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What could possibly be worse in a crash than an uno turbo?
Maybe not worse but on a par:
Fiat Panda Turbo
Citroen AX GT
Lancia Y10 GTie or Y10 turbo is pretty much a "Panda turbo" I suppose (complete with luxuries such as electric rear quarterlights).
AX GTs were amazing for their time. But yeah, wouldn't want to hit a wheelie bin never mind another vehicle with one.
Sadly realised that I don't have enough car photos for times like this. My short list:
- Clio 182. Daft, flawed and infinitely loveable. Still miss it, and the pain is made worse by knowing that it never made it to another MOT or Tax year after I sold it 🙁
- Fiesta ST mk6. Bought as the Clio wasn't exactly great as a daily commuter. Should've felt like the spiritual successor. It was great but couldn't hold a candle to the 182
Am I reading correctly that it was so fast and balanced up to 120mph yet drum rear brakes ?
What exactly is wrong with drums then ? especially on the rear on a car not used on the track....
Some cracking motors in the thread though
Ford Fiesta Mk 1 XR2
Ford Escort XR3i
Nissan Sunny ZX Coupe
Nissan Sunny ZX hatch
Mazda MX5 Mk1 1.8i S
Mazda MX3 V6
Peugeot 307 cc
Peugeot 308 cc
Now driving Tourneo Custom
However daughter has which I can use
Eunos Roadster Turbo
Mitsubishi Evo 5
Seem to have a habit of alternating between fun cars and more sensible ones:
1994 Mini Cooper, the proper mini only with injection rather than carbs...
2006 Renault Clio 197, successor to the 182 above- apparently not as good though. Loved it apart from the cost of the regular tyre and brake replacement.
2015 Merc A45 AMG, like a bigger badder Clio, sold it too soon for a family estate
2020 Merc A45S AMG, more refined than the previous one but much more mental (420bhp) at the same time.
Astra SXi was the closest I ever got to a hot hatch, it had white dials!
Civic Type-R EP3 - pretty much when it came out in 2002.
I had it for almost 15 years and 165,000 miles from new. Lovely car.
My one hot hatch, aged 22 I decided it was a good idea to take my work travel allowance in one lump sum and buy a R5 GT Turbo rather than taking the train.
No other car I've had has come close, scary fast (for the time), go kart handling. Still going as far as I know as it pops up now and again on social media and in the classifieds.
I haven't had one yet.
But I have been fighting the temptation of a yaris gr since they came out
One of the original hot hatches back in the 80's, one of the original 400 Chevette HS's which we rallied on roads and stages !
5 x standard Citroen Visa GTis (1.6 205/104 hybrid)
1 x Grp N Visa GTi which I then put an Mi16 in and competed in for a few years
3 x Citroen ZX 16v
1 x Peugeot 205 GTI 1.6
1 x Citroen Xsara VTS (5 sped 306 GTI6)
1 x Renault Clio 172 ph1
1 x JDM Honda Integra Type R DC2 (technically a coupe but the boot is a hatch so....)
Since then, dull sh1te but I have room in the garage for something, just trying to decide
Wish I had rented a storage place a couple of decades ago and filled it full of sub 1k 205s, old Fords etc. Would have made a fortune now even after all the costs
i loves me a hot hatch.
i've had:
Saxo VTR - then had a VTS engine fitted, throttle bodies, Pug sport GrpN suspension, roll cage etc. it was awesome.
Clio 182 cup
Clio 172 - converted to a time attack car.
Clio 200 - after a year i put a megane turbo engine in it.
Clio 182 FF Cup - was converted into a race car and did a couple of seasons of 750MC championship.
Fiat Panda 100HP
EP3 Civic Type-R JDM
mk7.5 Golf R
Megane (mk4) 300 Trophy
Megane R26 (current car, its old, but good fun)
I think thats about it. had a few other cars in between, but always come back to a hatch.
Some Wonderful memories here chaps. I only had a couple, a mini 1275GT was my first ever.... it was bloody brilliant. Loved that car, even though you could see the ground through the hole in the floor.
1.3 Nova SR. Best seats I ever sat in.
Boring company cars since then, although my Electric i4M50 is insanely quick. Retiring next month and I've got a hankering to get a really good hot hatch as a end of life crisis. Currently thinking about Yaris GR Circuit. That or a Fiesta ST.
To the various people thinking about a gr yaris, they're really very good, so much more than just a hot hatch.
The quality of the damping is amazing, just soaks up bumps and undulations in the road without flinching. I bet there's not much that is faster than one down your average b road.
They're also fun, very agile and adjustable mid corner on the throttle in a way that some 4wd cars are not.
Be careful under heavy braking though, the back goes light and moves around a fair bit, makes for great trail braking, but could catch out the unwary.
The brakes are tremendous, steering good, gear change good.
Interior is typically Japanese though, so hard scratchy plastics abound, plus you get quite a lot of tyre roar, and general mechical noises going on,its on the raw side rather than luxurious side.
You can fit a 29er enduro bike in the boot too.
My first was a Nova SR which was quick for a 1.3, lovely car but unfortunately it got nicked. Then followed by a Renault 5 GT turbo which was scary quick but like others have said, not a chance if you lost it, the body panels would kinda move if you pushed too hard with the cleaning sponge!!
I then had a bit of a windfall and chopped it in for an Astra GTE 16v, the only one I wished I still had.
I sold it for the deposit on our first place and then brought a Nova GTE. A great car which I had for a few years before my brother drove it to Austria, never to be seen again.
I loved my cars back in the 80’s and 90’s but modern cars just don’t move me like back then. These days I’m happy pootling around in the old T5.
I feel like I should have had so many more over the years, love a hot hatch!
In reality they were all warm rather than properly hot. Pics from the interwebz but all the right colours and specs.
The Suzuki was tepid rather than warm or hot! 10 points if you know what it is:
Rear engined, snicky 5 speed (!) gearbox, loadsa rust. Nothing not to like there.
The red one was a bit more like it - 130hp, weighed nowt, a lovely drive. Still would have preferred the VTEC version but I was poor at the time.
The first decent company car I ever had! 206 GTi HDi - diesel, dontcha know. List price of £14k and low emissions at the time made for very low company car tax.
This was my next decent company car, loved driving it. Only had it for a year or so but thoroughly enjoyed it, even down to the golf ball gear lever - manual rather than DSG.
Very jealous of some of your cars further up the thread, especially the Visa GTis, still have a soft spot for them now.
I'm only just in my 40s, so don't have quite the range of some of you guys. However. I've had hot hatches all my adult life, starting with a mk1 Fiesta with XR2 running gear.
Binned that off for a late mk2 GTI, which is still in the family. My stepdad's restoring it right now, and I can't wait to play with it again. It was standard, but I lowered and stiffened it, added G60 arches, ATS Cups, Passat wishbones, Recaros, and a Momo Race steering wheel as that was the law. Eventually dropped an ABF in it.
Had a mk3 16V which was dogshit, so that got replaced with a first gen S3. That got remapped and a set of Brembo GT juniors up front. It was a Friday car, though, and was resprayed once under warranty, then not a second time as Audi refused. It was sold for very little with the sills starting to split open. I'll probably never have another Audi.
Currently got a mk5 GTI, which I've had for ten years. It's also got ATS Cups, but other than a set of R8 coil packs it's remained standard. I've put 110,000 miles on it and would love to hit half a million. We'll see.
More warm hatch than hot hatch, but I used to have a Mazda 323 ZXI 2ltr V6, in metallic bottle green.
Loved that car, only got rid as I couldn't find a baby seat which would fit it 🙁
I had a couple back in the 80s:
Favourite was an XR2 Mk2 - fantastic wee car, not the fastest top end, but good acceleration, and handled well for the time, so great for the ‘point and squirt’ roads around where I lived in Aberdeen
Decided I wanted something bigger, and swapped it in for an XR3i - never really fell in love with this car in the same way. Despite being faster top end, it was less nippy on the throttle, and less sure footed than the XR2.
Preceding these two, I also had a Capri 2.0s, which I inevitably crashed on a greasy road when the back end let go in a corner. I wouldn’t be surprised if half the Capris ever built met their end in similar circumstances.
(not my car…)
First car was an R8/200 1.8 k-series 16v, which was a model that didn't exist (it was a limited run for Japan that they'd shipped over then shipped back when no one wanted to buy them) about 10 in the whole of the UK. Cost a fortune to insure and service. Also required trawling the manuals to find any engine/cooling/gearbox parts. Was pretty quick for what it was, and had leather/electric everything. Took me all over the UK racing.
Replaced that with a rebodied Astra MK2, was a half built cadet class rally car. The guy who built it decided (or maybe his wife did) that he wouldn't have time to do the half dozen other restos in his barn inc his dads old Sunbeam and a Quattro coupe SWB and drive either of his other rally cars. So i got it, engine gearbox and suspension was ready to race. Not actually very fast (only a 1300 cc) but very rev happy (7000rpm) and weighed bugger all. All the steering was sorted, as were the brakes.
Only problem is that he'd not installed the blower ducts properly, so it took a fortnight to demist the screen. Only had that for a year, if that.
Then onto an MG ZR160, which shit it's big end after <5000 miles. Once they replaced the engine and gear box i got some hookey camshafts from someone in the engine dev team that were destined for the 190 version of the engine, that did another 50000 miles without complaint and would happily zip round to 7500 rpm or more.
At 55001 miles i sold it and it almost lost 3rd gear as i went to go and pick up my diesel golf, probably due to my enjoyment of listening to the exhaust at 6000+ rpm... Didn't feel bad about it though, the dealers were a bunch of crooks (literally, the principal went to prison for fraud about 6 months after i sold them the car)! Rover had also managed to register it and VIN it as a ZR120, so that saved me most of the extra money i'd paid out trying to insure the earlier Rover that didn't exist in the insurance companies database...
Not owned any hot hatches since, nearly bought a 205 Gti with an Mi16 4x4 swapped driveline, but it was a bit rusty and a bit too rattly (probably needed a complete bare metal rebuild at that point) it was still sat on the guys driveway until a couple of years ago, more than 10 years after i looked at it.
Last proper hot hatch i drove was the C30 polestar performance concept. Shame it never went to production.
Some nice cars around! I'm old so many and various cars over the years. First hot hatch was a Mk2 Fiesta XR2, sold for a Pug 205Gti 1.6 - the special edition in metallic blue with full leather, lovely little thing. Next was a Renault Clio 16v, nice car but being French threw up all sorts of electrical issues. After that was a Honda Civic Vti, not really a hot hatch but was the forerunner to the Type R's. That turned into an Impreza RB5 - not a hatch but a truly brilliant cat that I kept for 14 years and 235,000 miles.
Then a Fiesta Zetec S diesel for commuting duties, followed by the first Mk7 Fiesta ST - proper little hooligan. I then had an urge for a DSG gearbox so got a Leon Cupra - good car but dull - now in a facelift Hyundai i30N which is just brilliant at everything 🙂
Here goes:
Fiat Cinquecento Sporting - I crashed it but I was totally unhurt!
VW Lupo 16v
VW Lupo GTI - Brilliant car
Smart ForFour Brabus - also a brilliant car
Fiat 500 Abarth Esseesse - a police magnet and just not very good
Audi S1 - was stolen
er BMW i3s
the 500 was style over substance.
BMW i3s
Yeah, i've most been driving diesel volvos for the last 20 years...
I had - and still have - a Mk2 Golf GTi 8v with a TSR motor, Konis, a stainless branch manifold and other things that I've mostly forgotten, but are probably still there. It's amusing in a visceral way. Feels faster than it actually is, which is good for licence retention.
Also a Corrado VR6, which isn't a hot hatch, but that doesn't seem to have stopped anyone else 🙄
I only had one - 205 GTI 1.6 (in 1986)
Then I too had kids….
Renault 5 Gordini turbo
Astra GTE 2L
Nova SRi
Then I became a ‘greenie’ and had normal family estate cars, practical and boring.
I only had one - 205 GTI 1.6 (in 1986)
Then I too had kids….
Peugeot 306XSI. Light and agile car. Or particulate ‘hot’ by todays standards with 135hp.
Audi S3 (8L) Probably my favourite car ever. Solid, planted and great ergonomics. Recaro seats were just amazing. Still miss it. 225HP so again not hot by modern standards.
Volkswagen Golf R (Mk7.5). Another great car which felt extremely planted. Has to be my second favourite car. Interior very well thought out - if not as nice as the S3.
Some cracking Escorts up there!
Mine:
Saab 900 Turbo - amazing in almost every way except when the boost caught you on a roundabout.
Nissan Almera GTi - surprisingly good. Used to run rings around my brother's M3 Golf gti. Plus it would happily bounce off the rev limiter!
Audi S3 (2002) - surprisingly bad. And went wrong so often it nearly bankrupted me.
Edit: to correct spelling mistakes. Jeeez editing a post is difficult in this new forum. It'll like trying to write a letter through a letterbox!
Great thread, here’s mine in chrono order…
Triumph Herald 13/60, fast road head, twin SS exhaust and twin 1.5” SU’s
Honda Civic Type R EP3 stock, tempted by another!
Audi A4 quattro sport avant, dull
Skoda Fabia VRS PD130 remapped, too quick without chassis upgrades
Mini Cooper S R53, Scorpion exhaust, want another for the supercharge whine!
Mini Factory JCW R56 (chocolate timing chain woes)
Currently in a Mini Cooper S F56 (with JCW Pro Tune pack)
Bluetooth JCW Pro exhaust and remap, very quick and loud in track mode if you want.
I’ve always wanted a Mk1 Golf or 205 GTI.
I’ve never managed to own either (and that’s very unlikely to change) but have finally got a Mk7 Golf GTI now, which I quite like 🙂 After owning a couple of estates and daily driving vans before that it’s good fun.
We had a Mk5 Polo GTI for a couple of years which was also a great little car.
Renault 5 Gordini turbo
FIrst car I ever thought was cool - when the lottery numbers come good, I'm hunting one down to restomod it.
Not really that hot, but had a Punto HGT in sprint blue, the Mk 2 atmo one - maybe the coolest looking car (or closest thing to it...) I've ever had. Loved that car - not that quick, not blinding handling, but fun to drive, and its fuel mileage readouts were comedic in their optimism. 🙂
Had a Golf GTD as a company car for awhile - didn't raise the pulse, but very capable, plenty quick for UK roads but did everything well. Which is not really what hot hatches are about... 🙂
Opel Kadet warmish starter!
Visa Gti
309 GTi both 5 door versions.
205 GTi 1.9 intention was to make it a track car ,but was too good to take apart.
But did do track days and The Ring with it.
Then moved onto various Subaru Imprezas.
Opel Kadet warmish starter!
Visa Gti
309 GTi both 5 door versions.
205 GTi 1.9 intention was to make it a track car ,but was too good to take apart.
But did do track days and The Ring with it.
Then moved onto various Subaru Imprezas.
Great Thread.
Nova SR
Nova Gsi
Hunted high and low for a Nissan Sunny Gti (not Gtir). Couldn’t find one.
Still get a bit of a hot hatch kick cos boss has an S3.
@chrispofffer, it's a Suzuki wizzkid!
I had a silver one which I loved but a friend drove it into tree and that was the end of that, sad day!
Then I too had kids….
Finally got another fastish car, kids love it!
Shame it weighs 2 tonnes!
But I have been fighting the temptation of a yaris gr since they came out
I'm at that point at the moment - current car is a 10 year old family-sized Scenic, and as both my daughters have moved out it's time for a change. I'd like something smaller, and a bit more fun... this thread isn't helping 😀
@chrispofffer, it's a Suzuki wizzkid!
I had a silver one which I loved but a friend drove it into tree and that was the end of that, sad day!
Correct! Not hot, not a hatch - although the rear glass did open - but super fun. Black ones were faster, obviously. Mine eventually became too rusty to pass an MOT so I gave it to a pal who did banger / grasstrack racing. Rear engine and general tinyness obviously helped for the class he raced in.
Yep. 2 golf gtis. Small bumper and big bumper
I’m late onto the scene, but I’ve had a Golf GTI, a GTD estate and now have an R Estate. Loved them all.
can’t figure out how to post photos of any of them though.
Never had a traditional hot hatch, the closest I got was a VW Scirocoo GT II like this one:
It did have a hatchback and was basically a lower Golf, TBF.
My current 2l Octavia TDi is probably the fastest car I've owned 😀
Loving this thread, though my contributions are no where near what others are! The only 'hot hatches' I've owned were 2 Peugeot 306 Gti6's. A sigma blue phase one and a black phase 2, both brilliant cars. Not owned anything fun for a long time, though forever window shopping (keep getting tempted by FN2 Type R's at the moment)