Which new hot hatch?

Has to be the FD2.

The 1 series is far from decent for 4 adults in comparison to its competition, and has a tiny boot.

I find it odd that you find the ST and Cupra unengaging, yet the ST is a lot more fun to drive than the Golf and the Cupra is basically the same car, is it not?
 
MikeHiow said:
Has to be the FD2.

The 1 series is far from decent for 4 adults in comparison to its competition, and has a tiny boot.

I find it odd that you find the ST and Cupra unengaging, yet the ST is a lot more fun to drive than the Golf and the Cupra is basically the same car, is it not?
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The ST is definitely better than the Cupra and GTI, but in comparison to the Megane, the steering feedback is a touch vague, plus even with Eibach's on the one I drove the bodyroll was quite evident and it felt a touch less poised. The setup on the R26 is superb.

Otherwise, I love the ST, it's such a well made car, and I love the torque and the noise it makes. The one I drove wasn't standard though, it had the first Mountune kit of it.

I'm a 'Ford' man a heart - I had a Zetec-S and ST Fiesta as my first two cars. I want to love the Focus, I really do, but something is ultimately missing on the handling front. As a daily car though, it's the better car without doubt, but when being pushed/tracked, it will feel lacking compared to the Meg.

This video I agree with completely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUS3xmhz04c

Apart from the S3 finishing so high!
 
RussZS said:
I can get the current one fixed under warranty luckily, but I don't want to be paying out beyond that. I guess £20 isn't too bad though :)

The 250's are a step up in quality, I have a friend with one. As you say, perhaps waiting for one of those is a good call. They will probably be down to £15k by March! People buying them new are a touch crazy, they lose so much money in the first 18 months!

I've just seen that I can get a brand new 2.0T DSG Octavia vRS for c.£17k, but I guess I'd get bored of it quite quickly.
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It depends if the people buying them new are going to sell them after just 1 year. That's crazy for ANY new car though.

You won't see mine on the market. Ever.

:)
 
Clarkey said:
You can't get an FD2 for 15k, and neither is it a hot hatch :confused:
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Its not much over budget, and if it isn't a hot hatch - what is it? Civic = hatch, Type-R = Hot?

Russ - I get your concerns about the ST but this is going to be a problem with anything when coming from a car that is focussed on handling. Can I suggest trying another ST though - your concerns about bodyroll have never even occurred to me - much less as a problem. I wonder if the one you drove was a bit tired.

Beyond that, I think you'll have to ignore those "daily" qualities and aim for something more focussed to get your fix - namely the FD2.
 
You can get an FD2 for £15k, I've seen a few go for a touch under £15k, there was a silver one on PH recently for £14,800.

True it's not a 'hatch', but it's still an option for me.
 
RussZS said:
You can get an FD2 for £15k, I've seen a few go for a touch under £15k, there was a silver one on PH recently for £14,800.

True it's not a 'hatch', but it's still an option for me.
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That's very much the exception and not the rule though. I can't see any at less than 16k on PH, and the cheaper ones seem to be modded for whatever reason.

I had a flick through the japanese auction prices. The cheapest one on record sold for 13k, that's before ocean freight, taxes, IVA, etc.. The 18k importers are demanding for them seems realistic. Even as a shameless JDM fanatic, it seems a lot for a used Civic. On top of that, if and when the Yen rate returns to normal that will cause them to depreciate a LOT.
 
There's one on piston-heads with the AST upgrade already done for £17kLink

One of these might very well be my upgrade path from my DC5 in a year or so, 2 more doors so family friendly but still got a K20, win win!

Insurance is the only pain with an import really, parts are a non issue due to the big base of imported Hondas already so lots of friendly dealers and suppliers.
 
Hmm, just read that the FD2 went out of production at the end of August. FN2 sales (not production for other markets though?) will be ceased in the UK next month too. The end of the Type-R brand? Sad times if that is true.
 
Clarkey said:
Hmm, just read that the FD2 went out of production at the end of August. FN2 sales (not production for other markets though?) will be ceased in the UK next month too. The end of the Type-R brand? Sad times if that is true.
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Hi and welcome to last month :p

Nobody knows if its the end of the Type-R brand as Honda have not announced it, its simply the end of the K20 I-VTEC engine, nothing more.
 
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