a mini with rear doors?

[Timoo]

Could look at a Focus ST if you wanted something a little bit bigger than the Fiesta. Pretty sure the newer models are all fitted with an electronic LSD as standard.

[mike9009]

We had an R55 mini clubman with two young kids in 2012. Had a roof box for longer trips, and a carefully chosen pushchair to fit in the boot.

Nowadays, you could still look at the new clubman or even the five door Cooper S hatch?

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the PS 308 GTI is the car that ticks every box & you can get one in budget too:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012217...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011055...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012036...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012127...

[PeteinSQ]

My only relevant experience is that I have two kids and had a BMW m140i when the youngest was a baby. It wasnt our first choice family car as we also have an estate but whenever I wanted to use it with everyone it coped perfectly well. Plenty big enough boot and enough room in the rear seats for a baby seat etc.

They don't have an lsd but the engine is great and makes a nice sound and the straight line speed is good. The m140i wouldn't quite be in budget but the very similar m135i would be.

[350Z on the Wolds]

Thank you all again. I think i'm discounting the Golf just because it is the obvious choice and i like to have something a bit different. The BMW's are a good choice but for me, i just do not find them fun to drive. I have a lot of good roads near me and they are just not for me close ish to a safe limit. One of the issues i had with the 350Z was it's weight and rear wheel drive on very slippy country roads left me with little confidence. In the Mini i can go full throttle when i want more of less without the tail going. I know that is going to get eyes rolling but i don't find the back end stepping out too clever out on the roads. And with traction control on there is nothing more annoying then the judder you get when she starts to slip. Hence the want for a LSD. I loved throwing the R53 round corners and just letting the LSD grab, it's fun. The Focus ST has been on the radar but i'm not sure if it is special enough. Having had the Cooper S's and not having the JCW (even though mine is a little fettled with) i just know i would wish i had the RS instead. Same issue obviously for the 5 door Mini's, they just don't do a JCW one in 5 door.

The Clubman was a thought but the 300 hp ones are out of range at the moment for the JCW, not sure i'd want another R generation one, bit too similar to what i have now.

More kids is not on the mind at the moment, the little one is only 6 weeks and i think i'll want all my attention on him for a few years!!

I know the 5 door may not be as needed as i imagine with the little one but i just know that each time we use it, if it would have been easier with a 5 door i'd regret not getting it. Although i have heard from a few sources now that 3 doors can be easier than a 5...

ZX10R NIN - i see your reccomendations pop up regularly and i have to say that you normally hit the nail on the head each and every time. I'm glad you commented. I hope you are in sales/ sourcing as you do seem quite good at it.

I do think i'm edging for the 308 GTI but i'm glad i asked the group. Thank you all.

Edited by 350Z on the Wolds on Wednesday 23 December 21:36

Edited by 350Z on the Wolds on Wednesday 23 December 21:38

[tomsugden]

An Audi S1 with supersport seats would fit the bill. They're very rapid and drive really well:

A little over budget, but there may be room for negotiation

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11007320?c...

Bang on budget:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-AUDI-A1-S1-2-0-TFS...

[ZX10R NIN]

350Z on the Wolds said:

Thank you all again. I think i'm discounting the Golf just because it is the obvious choice and i like to have something a bit different. The BMW's are a good choice but for me, i just do not find them fun to drive. I have a lot of good roads near me and they are just not for me close ish to a safe limit. One of the issues i had with the 350Z was it's weight and rear wheel drive on very slippy country roads left me with little confidence. In the Mini i can go full throttle when i want more of less without the tail going. I know that is going to get eyes rolling but i don't find the back end stepping out too clever out on the roads. And with traction control on there is nothing more annoying then the judder you get when she starts to slip. Hence the want for a LSD. I loved throwing the R53 round corners and just letting the LSD grab, it's fun. The Focus ST has been on the radar but i'm not sure if it is special enough. Having had the Cooper S's and not having the JCW (even though mine is a little fettled with) i just know i would wish i had the RS instead. Same issue obviously for the 5 door Mini's, they just don't do a JCW one in 5 door.

The Clubman was a thought but the 300 hp ones are out of range at the moment for the JCW, not sure i'd want another R generation one, bit too similar to what i have now.

More kids is not on the mind at the moment, the little one is only 6 weeks and i think i'll want all my attention on him for a few years!!

I know the 5 door may not be as needed as i imagine with the little one but i just know that each time we use it, if it would have been easier with a 5 door i'd regret not getting it. Although i have heard from a few sources now that 3 doors can be easier than a 5...

ZX10R NIN - i see your reccomendations pop up regularly and i have to say that you normally hit the nail on the head each and every time. I'm glad you commented. I hope you are in sales/ sourcing as you do seem quite good at it.

I do think i'm edging for the 308 GTI but i'm glad i asked the group. Thank you all.

You're discounting the Golf because it's not the car that'll tick you're boxes it's not an entertaining steer but it is a capable one.

The 135i won't stepout on you unless you turn all the aids off but it's not a hot hatch in the same way a Megane/308 GTI etc are, the ST is a good car but you'd have to some money off the budget for an LSD,

At which point the PS 308 GTI is the pick, I'm assuming you have your buggy & seat so you can see how easy access is, as others have pointed out sometimes it's easier with three doors in which case there are two 3 door options that standout:

The first & less obvious choice is the Aastra GTC VXR it has everything you want Great Seats (wing'd Recaro's as standard)
well spec'd LSD a slightly softer ride than the Cup Megane which means the handling isn't quite as sharp as the Megane (but then nothing is as sweet a steer) but it's a step above the Golf GTI.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009224...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011035...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012086...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010024...

Megane RS Lux with the Cup Chassis

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010205...

As above but with the desirable Recaro's:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011136...

[culpz]

I must say, I'm really starting to like those 308 GTI's. I was out for a bit of a blast one night, and a young lad drive past me in one. It clearly had some kind of exhaust on it but it sounded really nice.

Golf GTI's are nice. Great engine and gearbox but can be a little bit numb. They're more of a fast, comfy daily that a proper hot-hatch, in my eyes. Leon Cupra is a another good shout. Bit more engaging than the VW but still very similar in feel tbh.

[tonyb1968]

This is the 308 GTI that falls right in your price range, and 20k on the clock (plus its from a Peugeot dealer so you get their warranty which is extendable).

https://www.usedcars.peugeot.co.uk/buy-used-car/pe...

[NicheMonkey]

We have a Civic FK2 Type R and its massive inside, isofix in the rear a huge boot which easily fits two full size prams in plus a load of other stuff. LSD as standard 300bhp with plenty of scope to tune it. Quite economical when you need it too.

You might need to up the budget to around 16k though, ours has been nothing but super reliable and dependable.