What hot hatch diesel for £4k

[Christuffer]

Hi all,

New member here from the Rhondda valleys South Wales, the names Chris and I'm 21.

About to buy a new car for myself and can't choose between the three;

Fiesta zetec s tdci
89bhp
150lb torque
£4000 for about 70k miles
60mog

Pug 206 gti hdi
110bhp
180lb torque
£3500 for 50k miles
60mpg

Fiat grande punto 1.9
130bhp
207lb tour quid
£4000 50k miles
50mpg

Ideally I'm looking for something with a bit of go init, after all I'm only 21, but also want something good on fuel doing a 40mile round trip everyday for work.

Has anyone ever owned any of the above to know of any common problems?

What one would you choose?

Also any other options out there?

Thankssss

[okie592]

Better not buy a diesel it will just blow up and the dpf will clog! For £4k you better buy a old mx5 or a e36 to really get the best of these welsh roads!


The punto would be my pick. Or a fabia vrs or maybe a Leon / golf 150

[iwantagta]

Fabia VRS. Loved mine.

[acespizee]

Hi, none of these are hot hatches- sorry had to be said.

The car I would go for on your list would be the Fiat, the most powerful, great economy (on paper) and around the same price as the others and providing you get it in a nice colour, the best looking IMO.

Oh.. and if you want a bit of go, just re-map it.

Edited by acespizee on Saturday 9th March 21:29

[Christuffer]

It's got to be a diesel, need the mpg really.

Iv been looking at the fabias, do they have any common problems? Only thing that puts me off is that the inside is rather basic, and it's basically the same as the polo, which is Volkswagen, which I imagine is expensive to fix???

The pug 206cc caught my eye, still got the same spec as the gti, with a convertible, and 4 seats which I really do need

[okie592]

Christuffer said:

It's got to be a diesel, need the mpg really.

Iv been looking at the fabias, do they have any common problems? Only thing that puts me off is that the inside is rather basic, and it's basically the same as the polo, which is Volkswagen, which I imagine is expensive to fix???

The pug 206cc caught my eye, still got the same spec as the gti, with a convertible, and 4 seats which I really do need

In the rhonnda? Have often are you gonna get the roof down? The 206cc has alot of roof problems.

Vws aren't really that expensive, And the 130pd lump on the fabia is pretty bullet proof if you change the oil regularly.

[willmagrath]

fabia vrs! awesome car, mines done over 100k and feels pretty solid cost me just under 4k 7 months ago

[martin mrt]

Fabia VRS, great mpg, good turn of speed and sensible running costs.

Bit left field is the polo GT TDI, exactly the same beneath the skin as the Fabia but slightly better looking IMO, inside is a nicer place to be too. Quite rare however

[Klippie]

Fabia VRS is a great car, Polo GT and Seat FR don't drive as well as the Skoda either.

[Mastodon2]

None of these are hot hatches, "init", though if I was being forced into one it would be the Fiesta, as it will probably be the cheapest to run, and you can earn some NCD in it and use the money you'll save to buy something petrol down the line.

[nixon1]

It's going to cost you £6 a day in petrol and £5 a day in diesel, so for the sake of £20 a month I'd be looking at insurance costs rather than MPG.
Get yourself a sporty looking Clio, Fiesta, Twingo GT, C2 GT- nice low insurance and have some fun. You'll be one or two insurance groups lower than the Fiesta 1.8 and still around the 95-110 bhp mark.

Maybe a 100bhp Renault Clio 1.2 TCE would do with a remap... according to the interwebs you can get an extra 20-25bhp, which would make a nice difference.

Edited by nixon1 on Sunday 10th March 00:18

[rallycross]

none of these are hot hatches.
they are not even warm hatches!
they are diesel engined road going vehicles, noisy in traffic, nose heavy, painfull to the ears if you dare go past 4,000 rpm.
Polo Tdi Sport 100 would be a good choice if you want something like this.

[pstruck]

For me it would be either the Skoda Fabia vRS, or a SEAT Leon Cupra/FR TDi.

[bp1000]

Definitely a Fabia vrs

But what about those Renault meganne diesels

[Hub]

Another vote for the Fabia VRS. Still miss mine!

(or the Ibiza TDI 130 sport/FR)

[littlened]

Can you not pickup an Astra Sri 1.9 cdti within your budget? 150 bhp, fit a dtuk box and it'll put out close to 200bhp.

[donaircooleone]

You wont get 60MPG from the 110 HDi without driving (really really really really) really sensibly - which to me defeats the point as you obviously want to use the go pedal.

In that list get the Fiat, the 1.9 is fairly potent, strong (with remap potential) and somewhat interesting compared to the usual German ilk

[wiliferus]

Sorry to sound like a parrot, but Fabia VRS is your answer. Decent turn of speed, still reasonably good looking, and a brilliant proven engine.

Inside is arguably a bit low rent, but still by far the best option overall.

Fiesta will feel dull and slow.
Pug is a good second choice as the Hdi engine is really quite good.
I'd just avoid the Punto, can't really justify this other than its a Fiat. Sorry!

Oh, and 21 year old bloke in a 206cc? Just don't, you'll look like a 'tard.

[Deerfoot]

Hub said:

Another vote for the Fabia VRS. Still miss mine!

(or the Ibiza TDI 130 sport/FR)

Or a Polo GT 130. Mine has been great, but as other posters have said, it's far too nose heavy to be considered a hot-hatch.

Edited by Deerfoot on Sunday 10th March 08:55

[McWigglebum4th]

So you are going to drive it like a init

Then you won't get 60Mpg init


a 60Mpg diesel costs £500 less to fuel a year then a 40Mpg petrol init