My last 2 cars have been fun 2 seater soft-tops. Due to a variety of reasons I’m thinking of replacing with something small, cheap to run, seats in the back but – importantly – fun to drive. My wife has a Suzuki and we’re both impressed with how reliable and solidly built it is, so thinking Suzuki Swift Sport, which gets many good reviews for “fun-ness”. What else should be on the list?

Suzuki Swift Sport is a good shout,

others to consider
Renault Twingo Sport
Fiat Arbarth 500
Fiat Panda 100

Yep, Arbarth was another on the shortlist. We sat in one at Car Fest the other weekend and it was quite a nice place to be.

Add Citroen DS3 to that (the 1.6 THP engine best but the others are all still fun) – forget previous Citroen build quality, these things are screwed together properly! Had mine for just coming up to a year, with 12,000 miles on it and absolutely no issues whatsoever, nothing has even looked like falling off! Great fun to drive, surprisingly spacious inside (much more than a Mini or the others above), looks good, and the THP is even reasonably economical (45mpg crusing on the motorway). Sorted!

The others on the list above are all good as well to add to that – the little Twingo is meant to be great fun.

dont ask petrol heads to find you a girls car…… my sugestion is mk2 golf with a 1.8t engine in…

Civic Type R?
Mk2 Golf GTI?
BMW 316/318 Ti?

Flying Ox, a friend has a Type R and it was horrific on the fuel economy. The other two suggestions were going through my mind though…

Panda 100bhp sport thing
Fiesta zetec S
Seat Ibiza Cupra/FR

Mk2 Golf GTI

This!

Might be tricky to find a good original one nowadays though.

Mk V GTI within range?

1. Suzuki Swift Sport.

2. Citroen DS3 – just drove one during my driving lesson (power steering might be a bit light, clutch and brake pedals might be a bit too close if you have wide feet but plenty of gadgets to play with)

You might want to try auto gear if you have not tried one before.

Mk V GTI within range?

Probably, but having test driven a couple last year I found them a bit uninspiring. I think I’d prefer something small that feels fast than something that I have to drive fast to get some fun out of it. Does that make sense?

I used to have an Elise. It could go as fast as you like, but it felt fun and exciting even at what would be considered “pootling” pace. It also did 37mpg. I want that, but with 2 seats in the back and the ability to get around the Staffordshire Moorlands in winter with confidence.

Clio Cup?

Add Citroen DS3 to that (the 1.6 THP engine best but the others are all still fun) – forget previous Citroen build quality, these things are screwed together properly! Had mine for just coming up to a year, with 12,000 miles on it and absolutely no issues whatsoever, nothing has even looked like falling off! Great fun to drive, surprisingly spacious inside (much more than a Mini or the others above), looks good, and the THP is even reasonably economical (45mpg crusing on the motorway). Sorted!

The others on the list above are all good as well to add to that – the little Twingo is meant to be great fun.

I hired one when I was back in the UK and thought it was average.

To summarise, good handling and looks, poor build quality (full of cheap plastics, I pulled the 12v supply out of the dash removing the Tomtom power cable), noisy due to wafer thing plastic door cards and not enough sound deadening, not that economical due to short gearing, interior misjudged ergonomically and cheap, uncomfortable seating position mainly due to the steering wheel not being telescopic.

You want a warm not hot hatch as I feel the additional performance will be wasted on you yet you will pay through the nose in increased running costs.

Something like a Civic Sport as will fit adults in the back, the 500 etc are a little too small imo.

You want a warm not hot hatch as I feel the additional performance will be wasted on you

Why so?

tarquin – Member

… steering wheel not being telescopic …

Suzuki wins hands down for me but then I only like Japanese cars, however Citroen DS3 does come with telescopic steering wheel.

I will go auto gear if I were to buy one …

Yeah, the DS3 definitely has a telescopic steering column. I’m really impressed with the interior – it’s far better than any other small car in the same class I’ve been in (ok, maybe a bit biased as I own one, but most passengers I have comment on it being good) – although the one minor annoyance is there are no cupholders anywhere! The Short gearing does plague the smaller engined ones, but the THP has a 6 speed box which is miles better (in terms of gearing and not being floppy). I’ll agree about the pedals being a bit close though…

Fabia vRS.

Old shape ones are dirt cheap, stupidly economical, good space/safety/comfort and HUGELY fun to drive.

Panda 100 is cool, never driven one but I’ve been bounced around in the passenger seat of one a few times. It’s like a gokart with back seats and a boot.

I’d be cautious of the Swift. We looked at a low mileage one a while ago, and we couldn’t believe the state of it. It had done 17k and the seats looked more like they’d done 170k. I’m not sure they’re built to last. And the ride is pretty bloody hard – and that’s from someone with a MK2 GTI in the barn.

I’d discount all the modern Golfs, they’re just not particularly engaging.

In your boots, I’d look at BMWs – either a 3 or a 1 series. They’re in a different class to VW and Audi in terms of handling.

Clio cup or Megane 225 for fun factor.

Or go for the R26R if the back seats are optional 😉

Audi TT 1.8t (225bhp or newer)
4 wheel drive, rapid, 37/38 mpg on a run.
‘Back seats’. Hatchback.
I had one and the rear seats fold flat and you can get a bike and gear in the back!

Panda 100hp is absolutely hilarious at pretty much any speed, most of them still well below the legal limit. It’s a cheap car so the interior is full of hard plastics, but that’s part of its character / charm. As someone mentioned above it can be a bit bouncy (ours is affectionately referred to as the spacehopper by my other half).

Despite its bouncy revvy nature it’s also surprisingly reasonable to drive distances on the motorway. The only downside is its relatively small fuel tank.

It’s more practical than the 500 due to its boxy shape and rear doors. Although it’s small you can get a surprising amount in the back with seats folded, and if you take them out altogether (a 5-minute job with a spanner) then it’s like a small van… However, there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a small car.

I stuck winter tyres on mine last year which took the edge of the handling (it ended up feeling a bit ‘smeary’ when the roads started to warm up) but it did make it pretty much unflappable in poor conditions. Because the wheels are so small (15″) tyres etc are relatively cheap, so having a second set requires a bit less financial commitment.

I always feel that it’s also very innocuous – no-one’s ever going to feel ‘menaced’ by a Panda – and it (perhaps) has a bit less baggage than some other warm/hot hatches in terms of image.

Mazda 3 mps http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/mazda/3/mps-2007/
Civic type R
Mini cooper john works.

Civic type R

+

cheap to run

Really? 😯 A friend had a Type R and got rid of it (for a DS3) precisely because it was so thirsty. Driven like it’s meant to be driven was giving him sub-20mpg.

Mazda 3 mps? I’ve read some terribly reviews, so that’s out. Very torque steery apparently

Mini? Possibly, but there’s just something about them that doesn’t really float my boat. Ubiquity perhaps?

A real Mini (none of the crappy BMW stuff) with a Civic engine?

I’d go ‘up a size’ to give you a good contrast to the wifes car so:

SX4?

Hora, the missus has an SX4. We love it since the visibility is so good for the kids in the back and it’s nice and solid. It’s the fact we love the SX4 so much which makes us want a Swift.

+ Type R

I had one for a couple of years and got around 35 on a run and 30 ish in normal mixed driving, however if your a big fan of using the second cam profile then yes 20 ish mpg.

However it’s got a brilliant engine and gearbox and goes like a scalded cat.

Megane 225 cup
Seriously good car, I’ve had a few fast cars, and this was by far the best one to drive, handles like its got Velcro wheels

Twingo GT. Cheap to run, cheaper to buy than the RS model, but great fun. Apparently you can get it close to the BHP output of the renaultsport with some tweaking to ECU and adding some new hardware.

I love mine (got a great deal on the gordini trim version).

Cooper S (turbo not the supercharged one)

Great on fuel averaged 38mpg with a heavy foot!, good fun if you can get one with the mechanical LSD even better. Well built and will be worth something when you sell it!

I miss mine quite a bit!

Preza!

Ooooh yeah (in a Ferris Bueller style)

I don’t wish to be known as a VW Golf bore (Ha!, too late for that) but what about something like MK1 Gti with 2.0L TSR Engine – £2800

Looks nice for that price and now’t much will keep up with it on a twisty road

My MK2 Golf ABT 16v is at the end of this thread pages 1 and 2 if you wish to be bored some more.

Despite spending well over £7k on it i doubt i’d get £4k for it if i sold it (never will though) unless someone really wanted it, but it can only go up in value so i see it as an investment……that’s what i tell myself.

Clio 200, amazing fun but not the best on fuel. I’ve always had good experience with dealing with Renault as well.
I may be just a little bit bias though 🙂

Suzuki Swift Sport is a good car, but not cheap to run for what it is.
High emissions put it in brackets around the hotter 200bhp hatches. Fuel economy is barely more than 30mpg. First versions (around 2007) had tyres that were unique to Goodyear and were £110 per tyre.

As much fun as it was to drive I’d be looking at something faster than wouldn’t cost much more to run.

Integra Type R if you go a bit older. Get a good one and it won’t loose money.
Fabia vRS diesel. Not quite as much fun, but very frugal.
Megane 230. Test drove one and it was brilliant, not the best quality cabin, but not everyone cares about that.

That’s from actually driving all those and owning the Swift & Integra. Not merely speculating 🙂

Hmmm, I think I’m even more confused than when I first asked this question 😐

stilltortoise – Member

Hmmm, I think I’m even more confused than when I first asked this question

😆

Stick with Suzuki Swift Sport. Simple.

There is no such thing as hot hatch that comes with fuel economy. It’s like saying you want the F1 cars to run on half the fuel load …

Suzuki Ignis sport, absolutely amazing little cars!
45 mpg all day long, 120bhp/ton, brilliant handling and the boot fits an upright Mtb with the wheels removed.
Genuine mini rally car, was designed to compete in the junior wrc, from memory I think it won!
Had one last year & stupidly sold it, currently looking for another!

we’re picking up a Seat Ibiza Cupra on Friday.
Handles like a roller skate, 160bhp and diesel so 60mpg on a run!