Am I a heretic? I just don't like hot-hatches

[irocfan]

as it says above I honestly can't get really excited about hot-hatches (indeed any hatches), especially the newer 5 door only ones. In all honesty, I appreciate them for what they can do but they really don't tug at my heart-strings and I find them totally uninspiring to look at.

Am I alone in this?

[Thats What She Said]

Burn him!!

[200Plus Club]

Me neither. Did hot hatches in the 90s and 2000s. Modern stuff is a lot better of course (drove an Astra vxr around croft) but it all leaves me a bit "meh"..

[Nickbrapp]

I don’t like BMWs especially the m140i

[gforceg]

I'm not keen about the modern crop, far too bulky and pumped up. I'd say my interest in them stopped around the time of the 306 GTI.

[anonymous-user]

Different strokes for different folks.

I’m not a huge fan of RWD. There, I said it.

I don’t like Red Leicester cheese and prefer Jarlsberg. Does that mean I’m not allowed to say I like cheese?

[ChasW]

None of them inspire me now but there was a time when I hankered after them. Passed my test in a Vauxhall Viva. FIrst car was a rusty MG 1100. A few years later when the Golf GTI appeared it was a revelation. I had a couple and moved on. Now I need space for my grandkids!

[Hobbit1]

Chav-mobiles. Get yourselves a quality reliable Toyota iQ.

[del mar]

It depends what you expect from a hot hatch.

Little weight and modest power were an exciting blend, working it hard to get the most out of it.

Modern hot hatches are too good and too powerful.

[irocfan]

I''m going to double down on my sin here and say that I've never liked them. When they were 1st a big thing if I was offered a choice between an XR/GTi and a B-GT (actually would an MGB-GT V8 be a hot-hatch) I'd have taken the B every time - before anyone says it I know that the B wouldn't have seen which way the XR went on a straight bit of road, let alone the twisties. As my motoring moved on I've loved coupes rather than hatches and it's never changed, indeed up until the other week( I've taken on my son's 'dynamique' with a throbbing 1150cc's of power!) I've never even owned a hatch

[V8RX7]

It very much depends what you are wanting them for and comparing them to.

IMO they were designed in the late 70's for the young man who probably ran an MGB etc who then had a family and needed a practical car that was also a decent drive and the MK1 Golf GTi filled that role very well.

I mostly owned 90's versions and they were pretty good at their job - fun commuting - however I then discovered the MX5 and never owned one again

I am now 40+ and own MX5s, RX7 etc but I find myself looking at a EP3 Civic R because sometimes I have to take more than one passenger and I find modern cars drive terribly - too heavy and too little feedback.

Would I consider spending £10k+ on a modern one - no - I'd buy an M3

[kambites]

For me it depends on what you mean by "like". If I needed a family car to carry the family and associated paraphernalia around I'd buy a hot hatch, but I would never buy one purely for "fun" if I didn't need the practicality... which is why we have an Octavia VRS and an Elise; the family have been away for the last 5 weeks and hence the only times the Octavia has left the garage were to be taken for a new set of tyres and then for its MoT. The Elise is my commuter car, especially in this weather.

Edited by kambites on Saturday 21st July 11:00

[stuckmojo]

I liked old school hot hatches, light weight and chuckable.

a 1,500 kg honda turbo fwd excites me as much as filing a tax return.

[e30m3Mark]

There not much after 1990 that floats my boat. Moderns are just too big, heavy, ponderous etc. Obviously that's a generalisation but I think the late 70's to late 80's was the pinnacle as far as great cars was concerned. Yes, there are exceptions but it seemed like almost every manufacturer made something cool back then.

[Pommy]

I went off hot hatches about 15 years ago and have been driving medium sized 6 cylinder auto saloon barges and been thoroughly content - 3 months ago economics got me into a manual Astra 200bhp and you know what, the old magic of a small, easy to manoeuvre, chuckable, revvy little manual car has returned and reignited the old love for them.

Its at the point when im tempted to get a new Megane RS280 over the Mustang GT ive been planning on

[irocfan]

Actually both V8RX7 and kambites make a good point there. I've (for better or worse) never had to worry about a semi-practical car, maybe that's coloured my view

[Berkshire bred]

I do like them but i went from an mx5 to a r26 and obviously the r26 is superior in every way. However when I change again I think I will go back to a sports car. The problem for me is when your not driving enthusiastically they are basically just a car, however a low down 2 seater feels special whatever speed your doing. Also think I want a big NA engine as turbo cars are just to easy, I get fed up of not having to rev it. Nothing better than revving a car to the red line just because why not.

Trouble for me is there's so many choices in the car world and I have to pick One, in an ideal world i would Have 4 or 5 cars to suit My every mood.

Edited by Berkshire bred on Saturday 21st July 11:44

[rossub]

Agree about the 5 door aspect. IMO there’s never been a good looking 5 door hot hatch.

[deltashad]

I thought the best looking hot hatch was the Delta hf range. They were 5 door. But many 5 doors never quite could pulled it off.

[Mr2Mike]

Berkshire bred said:

The problem for me is when your not driving enthusiastically they are basically just a car, however a low down 2 seater feels special whatever speed your doing.

Agreed, there's nothing quite like the special feeling you get when trying to traverse speed bumps and potholes the size of Ben Nevis in a low sports car. makes me tingle all over just thinking about it. Also the sheer thrill of trying to pull out at junctions and being unable to see anything past the car next to you going the opposite way.