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Top gear hot hatch what's your fav...
jossey - 3/2/14 at 01:23 PM

Thought I would see what everyone thought....

r1_pete - 3/2/14 at 01:30 PM

Don't care, Wife and I had several Astra GTEs, like was said on the programme only thing you could depend on was that at some point they would get nicked.
Proper go kart handling, and fairly simple under the bonnet for owner maintenance, wonder which bone yard B911 FWF, D921 BCX and A899 VVP ended up in.....

sdh2903 - 3/2/14 at 01:32 PM

I had the slightly better version of the xr2i in the RS 1800. So I'm biased. As an overall car has to be the golf.

jossey - 3/2/14 at 01:43 PM

The gte I had was good but the digi dash never worked properly lol

No idea on engine temp or speed lol

ali f27 - 3/2/14 at 02:14 PM

Hi i had golf xr2 zetec engine 306 rallye and fiat strada arbarth suppose it has to be rallye fastest but loved the arbarth one of the most chuckable things i ever owned

twybrow - 3/2/14 at 02:50 PM

That test needed a 205 GTi, a Gold GTi and something like an Uno Turbo or Renault 5 Turbo.... Do some proper tests (acceleration, handling, subjective driving pleasure), plus look at maintenance/running costs etc. That would have been worth watching!

As for the cars they chose - the only choice there was the Golf, but as others have said, why did they get such crappy examples of each....?!

mark chandler - 3/2/14 at 03:05 PM

Would have been the golf if 2 doors 16v, went fiesta

whitestu - 3/2/14 at 03:12 PM

None of the above! It's not a great list of hot hatches.

loggyboy - 3/2/14 at 03:32 PM

Nova 100%.

Had 2 SRis, and 2 redtopped Merits, if they werent all rotten or extortionate id have another tomorrow.

balidey - 3/2/14 at 03:40 PM

As above, the test needed some better cars (205GTi, Strada Abarth, Delta HF)
But the whole piece was a joke item, and they blew two up at the end (and they did that wrong, they should have blown up the Nova twice).
So all in all, I'm not too bothered about the car selection.

Scuzzle - 3/2/14 at 04:16 PM

Should have been a MK1 Fiesta, a MK1 Golf and a MK1 Astra GTE.

coozer - 3/2/14 at 04:20 PM

They should have found a Montego Turbo...

motorcycle_mayhem - 3/2/14 at 05:20 PM

Showing my (hatching window) age here.... Hillman Imp, but it's not on the list :-(

PAUL FISHER - 3/2/14 at 05:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by coozer
They should have found a Montego Turbo...


Not a hatch, but a great car, I had one 20 odd years ago, BBR tuned, a real rocket ship,you might be thinking of the Maestro was the hot hatch version? again a true hot hatch, 150bhp back in 1988 was a bit quick

[Edited on 19/05/04 by PAUL FISHER]

smart51 - 3/2/14 at 06:06 PM

My first choice would have been the AX GT, but not for Top Gear because I wouldn't want them to smash one up.

steve m - 3/2/14 at 07:13 PM

Agreed, my old Astra GTE was a very cool car, until I found out it was two cars welded together, and I got the seller to buy it back
before I shopped him,

Shame he still had it up for sale when the police turned up !!!

IainL - 3/2/14 at 07:17 PM

What about the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus?

matt_gsxr - 3/2/14 at 07:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Scuzzle
Should have been a MK1 Fiesta, a MK1 Golf and a MK1 Astra GTE.


agreed. I had a Mk1 golf GTi (1.8, 5 speed, no sunroof, Lhasa green), still go on the occasional e-bay hunt for replacement.

I don't think that they come in under 1k.

big-vee-twin - 3/2/14 at 07:46 PM

Who could forget the MG metro Turbo?

Er most people I think!

jossey - 3/2/14 at 08:27 PM

Maybe we need an edited poll with lots more choice on.

I did feel it was missing a real road test...

nick205 - 3/2/14 at 08:50 PM

Top gear don't do proper road tests so stop lamenting the fact. It's car based, scripted entertainment (which I enjoy on a Sunday night, with a beer or two).

Of the cars there, the Golf was the only real choice. The Fiesta was a dog then and now and the Nova loses on driver image alone (no offence Loggyboy )

Obviously the 205 GTI is the better of all of them and the only choice

That said, I've always had a hankering for a Corrado as well

coozer - 3/2/14 at 09:22 PM

quote:
Originally posted by PAUL FISHER
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
They should have found a Montego Turbo...


Not a hatch, but a great car, I had one 20 odd years ago, BBR tuned, a real rocket ship,you might be thinking of the Maestro was the hot hatch version? again a true hot hatch, 150bhp back in 1988 was a bit quick

[Edited on 19/05/04 by PAUL FISHER]


I had a Montego turbo for a little while (the motor ended up in my Striker) and boy what a car. All I did was shorten the wastegate rod (and strip out the trim) and that was that, undrivable is the word, massive torque steer.. it lumbered up to 2500rpm then the turbo lit up and the revs went to 8000 in an instant.. the body came apart at the seams and that was the end of it!

Something went wrong during the transplant (20 years on now and I bet it was the carb seals) and the intercooler low down on the front of the Striker kept filling up with petrol.. that was way too scary for me, getting fuel sprayed all over the windscreen so it came out in favour of a ZX9R motor...

theduck - 3/2/14 at 10:42 PM

Missed the ultimate hot hatch, the Clio Williams

GRRR - 3/2/14 at 11:35 PM

I voted Nova, as I used to have one, a 1.2 Swing with duct tape rear arches and a brown interior. Lush.

Then I had many Uno Turbos, and now I'm restoring one! Got a digi dash for it too :-)

Paul Turner - 4/2/14 at 10:01 AM

For me it has to be the Golf GTi. Had 2, bought first in 1986 and then another in 1989. Did a lot of miles in them, towed the Seven to speed events and never had any problems, sold the last in 1996 with 113,000 miles on it. Only sold it because wifey did not like driving cars without power steering due to a shoulder problem. Been keeping an eye on it for the past few years on the DVLA site, quite remarkably it was still taxed to the end of November, now untaxed. Would have been nice to see it get to its 25th birthday in May. Wonder how many miles it did in the last 18 years.

But I suspect (along with several work colleagues - one still owns a GTi) that the car on Top Gear was a ringer. Ignoring the grille it just looked wrong. It may have had the engine etc but did it start life as a GTI, who knows.

carpmart - 4/2/14 at 11:01 AM

quote:
Originally posted by PAUL FISHER
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
They should have found a Montego Turbo...


Not a hatch, but a great car, I had one 20 odd years ago, BBR tuned, a real rocket ship,you might be thinking of the Maestro was the hot hatch version? again a true hot hatch, 150bhp back in 1988 was a bit quick

[Edited on 19/05/04 by PAUL FISHER]


I had both the Montego and Maestro. The Maestro had the worst torque steer I've ever experienced in a car ever (and the worst turbo lag ever). I was running quite a bit more boost than it was originally specced for, just a simple shorten the wastegate actuator arm jobbie, but boy was it effective! They were company cars and I was a good bit younger and more reckless than I am today.

Trollyjack - 4/2/14 at 12:47 PM

I had a Mk1 XR2
2 x XR2s Mk2
then went to Fiat
had 2 Fiat uno Turbos also had them chipped these could catch pigeons very quick.

Then went up to a Toyota Mk2 supra 3.0 turbo had to sell could not keep up to petrol tank.

loggyboy - 4/2/14 at 01:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
the Nova loses on driver image alone (no offence Loggyboy )


None taken - allthough I think that image is largely forgotten now - even the the latter 90s 106s, saxos are starting to loose that image. Its now Clios and those Limited Ed 1.2 corsas with big wheels which are the chavs choice. I cant remember the last time I saw a nova on the road that wasnt standard and being driven by a granny. All the others have either been shipped to ireland for rallying or rusted away.

Paul Turner - 4/2/14 at 01:38 PM

With regards to the Maestro GTi there is one nice thing I can say about it, made my XR3i appear to be a good car. The Maestro demonstrator was nearly new and falling apart, my XR3i was a nasty piece of work but at least most things stayed where Ford intended.

mcerd1 - 4/2/14 at 02:32 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Its now Clios and those Limited Ed 1.2 corsas with big wheels which are the chavs choice.

even my old S1 106 had lost a bit of the image back in 2003 - all the ned's had moved onto S2's and saxo's then...

why is it that the most heavily modified ones are always the slowest models ?



one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the road was a 1.2 corsa C (with every bit of tat that halfords sell nailed to it and some giant wheels) driving up a bit of a hill on the dual carriageway at about 60mph
my bog std. poverty spec 106 was managing to do about 65mph with all of it 45hp (top speed for up hill...) so started to pass very slowly....

this resulted in the ned in question getting a bit exited and bouncing up and down in his seat - I have to assume he was a bit upset that he'd just been overtaken by a crappy 106 with a big '1.0' badge on the side - either that or he'd just found a snake in the car
(I was just trying to ignore him)

then when the cars were level out of the corner of my eye I saw the worlds most dramatic gear change - this seemed to trigger a very loud electronic dump valve effect (loud enough to hear at that speed) and I can only assume he put it in 3rd and hit the rev limiter as he suddenly disappeared

[Edited on 4/2/2014 by mcerd1]

BangedupTiger - 4/2/14 at 07:11 PM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
My first choice would have been the AX GT, but not for Top Gear because I wouldn't want them to smash one up.


Best car I ever owned. i'd pay silly money if I could get it back.


Out the list, Golf is obviously the best.