Saloon v hatchback

_Kaiser_

I have to say I prefer big saloons myself. A hatchback or estate would not be something I'd go for in a car. With the exception of the Focus, there's very few (IMO) that look better in hatchback/estate form (cue torrent of O RLY? pics! )

JoeA3 wrote: »

Saloons may have huge boots (e.g. the VW Passat),. but the boot opening is small, making it a bit unpractical. Hatch / Estate is far more practical even though it may appear to be smaller.

Have to disagree. I had a B6 Passat for 5 years and never ran into any problems with the boot - at one point I was fitting several loads of 12 DELL Optiplex mini-tower PCs plus bits in there!

TVs I'll admit are a challenge, but any new ones I had delivered and when I moved it went on the back seat strapped in with the belt as I wouldn't want my big expensive flat screen sliding around the boot anyway.

Jesus.

Speaking of small saloons, there's some that don't look too bad a'tall.

A new Astra saloon went past me today and I thought it was an Insignia until I came up behind it. Grand looking yoke. Then there are the hatches that look like saloons. If someone had never seen an Octy before, they could be forgiven for thinking its a saloon rather than a hatch.

Unfortunately there are many small saloons that have that "tacked on" look, like they designed the hatch and then decided to just slap on a boot right at the end. Some of the old Focuses looked like that.

sean1141

Small cars usually look better in hatch form and big cars better as saloons IMO.
I had a 04 mondeo saloon and my friends sister had a 04 hatch.
She found the hatch easier for loading the kids buggy/shopping etc but thought the saloon was a nicer drive. When I drove the hatch I thought it was a little bit louder inside.

slimjimmc

I've heard some people say they'd never go for a hatchback (or an estate for the same reason) because they're afraid of break ins. They feel more secure in knowing their cargo is locked out of sight behind a steel bootlid. Having driven hatchbacks most of my life I don't let this deter me since most thieves are opportunists (see something, smash & grab). The parcel shelf keeps stuff out of sight.

JohnBoy26

MugMugs wrote: »

Ireland has this amazing love of Saloons and it's a love that I've frankly never understood.

Like said above, you can fit a variety of reasonable household items into the back of a hatchback that a Saloon couldn't take. Even TV sets nowadays couldn't be taken home by most Saloons.

Where did you get Hatchbacks having a smaller boot?y That's a new one on me!

The irish love of saloons thing is not really true anymore. Far more Irish people are buying hatchbacks these days. Even if you go to buy a hatchback version of a car(secondhand) you usually have to pay a premium over the saloon version nowadays. An 02-07 corolla is an example of this.

Also a modern tv can be carried in a saloon without any bother. Since tv's have become so thin and light they can easily be put on the backseat even a 40 inch screen etc.

Try doing that years back with an old 28inch crt and you would have run into problems :-)

Mc Love

Mondeo hatchback looks a lot nicer than saloon

THall04

Hatchback or Saloon????......why choose when you can get a big saloon car with a hatchback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi2WlCwsRpQ

ION08

THall04 wrote: »

Hatchback or Saloon????......why choose when you can get a big saloon car with a hatchback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi2WlCwsRpQ

C'est cool

The Diddakoi

THall04 wrote: »

Hatchback or Saloon????......why choose when you can get a big saloon car with a hatchback.

I thought it was going to be a video of a Jensen Interceptor

Victor Meldrew

slimjimmc wrote: »

I've heard some people say they'd never go for a hatchback (or an estate for the same reason) because they're afraid of break ins. They feel more secure in knowing their cargo is locked out of sight behind a steel bootlid. Having driven hatchbacks most of my life I don't let this deter me since most thieves are opportunists (see something, smash & grab). The parcel shelf keeps stuff out of sight.

1. imagine the cost of repairing someone getting into your boot. Think chisels hammers and crowbars...

2.Unlock-able folding back seats negate this percieved security in nearly every salon car.

not the brightest argument in many cases.

I have some time for the risk of "Burst through" in an accident though..

murphym7

THall04 wrote: »

Hatchback or Saloon????......why choose when you can get a big saloon car with a hatchback.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi2WlCwsRpQ

Beat me to it, a very cool system.

I would always have been a saloon man until fairly recently. Moved from a Passat to a Mondeo hatch and loved it. Now just bought an Octavia and dont think I would go back to a saloon again. Especially after just moving house - the Octavia was like a van. Could not believe the amount of stuff this car will fit.

MugMugs

murphym7 wrote: »

Beat me to it, a very cool system.

I would always have been a saloon man until fairly recently. Moved from a Passat to a Mondeo hatch and loved it. Now just bought an Octavia and dont think I would go back to a saloon again. Especially after just moving house - the Octavia was like a van. Could not believe the amount of stuff this car will fit.

The Octavia is excluded from this debate due to the size of it's boot :pac: