Ideas for an interesting Hot/Warm Hatch

[LowRezz]

I have a 61 reg Mitsubishi Ralliart Colt which is getting a bit leggy now. Looking to replace with something quick and quirky. I bought the Ralliart almost solely on the basis that it was a relatively rare car and it is decently quick.I have a budget of £8k to find something. Interested to hear what ideas you guys have for a quick interesting car.

I test drove a 208 gti but i was really bored with the car. It was a bit effortless. I felt really disconnected from the whole driving experience. (also it has the smallest steering wheel ive ever touched which unreasonably annoyed me)

The only car thats intrested me so far is the Nissan Pulsar 1.6 turbo. I havent driven one so I'd be interested to hear what you guys' opinion is of it.

-Rezz

[Blanchimont]

Megane RS250 Cup. Drives better than anything else for money, and 8k will get you a tidy early one.

[treeroy]

Fiesta ST, if you didn't like the 208 GTI.

[LowRezz]

treeroy said:

Fiesta ST, if you didn't like the 208 GTI.

Its a very "standard" hot hatch choice. Which is fine for most. I'm looking for something a little left of field.

[emperorburger]

LowRezz said:

Its a very "standard" hot hatch choice. Which is fine for most. I'm looking for something a little left of field.

Import a Renault Sandero R.S from South America then.

[321boost]

LowRezz said:

Its a very "standard" hot hatch choice. Which is fine for most. I'm looking for something a little left of field.

Mazda 3 MPS? It’s not common and it’s fairly fast but I would look for a low mileage one and do your research on what to look out for.

There’s abarth punto evo too but low bhp.

Edited by 321boost on Thursday 19th December 14:41

[g40steve]

Wow you did not like the 208 gti! ??

I had the BPS version for two years & it was awesome on road perfomance can embarass many a car.
Best thing about the car for me was the harder you pushed it the more it came alive & on track you could seriously have some fun.
Huge brakes, excellent balance & LSD, the tiny wheel is best set so you see the clocks through the wheel takes a bit of getting used to.
Think you need to go & try again?

[LowRezz]

g40steve said:

Wow you did not like the 208 gti! ??

I had the BPS version for two years & it was awesome on road perfomance can embarass many a car.
Best thing about the car for me was the harder you pushed it the more it came alive & on track you could seriously have some fun.
Huge brakes, excellent balance & LSD, the tiny wheel is best set so you see the clocks through the wheel takes a bit of getting used to.
Think you need to go & try again?

There was nothing wrong with the car. It just didnt intrest me. No doubt its a fantastic car, just not for me.

Edited by LowRezz on Thursday 19th December 17:09

[DoubleD]

Blanchimont said:

Megane RS250 Cup. Drives better than anything else for money, and 8k will get you a tidy early one.

Yep.

OP, get one of these.

[Roboticarm]

LowRezz said:

There was nothing wrong with the car. It just didnt intrest me. No doubt its a fantastic car, just not for me.

Edited by LowRezz on Thursday 19th December 17:09

I test drove one when looking to replace my abarth a few years back, was a decent at but just didnt feel as much fun as the abarth, it was good in everyway but for me it just didn't feels special

[Toyoda]

LowRezz said:

The only car thats intrested me so far is the Nissan Pulsar 1.6 turbo. I havent driven one so I'd be interested to hear what you guys' opinion is of it.

-Rezz

Nobody's directly answered this comment and I'm in no position either but reviews of it say that despite the power it doesn't even feel like a warm hatch. I agree it's a very cheap way of getting a newish petrol car with nearly 200 bhp though. What about the Kia proceed GT, Alfa Giulietta 1.75TBi (would be quite old at your budget though)? If you test drive any of these then please update as I'm always interested in the same criteria of car you're looking for.

[Lukas239]

Left-field ideas;
- Hyundai veloster turbo
- twingo Renault sport
- Alfa giulietta 1.4 or 1.8
- focus 1.6 180 (I know a focus isn't leftfield but these are few and far between)
- fabia vrs (risky)
- Astra GTC
- Volvo C30 T5

All are warm rather than hot though, with the exception of Volvo and giulietta 1.8

Edited by Lukas239 on Friday 20th December 13:51

[Mr Tidy]

Well you seem to be looking for something slightly different, so If you don't mind a slightly older car maybe a BMW 130i would fit the bill.

A petrol straight 6 and RWD are certainly not typical hatchback features!

[Digby]

Does it matter how old it is?

Pulsar GTIR and hope it never goes wrong?

[BenLowden]

Definitely a Megane 250 for that budget: https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Get one with the Cup pack with the LSD and you won't be disappointed. Still miss mine.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Hyundai i30N?
JDM EP3 Type R? - https://www.torque-gt.co.uk/blog/post/the-perfect-...

[aaron_2000]

Impreza STI hatchback?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Impreza-WRX-STI-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Impreza-2-5-WRX-...

Not a hatch but absolutely worth looking at:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-Impreza-2-0-WRX-...

[ZX10R NIN]

My suggestion is the same as the above but my suggestion the hard to find RS250 Lux with Recaro's & the Cup Chassis:

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

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