Which noughties hot hatch?

[ALFAitalia]

Mk 2 Golf GTI 16v.......chuckable, light enough and just about powerful enough to be fun. Practical size to carry 4. Its just finding a nice one.

 

[SpikyMikey]

Mk 2 Golf GTI 16v.......chuckable, light enough and just about powerful enough to be fun. Practical size to carry 4. Its just finding a nice one.

View attachment 174640

Classically classy

 

[SpikyMikey]

View attachment 174627
Sorry!

I'll be round later Mr D with a pocket full of crisp fivers

 

[DSM10000]

Mk 2 Golf GTI 16v.......chuckable, light enough and just about powerful enough to be fun. Practical size to carry 4. Its just finding a nice one.

View attachment 174640

Had the 8v and 16v.

The 8v was generally more fun to me because the 16v needed a lot more rpm to perform and was nicer to drive in traffic.

 

[Gollom]

Sorted: 220HP Clio Cup Race Car (Didn't Maff used to have one?)

 

[Ted]

Mk 2 Golf GTI 16v.......chuckable, light enough and just about powerful enough to be fun. Practical size to carry 4. Its just finding a nice one.

View attachment 174640

Yes. I think of all the hot hatches, this was the best. Not the best handling, not the fastest, not the best equipped, but the most enjoyable and ‘solid’ car to drive.
Re the Corrado. I had one for 3 1/2 years. Fantastic car. I took it to Saxa Vord, and it remains one of my all time favourite drives.
What a car!

 

[st13phil]

Here’s a left-field suggestion: Citroen Saxo VTS.

Simple, light, eminently chuckable, and with enough power to be lots of fun without so much as to be unusable on public roads.

The difficulty will be finding one that isn’t rotten, bent or thrashed to oblivion.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Mk2 Golf GTI (8v) was fantastic

but sadly the bodywork is now always.

 

[Chimp400]

Golf GTI MK5 is a good shout if you can find a good one. I had an Edition 30 for a few years that had a reputable remap on it and it really flew.
Focus RS MK1 but these are pricey now, still look great to me.

 

[Steveml63]

Hi,
I have been lucky enough to have owned a lot of hot hatches from early 80’s onwards.
In order I have owned Scirocco, Golf GTI mk1, Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce, Astra SRI, Ford XR3i, Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9, Nissan Sunny GTi hatch, Peugeot 205Gti 1.9 with power steering retrofit, Golf GTI Mk3 with AC, Peugeot 306xsi with super chip, Peugeot 106gti (one of first in UK), Peugeot 206GTi, Peugeot 306 HDI 3 door chipped, Peugeot 307 XSI HDI chipped, Golf Mk5 GTD chipped.
Loved the Scirocco and the Mk1 golf GTI
Loved the engine of the Astra SRi and the handling of the XR3i
Hated the 205 GTis on the limit
Really hated the 206 GTI on the limit
Loved the Sunny GTI - amazing 2 litre engine.
Loved the Alfa Romeo Sprint Veloce
Loved the 306 HDI - amazing handling
Loved the 307 XSI - but needed a new engine under warranty.
Loved the Mk5 golf

Cheers
Steve

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

An old mate of mine used to have a ratty 2.0 16v Astra GTE back in the day, which was a bit of an animal for torque steer. 150hp/1000kg approx and no driver aids of course.

I reckon a resto-modded 2.0 16v Nova would give Rob that adrenaline and nostalgia combo that he’s looking for

You know me well Will.

I would love to find an original Courtenay car, a Nova would be great but I’d consider any other model - beggars can’t be choosers and I never find them for sale. Same goes for Irmscher.

In period they were both the “ultimate” tuner cars for Vauxhalls. I’d love to find a car with period Blydenstein parts too. They were the old-skool engineering choice in period.

 

[HappytalkAgain]

Who cars about FWD or rear seats anyhow:

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[Bellow]

You know me well Will.

I would love to find an original Courtenay car, a Nova would be great but I’d consider any other model - beggars can’t be choosers and I never find them for sale. Same goes for Irmscher.

In period they were both the “ultimate” tuner cars for Vauxhalls. I’d love to find a car with period Blydenstein parts too. They were the old-skool engineering choice in period.

I thought you already had trod the Nova path - or are you looking for beyond SRi?
The only car that fits the category I think I could countenance would be the Peugeot 106 - for the delicacy of its handling.
I did 120,000 miles in a Nissan Almeria GTi until we parted company. It to the insurance salvage yard, me to Dr, Grays hospital. Tidy handling, strong engine and as unbreakable as an anvil. It ran quite high gearing though which was great for higher speeds but the gearbox had to be worked elsewhere if in a hurry. Ultimately though it always felt - when pressed - that the front end was having to do too much - the bane of FWD for me. Hence the appeal of the 106 - much less weight on the nose.
One other thing that puts me off this genre is the manual gearchange. Firstly because they are never that great - well, not next to a RWD small Ford and, I left-foot brake (no turning back from that) and the two just aren't compatible. Ironic that as these are exactly the cars that benefit most from left-foot braking.

 

[GeeJayW]

The Hot Hatch era was the eighties (followings the introduction of the Golf GTI in the seventies):

Astra/Nova SR, Escord XR3i (and yes, the RS2000 came earlier, but it wasn't a hatch), Peugeot 205 GTI, Renault 5 Turbo, Fiat Uno Turbo.... etc.

Most of the above later had a Mk2, Mk3, etc, which were never as exciting as the original car.

Yep. Some of that I think, was that in comparison to cars of the day, the Mk1 Golf GTI was a game-changer.

As airbags, side impact protection, crumple zone this, pedestrian friendly that all came in together with improved (heavier) creature comforts, stupidly large rims with big fat ultra low profile tyres, ABS, traction control etc, the cars just got bigger (18 inches wider), heavier by about 50% , safer, much safer and, all quite similar to each other in terms of performance.

The most irritating ‘hot hatch’ I played with was a Focus ST. Went very well, but the traction/stability control system was very intrusive and would just ‘take the throttle off you’ in a very obvious and annoying way.

The VR6 Golf was good fun, but it’s quite a big lump over the front wheels. Sounded glorious.

 

[fabes]

I had a Citroen AXGT and would again for fun
So, so light....

A golf GTI would be the only one that's likely still available though (MK1s going to be mad money though)

 

[Bellow]

Who cars about FWD or rear seats anyhow:

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!

www.autotrader.co.uk

I'll embrace your dispensing of rear seats but retain FWD and offer up a car that still intrigues me and is probably out of all the cars already mentioned the most easily available in better than basket case condition and really quite cheaply for what they offer. The Lotus M100 Elan.

 

[ChipChop]

The Skoda Fabia vRS diesel hot hatch (03-07) would be my choice if you can find one that is still stock. Rapid little things with the super reliable PD VW diesel engine.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I'll embrace your dispensing of rear seats but retain FWD and offer up a car that still intrigues me and is probably out of all the cars already mentioned the most easily available in better than basket case condition and really quite cheaply for what they offer. The Lotus M100 Elan.

Funny you mention those. I look at them in the classifieds regularly but have yet to pull the trigger.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I thought you already had trod the Nova path - or are you looking for beyond SRi?

I loved my Nova SR, but they don’t appeal enough to buy another. I would love to have a Courtenay, Irmscher or Blydenstein Nova because of the story as much as the car itself.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I thought you already had trod the Nova path - or are you looking for beyond SRi?
The only car that fits the category I think I could countenance would be the Peugeot 106 - for the delicacy of its handling.
I did 120,000 miles in a Nissan Almeria GTi until we parted company. It to the insurance salvage yard, me to Dr, Grays hospital. Tidy handling, strong engine and as unbreakable as an anvil. It ran quite high gearing though which was great for higher speeds but the gearbox had to be worked elsewhere if in a hurry. Ultimately though it always felt - when pressed - that the front end was having to do too much - the bane of FWD for me. Hence the appeal of the 106 - much less weight on the nose.
One other thing that puts me off this genre is the manual gearchange. Firstly because they are never that great - well, not next to a RWD small Ford and, I left-foot brake (no turning back from that) and the two just aren't compatible. Ironic that as these are exactly the cars that benefit most from left-foot braking.