What is the best Hot Hatch

bodzio69

Hey guys,

I'm planning to change a car later this year. I will probably get a hot hatch between 2007-2008. What car would you recommend?. I like these three: Volkswagen Golf MKV GTi, Opeli Astra OPC or Honda Civic Type-R. Mostly will be driving motorways. Focus ST is not considered because of too big engine 2.5

Red Kev

Difference in tax between a 2.0 and 2.5 is about €380, not enough to totally discount the ST when you consider the overall costs of running cars like that.

Better drive than the Golf anyway, never driven the Honda.

Queenalocin

What about a Renault Megane 1.6 or a Mazda 3?

kona

Queenalocin wrote: »

What about a Renault Megane 1.6 or a Mazda 3?

Megane 225 is a 2l turbo

bazz26

A 1.6 Megane is not a hot hatch.

OP, I suggest you test drive all of those you mentioned, they all have their own pros and cons so it will really boil down to which one you like the best. It's a nice dilemma to have though.

Gavman84

I got a Focus ST end of last year. Ya tax is a pain but I'm happy to pay it. The engine is class love the sound of it and plenty power and easy to mod if you want. Lovely car to drive look great imho. Best decision I ever made should got one years ago! Lot less common than gti too which I think is a bonus.

John_Rambo

The savings when buying the ST should outweigh the tax? I had the VW Golf GTi and loved it 100%, but I felt the ST was rawer, more fun, gruntier and I had an unreasonable feeling it was more reliable.

Penalty point maker though. Stupid stupid, ridiculous, silly, orange, obnoxious, hilarious, loud, popping, hot, stiff, cracking, amazing car.

If it was a dog it would be a bull terrier crossed with a greyhound with some jack russell, some boxer, husky, some pekinese attitude. All on doggy cocaine. Trouble, but fun!

Let us know what you get!

kona

The megane 225 is a better car than the focus st or golf gti . The st is fantastic tho, funnily the pre 08 cars are more to tax!

Golf gti, well they are as common as rats.

John_Rambo

kona wrote: »

The megane 225 is a better car than the focus st or golf gti

Never driven one, did you have one? They really look and "read" amazing. Best of a good lot on paper!!

kona

John_Rambo wrote: »

Never driven one, did you have one? They really look and "read" amazing. Best of a good lot on paper!!

Looked into buying one, read all the reviews , tests etc came down to the st or 225 f1 but then the bollox fell out of the euro and there went my plans.
Have a Clio 182 which is great but the megane is turbo which means much more fun.

Clio 182 or a ek9 would be another option if your into pure raw hatchback Craic.

The noise off the st is sick tho , there's a gorgeous one in the garage on coyningham road. Loads of rs bits on it.

John_Rambo

kona wrote: »

Looked into buying one, read all the reviews , tests etc came down to the st or 225 f1 but then the bollox fell out of the euro and there went my plans.
Have a Clio 182 which is great but the megane is turbo which means much more fun.

There was a cracking 225 on backroads.ie a while ago! Fantastic that you have the Clio 182... stunning stunning super cool car. One of them would turn my head more than a Porsche boxter. I have a thing for small high powered cars and love the balls people have to buy them. Smiley face makers!

kona

John_Rambo wrote: »

There was a cracking 225 on backroads.ie a while ago! Fantastic that you have the Clio 182... stunning stunning super cool car. One of them would turn my head more than a Porsche boxter. I have a thing for small high powered cars and love the balls people have to buy them. Smiley face makers!

If it's the white f1 I've seen it. Was up last year for ages for sale. Saw it on a donedeal a few months ago for more money and more mileage. Shame.

farna_boy

Leon Cupra?

Caliden

Never driven one but the 2003+ S3 looks like a nice car with a 2L turbo.

Rare enough car though. No idea what they're like to live with though.

bodzio69

Thanks to all for advice. This is what I think about these three cars. Golf GTI has a bit boring look but I believe is very reliable as a normal day to day car. It's worth to add that has super automatic DSG gearbox which doesn't last long. Opel Astra OPC looks aggressive and probably is an aggressive on the road too but buying a car with intercooler and turbo will be a bit expensive to run. Finally Honda Civic Type-R is my favorite so far because is spacious, has very good engine without turbo and doesn't burn tons of petrol while using in normal drive. Some people say that this car generates only 140bhp when not on high revs then you get full 201bhp when revs over 5000. Sound good because be honest I won't use 200 bhp driving in town and that will reduce fuel consumption which is around 10L per 100km when driving smoothly.

kona

bodzio69 wrote: »

Thanks to all for advice. This is what I think about these three cars. Golf GTI has a bit boring look but I believe is very reliable as a normal day to day car. It's worth to add that has super automatic DSG gearbox which doesn't last long. Opel Astra OPC looks aggressive and probably is an aggressive on the road too but buying a car with intercooler and turbo will be a bit expensive to run. Finally Honda Civic Type-R is my favorite so far because is spacious, has very good engine without turbo and doesn't burn tons of petrol while using in normal drive. Some people say that this car generates only 140bhp when not on high revs then you get full 201bhp when revs over 5000. Sound good because be honest I won't use 200 bhp driving in town and that will reduce fuel consumption which is around 10L per 100km when driving smoothly.

There's feck all torque in it tho! Which means if you want power you need to drive it hard, which can be a pain.
Which year typeR are you looking at?
Best thing to do is drive each one? If you want a performance car you have to expect it to be expensive , they require looking after and do use a good bit of petrol.

Special Circumstances

bodzio69 wrote: »

Thanks to all for advice. This is what I think about these three cars. Golf GTI has a bit boring look but I believe is very reliable as a normal day to day car. It's worth to add that has super automatic DSG gearbox which doesn't last long.

Opel Astra OPC looks aggressive and probably is an aggressive on the road too but buying a car with intercooler and turbo will be a bit expensive to run.

Probably you know this and I've just misinterpreted the way you worded your post - but you know the Golf has "an intercooler and a turbo" too yeah?

TBH an intercooler is just assumed with any forced induction engine from this century - the phrase "intercooler and turbo" is a bit redundant.

dar83

If you want a car without an intercooler and a turbo, then you don't really want a hot hatch. That persons suggestion of a 1.6 Megane might suit your needs more than it first appeared.

The Golf GTi and the OPC will have a similar 10l/100km (or less maybe in the Golf's sake) if you drive it smoothly and off the turbo as you seem to want. So I would honestly say the fuel cost differences will be negligible at the end of the day.

Out of the three you've shortlisted, I'd go for the Type-R as well to be honest but you're overlooking the two best in the class of that era, the Megane and the Focus. The tax bill might be higher on the Focus, but the money you'll save up front on the purchase cost will probably pay the tax difference for 2-3 years anyway, so unless you plan on keeping it long term, then it really makes no overall difference.

On running cost differences, you don't honestly buy a hot hatch on a running cost budget, you'll only end up regretting it and selling it on when you realise that none of them are cheap to run, they're only variances of less or more expensive. You buy one because you don't really care about running costs and that the smile it gives you driving it every day is worth those running costs. You have to think about more than Petrol and tax running costs as well, because you're gonna go through tyres more quickly and you'll need good ones as well, not cheap ones. With the age a lot of the 06-08 cars are at this stage you realistically have to think about the fact the suspension parts are most likely going to need some work soon, timing belts are going to need to be done, services will be more on the major service side of things also. Unless you get a car from a very on the ball previous owner you're going to be looking at all of the above and even if you do get one from such an owner, the car itself won't be on the cheaper end of the scale to buy.

everlast75

Having driven a type R 2008 for about 40k miles, I loved the car. Every single day of it. No trouble or issues with it. 570e or so a year to tax as it was pre-increase in tax, july 2008. Was fantastic fun when you put the foot down and the VTEC kicked in!

I would say the Focus is similar to the R but might be a bit cheaper - cannot comment on anything else, ie build quality.

I got rid of it as I wanted a change and have ordered a new GTD (diesel GTi), 5 door.

On a side note, the new Type R will be out in Sept and looks absolutely savage!!

Henry Ford III

everlast75 wrote: »

...I would say the Focus is similar to the R but might be a bit cheaper

Engine wise they couldn't be much more different. 5 cylinder warble, bags of torque at any revs, turbocharged and complete with bangs and pops on the overrun versus a 4 cylinder high revving racy vtec engine with relatively low torque and a "jeckyl and hyde" power deilvery.

As was said earlier all of these cars will be relatively expensive to run, and fuel economy really shouldn't be a very high priority in making a decision between them.

p.s. I had a Focus ST in 2006 - loved it.

madcabbage

Anything to be said for a Mini Cooper S?.... No?.... I'll get my coat! :pac:

John_Rambo

everlast75 wrote: »

diesel GTi