Warm/Hot hatch for under £7k.

movingforward2010

hewhoisnotintheknow wrote: »

yup, keep clear of them, riddled with problems

the 1.8T petrol Golfs and A3's are known for turbos to fail too

BillScarab

wxmlad wrote: »

No an Octavia is a Mondeo/vectra/A4 size car, after driving a VRs they feel heavy and are easily beaten off the line by a smaller cars. I certainly had no trouble in my 2.2 Astra pullin away from one ( on a private track of course)

An Octavia may be bigger than most cars in it's class but it's not Mondeo sized, it's got a smaller wheelbase than an Astra!

I think you'll find they're beaten off the line by faster cars, the size of cars has nothing to do with it.

have a look at Whatcar and see what class they think it is in.

http://www.whatcar.com/car-reviews/search?dimensionIds=368&dimensionIds=310

sebdangerfield

I've got a work collegue who used to be a Police Officer and was surprised at the comments about the Vrs. He says before he retired he had the choice between the usual s60, 330 and the Vrs and would always use the Vrs for looking for chases around the twisty little streets in town as it was so easy to drive and although not nearly as fast as the other two it'd easily be quicker to spin around and go after stuff going the other way and the handling was more predictable so he used it more.

I love the posts about diesels, especially the 1.4 super fast boy racer ones! I agree they've improved no end but so have petrols and lets remember that if diesels were so good, petrols wouldn't exist any more as they're more economical in general and cleaner, at least as far as what the government measure. They're there simply as an option, and that option's the one for people who want cheaper, cleaner motoring.

The OP just needs to decide exactly what he wants, to me a hot hatch is what a hot hatch has always been and there aren't that many around now. They were the low cost key to fast a to b motoring. Top speeds were irrelevent as they just had good handling, moderate power and low weight. All that meant that it had accessible power which could be exploited rather than ferraris with 450 bhp that couldn't use it unless the road opened up. All hot hatches now are twice as heavy as they need be due to saftey equiptment which detracts from driver involvement and heavier, more powerfull engines to achieve pretty much (bar the odd exception) the same performence as the same lighter, less powerfull cars from 10 years ago.

True hot hatches, Clio 172/182, Clio v6 had one for a while... ran out of skill...painfull! civic type r (the old one), Old focus rs... et al even my beloved 147 gta isn't really a propper hot hatch, it's too heavy, too powerfull to be fun all the time and then there's the handling! I just dont think you get the same with diesel hatches as you do with those cars.

movingforward2010

Weight has:

Octavia VRs 1415 kg
Astra GSi 1272kg
Civic Type R 1204 kg

They will do the 0-60 in under 7 seconds too. VRs is 7.5 i think?

The octavia looks like a big 'family' car, not a sporty hatch imo

But if you have an Octavia and love it fair enough

'I think you'll find they're beaten off the line by faster cars' yeah I said that before

As mention in the post above the clio sport was great, I had a 172 cup and it was amazing,especially in the bends, thats where i think the clio 172/182 performed the best..

maniac886

I would still like to get a fast hatch that can get close to the 30mpg....I won't be thrashing the car constantly and a majority of my journeys will be on the motorway if that helps.

I think after reading through various forums I am going to ignore diesels.

So here is the updated list:

Civic Type R
Leon Cupra R
Mazda 3 2.0 Sport
Astra 2.0T(170ps)
Toyota Corolla 1.8 VVTL-i Petrol

goldspanners

maniac886 wrote: »

I would still like to get a fast hatch that can get close to the 30mpg....I won't be thrashing the car constantly and a majority of my journeys will be on the motorway if that helps.

I think after reading through various forums I am going to ignore diesels.

So here is the updated list:

Civic Type R
Leon Cupra R
Mazda 3 2.0 Sport
Astra 2.0T(170ps)
Toyota Corolla 1.8 VVTL-i Petrol

Out of that lot I would go for the civic.

What about the Toyota celica? I'm sure they do a 190 bhp version of that.not the best looking though.

maniac886

goldspanners wrote: »

Out of that lot I would go for the civic.

What about the Toyota celica? I'm sure they do a 190 bhp version of that.not the best looking though.

Yeah I am not too keen on the Celica..the rear end looks a bit !!!!!!!:rotfl:

michaelro

wxmlad wrote: »

No an Octavia is a Mondeo/vectra/A4 size car, after driving a VRs they feel heavy and are easily beaten off the line by a smaller cars. I certainly had no trouble in my 2.2 Astra pullin away from one ( on a private track of course)

The Octavia is no where near as big as a Mondeo, Vectra or A4.

Not everyone takes part in the traffic light grand prix, as if they did they wouldn't be beaten by any astra except maybe the Turbo (which your 2.2 isn't)

wxmlad wrote: »

Weight has:

Octavia VRs 1415 kg
Astra GSi 1272kg
Civic Type R 1204 kg

As mention in the post above the clio sport was great, I had a 172 cup and it was amazing,especially in the bends, thats where i think the clio 172/182 performed the best..

None of the cars you mentioned will do a real world 0-60 in under 7 seconds.

As for the 172/182 - Great handling car - good fun but that's until it breaks and they usually do....

cookie_monster

Got a Leon Cupra (Not The R) and think it's a great car to drive with a very large boot and ample space in the back for 3 adults. Great spec with all the mod cons and also very easy to chip for a few hundred pounds to approx 210bhp.

tali

almillar wrote: »

An Audi TT 180bhp (single exhaust) might squeeze into you budget, and is actually a hatchback and surprisingly practical, bootspace wise, once you've got over it being a 2 seater. My wife has the 225 version and gets 30mpg.
Or the last shape Celica would be in your budget. 190 bhp in the VVTL-i, screamer of an engine, and 30 mpg. Coupe shape means it's less practical than a hathback would be.
Plenty of 3-Series coupes around that money.
But if it's a hot hatch you want go for the hottest, maddest one, 147GTA if you can find one.
You could drop your budget dramatically and buy a Nissan Almera GTi. This is the definition of a wolf in sheep's clothing, they're bland as standard but I think the GTi looks nice. I sold mine for £1200! 170bhp from a 2ltr DOHC 16v engine (same as Primera GT), 0-60 in 7.2 secs and over 30mpg, even with spirited driving. Still a reliable Nissan, drives great (far better than people will think) and plenty of toys, including of course aircon. Most hot hatch buyers want at least a bit of image though....

Nissan Almera GTi. is 143bhp - not 170 and Primera is 150- 0-60 way off as it is 8.4 - not 7.2 - in fact a 140 bhp Sunny GTi will muller it a 0-60 of 6.8.But yes Almera fab drivers car
Celica engine to peaky and needs to be worked hard
Best bet is BMW 320D 150bhp tons of grunt and refinement and owners reporting 40mpg with ease