Hot hatch runabout recommendations

[dern]

I'm looking for a hot hatch runabout or similar to use when we move to Norfolk. I know the roads well and know that a small darty car suits them well. I'm torn between getting something relatively recent such as an abarth 500 although it'll still be at least ten years old or something like a clio 182 which will be a bit older. I don't look after cars so I'm not looking for a minter that will be cosseted as a classic. It'll get used as intended and rarely washed. I do look after cars mechanically though and am happy to maintain a car properly as long as it isn't always broken down. I don't really want to spend any more than 7-8k. Any thoughts?

On the list is...
- Abarth 500, an 09/10 is about 4-6k
- Clio 172/182, an 05 is about 4-7k

Off the list is...
- Civic type r fn2, my wife had one and I didn't like it

Thanks.

[636mick]

Not sure what they fetch but I had a Clio 197 Cup, brilliant fun car.
Mick.

[v8-powered]

Probably be haters but great little roller-skates - Citroën DS3 1.6 THP 16V or DS3 Racing, if you can find one.
Also the Renault Megane RS or R26.

[KungFooBob]

The cost of changing the cam belt on the 172/182 Clio is eye wateing, make sure you factor it in if its due anytime soon.

The early Mini Cooper S with the tritec engine and supercharger is a fun car without the worries of the later Prince engines.

An SLK350 would be a laugh, but not a hot hatch, just a roofless overpowered gokart.

[Sadlonelygit]

Volvo C30 T5
Basically a focus rs/St thingy, but being a Volvo, won't have been owned by a total moron who spent most weekends doing burnouts in an attempt to remove young ladies underwear!

[KungFooBob]

Mazda 3 MPS.

They're proper quick, they're supposed to be 250bhp, but one easily out dragged me in my 272bhp 330i during a bit of a play on the M18 a few years back.

[Ditchfinder]

Swift Sport - the one before the Mild Hybrid

[Mr. Dazzle]

How much are Clio 197s/207s? They're a reet laugh they are. My old colleague had a Silverstone edition one with bucket seats which probably only needed one of it's back wheels at any given moment.

One of them, or the earlier 172/182, job jobbed.

I was gonna say Civic Type-R

[KungFooBob]

Swift Sport - the one before the Mild Hybrid

Rent4Ring, one of the main NurburgRing rental companies have been using Swifts for years, they can take a beating and are cheap to fix.

[KungFooBob]

Up the budget a bit.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/326105117107 ... media=COPY

Yeah it's not a hatch, but who's paying attention to the brief anyway.

[Noggin]

Swift Sport - the one before the Mild Hybrid

Rent4Ring, one of the main NurburgRing rental companies have been using Swifts for years, they can take a beating and are cheap to fix.

If only they did a soft top version!!

[dern]

Thanks very much for the suggestions...

- Clio 197 Cup, they look nice and will add to the list
- Citroën DS3, don't know anything about them but will check them out
- Renault Megane RS or R26, I do like those and have looked at them before
- Mini, I just don't like them and everyone I know that's had one has had issues with them
- Volvo C30 T5, it's not something that excites me, sorry
- Swift Sport, that's really interesting as I've always liked the idea of these... I guess that they're a little bland compared to the Abarth
- Tvr, I've had an s3 as a daily a few years back and then had to buy another car as it definitely turned out to be more of a hobby car than a daily so I think that although that griffith looks awesome it's not for me

With respect to the civic type-r... I know that they're popular but I thought that the fn2 that my wife had was a crashy lump with no finesse at all. We've had many cars that drove way better and were more fun. I've had a 2.2 prelude si-vtec also and I just don't like the characteristics of the vtec engine.

I had an impreza and thought it was awesome until I blew the engine up. It's not something I want another one of though.

[Dodgy69]

CV3

[MyLittleStudPony]

I know it's not what you're looking for but I'd be tempted by a BMW 320D or 330D.

[dern]

I know it's not what you're looking for but I'd be tempted by a BMW 320D or 330D.

They're good cars but not what I want. My wife has an e93 330i which is pretty good and much improved by replacing the god awful 19" wheels with 18" wheels last week after I broke the 19"s. But they feel like a big, heavy car and it's not really what I'm after.

[dern]

CV3

I don't know what that is.

[KungFooBob]

Or a 130i M-Sport.

[dern]

Or a 130i M-Sport.

That's an interesting idea. Thanks.

[dern]

With respect to the civic type-r... I know that they're popular but I thought that the fn2 that my wife had was a crashy lump with no finesse at all.

Yeah but if you get the suspension sorted then it transforms it.

The standard FN2 is actually annoying as hell to drive because of the ridiculously hard and crude suspension, but it's a well known issue and there are plenty of specialist places very well versed with sorting them out - and once you do it's like a different motor.

But if you don't like the vtec then it's no good anyway - although how do you not like the vtec....like I said it's a two stroke car engine, I thought it was hilarious.

It was a novelty when I first got the prelude (yo) but it got irritating after a while. I get that below the switch point the car is more economical and that you can change gear to move you in to the power band. However, I've had several rx8s and also a gt86 that definitely needed revs and down changes to overtake but the power linearly increased and was exciting but very smooth. The step change in the honda just felt crude to me. The change point was lowered in the civic which made it a bit better but I wouldn't have another I don't think. Each to their own though.

[Mr. Dazzle]

We had an EP3 'cause we're actually enthusiasts

We've got a non-R-but-still-VTEC FN2 now, it actually drives more crashily than the EP3 type R did Someone drove into the EP3 while it was parked outside our house and wrote it off. I'm still annoyed about that.