Charade GTTI

dannycivic02 · 25 Mar 2011 at 23:24

Right Im after getting a little cheap to buy/run toy car and have been looking at GTTIs they seem to go for about a grand for a half decent one which is kind of my budget. Will be used to take me to golf and blast around back roads just really fancy a bonkers little turbo thing.

Does anyone have any experience with them ive always gone for civics but they are a bit overpriced nowadays.

If you don't know what one is 100bhp 1ltr in a car that weights as much as a matchbox :cool:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2593692.htm

Sparky · 25 Mar 2011 at 23:27

I remember these, they werea shed in 92 and they are sheds now.

Bennie-Mac · 25 Mar 2011 at 23:31

Ridiculous decision is ridiculous...

Lopéz · 25 Mar 2011 at 23:36

Yes, a good friend had on when I was in Uni and I've driven it many times

Pro:
Hilarious little thing to drive, just doesn't sound or perform like people expect a crummy little 1l car to.
No major mechanical dramas that we were aware of at the time

Con:
Violent lift off oversteer if you aren't careful with it
Capable of rotting horrendously
Disgusting interior/general build quality

If you have ever driven something like a Renault 5 GTT, early 205 GTI, AX GT or Uno Turbo and enjoyed it, chances are you will love a GTti.

Sparky · 25 Mar 2011 at 23:40

Lopéz said:
Yes, a good friend had on when I was in Uni and I've driven it many times

Pro:
Hilarious little thing to drive, just doesn't sound or perform like people expect a crummy little 1l car to.
No major mechanical dramas that we were aware of at the time

Con:
Violent lift off oversteer if you aren't careful with it
Capable of rotting horrendously
Disgusting interior/general build quality

If you have ever driven something like a Renault 5 GTT, early 205 GTI, AX GT or Uno Turbo and enjoyed it, chances are you will love a GTti.

Cant believe i am saying this but, the Ren5GTT [even more so Raider] had quite nice interiors in comparison to the Charade, my second Raider was awesome [so much so i still miss it] The 205GTi interior [red carpet goodness] was solid and dependable pretty much. The Charade was just a crock of **** from the get go! It was and still is a awful car!

Lopéz · 25 Mar 2011 at 23:42

I disagree - it's not an awful car as a package, but it's bloody disgusting inside

Bennie-Mac · 25 Mar 2011 at 23:45

Lopéz said:
I disagree - it's not an awful car as a package, but it's bloody disgusting inside

It might not be an awful car to drive, but the chances of it not being a complete rustbucket for the money the OP is looking at are very slim. Almost certainly a money pit in my opinion...

Sparky · 25 Mar 2011 at 23:48

Buy a 1.8 mondeo and save yourself a shedload of greif.

Biohazard · 26 Mar 2011 at 00:48

CS||nuTs said:
Buy a 1.8 mondeo and save yourself a shedload of greif.

Just make sure you don't buy a ****ter.

SithOllie · 26 Mar 2011 at 08:20

Had one of these 8 years ago, lovely fun little toy, but to be brutally honest, the 3 cylinder engine has probably been absolutely thrashed nowadays, bodywork will also be a PITA to look after. That and the apparent blazing speed you felt like you were doing is mostly because you're in a tiny tin can. Personally i'd opt for something else (106/306gti6!)

Dogbreath · 26 Mar 2011 at 10:02

dannycivic02 said:
cheap to buy/run toy car

dannycivic02 said:
GTTIs

You want something cheap to run so you are looking at a 20 year old shopping car with a turbocharged 1.0 liter engine that will have been thrashed mercilessly for most of it's life. Spot any flaws in the plan?

dannycivic02 · 26 Mar 2011 at 13:03

Bennie-Mac said:
It might not be an awful car to drive, but the chances of it not being a complete rustbucket for the money the OP is looking at are very slim. Almost certainly a money pit in my opinion...

My budget is expandable

for the right one, as for being a money pit as long as I find a reasonable shell anything else is only the cost of parts im a mechanic so all work will be done by myself and have all facilities so no costs there.

CS||nuTs said:
I remember these, they werea shed in 92 and they are sheds now.

Erm there sheds ok thankyou for the constructiveness of your comment unless you would like to expand on that.

Dogbreath said:
You want something cheap to run so you are looking at a 20 year old shopping car with a turbocharged 1.0 liter engine that will have been thrashed mercilessly for most of it's life. Spot any flaws in the plan?

Cheap to run to me is reasonable fuel costs so I doubt one of these will have the kind of mpg as a gas guzzling scooby or skyline, cheap to insure for me anyway, and cheaper tax as these come under the cheaper tax bracket being under 1600cc. As said above all work will be done by myself.

dilated · 26 Mar 2011 at 13:24

Lopéz said:
Con:
Violent lift off oversteer if you aren't careful with it
...

Not all of us will see this as a con

vanpeebles · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:06

The engines were really well made with drop forged internals, but age is going to be well against them now. The same for the bodywork too.

Gaijin · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:53

dilated said:
Not all of us will see this as a con

Knowing Lopez, if he says its violent, it means its terminally lethal to the rest of us.

d_brennen · 26 Mar 2011 at 18:59

Sleeper! Fiat Uno turbo was epic fun imo

dannycivic02 · 26 Mar 2011 at 19:06

Erm dude that video just sold it to me lol.

cee-S-dee · 26 Mar 2011 at 19:39

vanpeebles said:
The engines were really well made with drop forged internals, but age is going to be well against them now. The same for the bodywork too.

I was just about to say this. The internals were forged so handled boost really well. With some fueling i heard people hitting 180-200bhp with a bigger turbo.

Small tin turbo cars are so much fun! :cool:

eidolon · 26 Mar 2011 at 20:25

When I had my R5GTT a mate of mine had a Charade GTti and to be honest I never really liked it. Definitely didn't feel anywhere near as fast as the R5 and my mate blew his up twice so I'm not totally convinced about the reliability of them (especially considering this was about 15 years ago)

MissChief · 27 Mar 2011 at 03:49

SithOllie said:
Had one of these 8 years ago, lovely fun little toy, but to be brutally honest, the 3 cylinder engine has probably been absolutely thrashed nowadays, bodywork will also be a PITA to look after. That and the apparent blazing speed you felt like you were doing is mostly because you're in a tiny tin can. Personally i'd opt for something else (106/306gti6!)

This man has the right idea. a 306 GTi6 would be an epic car for £1k and you get a half decent one with T&T and cambelt change for that. They're comfy places to be and on a decent run you can easily get 30+MPG but it'll still blow out the cobwebs when you want it to.

The best place to look is the official forum (www.306gti6.com) but it's undergoing an upgrade to the forum so is read only atm.