Hot Hatch Owners

stevep85 · 31 Mar 2019 at 21:39

Went for a drive tonight and I'm really starting to get a feel for what these cars can do. I'm taking it easy for now and only opening her up on the straights but the pull is just insane.. in some ways it's just unreasonable lol.

One thing that's only really occurred to me today is just how low/close to the road I am.. coupled with the RWD it's a much more engaging experience. Can't wait to get out on some winding country roads I think they will be a blast.

One annoyance though, why didn't I do this sooner?

Meaker · 1 Apr 2019 at 08:49

stevep85 said:
Went for a drive tonight and I'm really starting to get a feel for what these cars can do. I'm taking it easy for now and only opening her up on the straights but the pull is just insane.. in some ways it's just unreasonable lol.

One thing that's only really occurred to me today is just how low/close to the road I am.. coupled with the RWD it's a much more engaging experience. Can't wait to get out on some winding country roads I think they will be a blast.

One annoyance though, why didn't I do this sooner?

Do it too soon in your life and you are more likely to do something very silly

Shadowness · 1 Apr 2019 at 11:42

stevep85 said:
Went for a drive tonight and I'm really starting to get a feel for what these cars can do. I'm taking it easy for now and only opening her up on the straights but the pull is just insane.. in some ways it's just unreasonable lol.

One thing that's only really occurred to me today is just how low/close to the road I am.. coupled with the RWD it's a much more engaging experience. Can't wait to get out on some winding country roads I think they will be a blast.

One annoyance though, why didn't I do this sooner?

Driving one of these has really emphasised how 'pointless' supercars etc are today. You can't even use 100% of the BMWs power on most roads, and it's only 340. How are you supposed to use 600+ on the roads?!

GuruJockStrap · 2 Apr 2019 at 18:57

My contribution to the thread:

Had it for about a year now after replacing a Focus ST Mk3.

The colour is a bit marmite but I like it

Shadowness · 2 Apr 2019 at 23:48

Did they run out 3/4 of the way through?

Housey · 3 Apr 2019 at 01:00

I had a Polo GTi

Yea, read it and weep!

theone8181 · 3 Apr 2019 at 07:48

Shadowness said:
Driving one of these has really emphasised how 'pointless' supercars etc are today. You can't even use 100% of the BMWs power on most roads, and it's only 340. How are you supposed to use 600+ on the roads?!

Backroads

. Or traffic light grand prix

.

Mobius 1 · 3 Apr 2019 at 08:11

What’s it like to drive @GuruJockStrap ?

I actually quite like the colour

Building Candy · 3 Apr 2019 at 08:45

GuruJockStrap said:
My contribution to the thread:

Had it for about a year now after replacing a Focus ST Mk3.

The colour is a bit marmite but I like it

I hope you were in B&M buying some red paint to finish the back off

GuruJockStrap · 3 Apr 2019 at 09:25

Tauren said:
What’s it like to drive @GuruJockStrap ?

I actually quite like the colour

I can only compare it to a Focus ST MK3 but:

Interior and build quality much better than the car it replaced.

The two main criticisms I read from reviews was driving position (position of dials and wheel obscuring them) and the touchscreen (no actual buttons to control climate control).

I'm 6 foot tall and driving position is spot on. Dials can be clearly seen. As for touch screen and climate control, its auto control so I just leave set it to 21 degrees all year round and rarely touch it.

Power delivery is different to the ST. The ST had lots of torque available low in the rev range. The 308 GTi feels like a 1.6 when driving round town but feels fantastic above 2.5-3k rpm; really defies it's engine size. It's also approx 200kg lighter than the ST, which you can definitely feel when pressing on. The Torsion differential is great. Couple of sweeping slip roads that I regularly drive on that you can keep applying power. No chance of that in the ST. When you need to stop in a hurry, the 385mm Alcon brakes get the job done quickly and without any drama. The ST suspension felt hard when driving at low speeds. The 308 GTi is much more livable in comparison. No different driving modes to fiddle about with and configure, just get in and drive.

Fuel consumption is also better than the ST. I was averaging 30 mpg. In the 308 GTi, I'm averaging 41 mpg over the same daily routes. Tax is £100 cheaper per year and insurance costs for me have also dropped.

GuruJockStrap · 3 Apr 2019 at 09:26

Building Candy said:
I hope you were in B&M buying some red paint to finish the back off

Ah! A fellow local?

carrot1401 · 3 Apr 2019 at 10:03

Thanks for the review @GuruJockStrap , shall remember that for the future

Mobius 1 · 3 Apr 2019 at 10:15

carrot1401 said:
Thanks for the review @GuruJockStrap , shall remember that for the future

Aye. Sounds like a good bit of kit !

kurosagi01 · 3 Apr 2019 at 10:31

The 208/308gti and i30n are indeed the sleeper choices at the moment, purely because no one wants them because of the badge and maybe reliability(french mainly).
Most hot-hatches nowadays i've seen are abarth 500, Golf,Fiesta,Focus and Mini..See the odd corsa/astra, S3,A45 AMG,m135/140i and Civic every now and then.
The 308GTI maintenance routine I think seems to put a few people off aswell, its a thirsty car in oil similar to a rotary from what i've read and requires regular oil change every 3k or something..which is the same for the 3MPS.
The Peugeot RCZR has the same engine setup as the 308gti aswell, would like to see a fair comparison between the two.

LiE · 3 Apr 2019 at 11:02

I see a ton of M135/M140 and S3/Golf R, they are very common cars.

carrot1401 · 3 Apr 2019 at 11:28

kurosagi01 said:
The 308GTI maintenance routine I think seems to put a few people off aswell, its a thirsty car in oil similar to a rotary from what i've read and requires regular oil change every 3k or something..which is the same for the 3MPS.

Wow...surely not!?!?! That's insane!!!

Dangerous Dave · 3 Apr 2019 at 11:38

carrot1401 said:
Wow...surely not!?!?! That's insane!!!

It's not the service is every 12.5k, it's the same core engine Mini used in the Cooper S/JCW the early 1.6T did burn oil but the later ones use very little. My wife's Mini would use about 1/4 litre every 10k

carrot1401 · 3 Apr 2019 at 11:42

Dangerous Dave said:
It's not the service is every 12.5k, it's the same core engine Mini used in the Cooper S/JCW the early 1.6T did burn oil but the later ones use very little. My wife's Mini would use about 1/4 litre every 10k

Phew (and yeah, I thought it's the same 1.6T in the 208 GTi I have, just a bigger turbo)

Steedie · 3 Apr 2019 at 11:52

LiE said:
I see a ton of M135/M140 and S3/Golf R, they are very common cars.

Yeah you get loads of Golf R and M135i/140i round here, starting to see the odd S3 around as well now.

Raymond Lin · 3 Apr 2019 at 11:55

I see a quite a few Golf R, S3, ST, even a couple of i30n. There is a M140i Shadow Edition in the work car park, some guy who works next door have a Sirocco R.

I've even seen the new Yaris GRMN as well but not seen a Abarth 595 here!