If You Had...

OK, on my driveway, and I am very VW blinkered, it would be a MK5 Golf GTI.

They are very reasonably priced now, you get plenty of firepower with the 2.0 turbo engine, nice cars and better looking than the MK6

:D
 
Nah, it's got to be a hot hatch this time around. Plenty of time for an M3 later on. Good shout though. :)

Plus, DAT INTERIOR. SRSLY? :D
 
A used R56 Cooper S and pocket the change.

It won't depreciate too badly, reasonable economy and running costs etc.

Heart says R32 though.
 
The R32 didn't excite you and you seem to know a lot about STs, in fact your posting seems to have a pro-Ford slant in this thread. I reckon you want one. It wouldn't (presumably) bankrupt you and will still enable you to run a hot hatch whilst saving for a house that you want in the future. You aren't massively concerned with interior quality and want something that is an engaging drive rather than just powahhh.

The answer is the Ford.
 
[TW]Fox;23047612 said:
Ask myself if I was really sure I needed to spend £14,000 on a Golf sized hot hatch. If I was, for example perhaps somebody had been taken hostage and would be killed if I didn't, then I'd probably buy a used Audi S3.

Brilliant. :D
 
Am I the only one really not seeing the issue with spending 12k-14k on a hot hatch?

Seems like there's a bit of bandwagon jumping in here - fox made an amusing comment about it so lets all agree to be cool. I can see the perspective that some wouldn't want to spend that sort of money on a hatch, but I don't think it's a big issue if that's what he wants. There probably are better cars for the money but they would be older with higher running costs. He's buying at 50% of the original price and they're mostly considered very good cars so not seeing why it's a huge problem. Yes he could spend less on the same car, but that applies to 90% of the people in this thread - I'm sure you could have all spent less on the same car that was just a bit older

The only one I'd avoid is the Mazda 3, which is a shame because its the one I'd most like to own - I say avoid it because of the depreciation. Other than that, none of these are going to be a poor choice technically.

Saying all that, if you've driven them and are struggling to hand over the cash then maybe a hot hatch isn't what you want or you don't want to hand over that much money. If this is the right decision, one of them would have grabbed you and you'd really want to pay 12-14k of your hard earned... The fact you're so unsure makes me think it might be the wrong direction. You seem to have decided you really want a hot hatch, but none of them are actually giving you what you've built up as a mental picture.

If I had that much cash, in your situation I'd buy a similarly powered small saloon for 10k (330i for example) and chuck the remaining 4 into a savings account - that's half a deposit for a house.
 
R32 = snorefest

Get something that people either love or hate! Cars with there own personality, basically. A Volkswagen doesn't have one.

Around 12k budget, my list would be:

Focus ST
Clio 200
Astra VXR
Megane 250 (if you be patient or up the budget a little)
New shape Mazda3 MPS (if you can stomach the tax)

Out of the lot i would be aiming for the Megane 250 as they are just epic when it comes to a turbo'ed Hot Hatch.
 
Probably because they're heavy and don't handle fantastically well. Plus the delivery of a smaller turbo engine suits the hot hatch better.
 
[TW]Fox;23462596 said:
I see.


So the Astra handles fantastically well?

And a Civic Type R has an engine unsuited to a hot hatch (No turbo)?

No but each has redeeming features, the R32 is meant to be pretty dull apart from the sound and has little scope for tuning, I haven't driven one though just the comments on the R32 from reviews.
 
Back
Top Bottom