Hot Hatch Investment / Fettle / Fun

[Mr Laurence]

A 205 isn't a bad idea actually. High mileage but roadworthy and MOT'd 1.6 examples still exist for <£2000 if you're willing to wait for the right one

[face]

TBH as far as 205s go, I thought anything approaching decent would be way off my budget. Missed the boat and all that.

 

Same with XRs, 5 Turbos etc.

[Alfamale]

Rover 200 BRM

MK1 Clio 18v

Fiesta XR2i

SportKa

Peugeot 106 phase 1 XSi

 

All available within budget and you won't loose on any of them.

[cort16]

Pumas are great but as mentioned quite small. And je-zo man can they rot. Even if you find a clean one trying to keep it in shape will be a battle.

Maybe a 306 GTi 6 

[unclecalzone]

A phase 1 172 or 172 cup. That or a 182 in one of the funkier colours - Probably do able on your budget I’d reckon though the puma is a good shout too.

Old stuff that’s on up would be a metro gti - price hikes have already hit but I reckon you could find a nice one if you looked in the right places. Not quite achieving the money the 5 turbos and 205s are just yet but it won’t be long.

Has anyone mentioned a 106 rallye (s1 or s2) too?

[Felly Magic]

Trouble is anything cheap and 'hot' odds on has had it's wheels driven off, and will need a fuckton of work, it's clearly something to buy with your head, not your heart, as all have potential to empty your wallet quickly, esp if they are starting to get unobtanium parts, I'd love another EFi Maestro, a cracking thing to drive, but looks like an ugly matron in a party frock, and even tidy ones of these, which are now rare are going daft, feck knows why really, as they are shitty rotboxes with comedy quality

[Hendry]

Clip 182 Full Fat with both Cup Packs but NOT a 182 Cup, then it’s a lavish enough place to be for daily driving, quite practical and also hoonage shenanigans, they are a brilliant drive, loads of fun, one of the best looking small cars ever produced, comfy interior, hard to beat for a hot hatch IMO.

 

Only trouble is like any hot hatch, especially older ones that are cheap to buy, could be well thrashed already and not looked after, so need to search about for a decent one. Was also told it’s an engine out job to do timing belt and aux belts, don’t know if that’s bullshit though, but it was a Renault Dealer mechanic who told me, dephaser pulley things seem to always be mentioned in the same breath as Renaultsport Clios too.

[paulplom]

I had a saxo vts mk1 when it was 3 years old. I used to rag it everywhere and it never let me down. Maxed out on the limiter at 130. I wish it had another gear. Only when I was in Germany though. I would love another but the values seem to be rising.

[face]

I'm not too worried about the size, as it will only be used for fun purposes. I live on the Essex/Cambs border and work in Dorset, so it will never be a commuter.

 

There are a few Pumas that come up which look to have lead relatively sheltered existences. Less likely to have been ragged as a Clio. Saying that, the Clios seem to enjoy some high mileage if well cared for maintenance-wise.

 

Started looking at Saxo VTRs now too.

[andy18s]

106 Gti?

[dome]

I'd go Clio, especially as you say you've had a 1.4 Puma? Great though Pumas are there's something addictive about the way a 172/182 comes "on cam" at about 4.5k and fucks off down the road. Handling is just as good too.

 

£1500 will get you a good one but follow the buying guides-belts etc. Keep a "fighting fund" for maladies you might suffer-it's an old french car at the end of the day. At that sort of budget you can pick and choose though. 

[cort16]

You can get the first uk generation civic type r for sub 2 grand. The type r has gone turbo and the 2nd gen ones had beam rear suspension so the 1st gen is supposed to be the best driving one.

[dougiefourspeed]

Slightly off the wall suggestion but how about an original Seat Ibiza Cupra? I think the early ones had the ABF engine from a Mk3 Golf GTi and then they got the 1.8T later on? Probably quite rare now but they seemed to have a strong following back in the day.

 

[Anthony]

Slightly off the wall suggestion but how about an original Seat Ibiza Cupra?

Problem is that they're not in the same league to drive/enjoy as a Clio, Puma or MX-5, IMO anyway.

 

206 GTI 180 is another option and a £2k budget would buy an excellent example as they're worth buttons now - but although unquestionable it's miles better than the standard 206 GTi, again, it's not as good to drive as the Clio and probably unlikely to be as good an investment in the longer term.

[face]

I'd go Clio, especially as you say you've had a 1.4 Puma? Great though Pumas are there's something addictive about the way a 172/182 comes "on cam" at about 4.5k and fucks off down the road. Handling is just as good too.

 

£1500 will get you a good one but follow the buying guides-belts etc. Keep a "fighting fund" for maladies you might suffer-it's an old french car at the end of the day. At that sort of budget you can pick and choose though. 

 

Yeah, I am leaning towards the Clio. I have had both a Puma and MX5 previously.

 

I'm chomping at the bit, but cannot move on one until I am sorted out for storage and other crap I have going on.

[HillmanImp]

Where are you? I know someone near Redhill that is getting rid of their 1.7 Puma. I can ask them about it if you want.

 

*Edit* just reread the post above re the location, so its not too far. If you want I can have a word with him when he's back in the office next week to see what he is after and details on the car. Don't know much about it, he just mentioned it in passing the other day.

[face]

Where are you? I know someone near Redhill that is getting rid of their 1.7 Puma. I can ask them about it if you want.

 

*Edit* just reread the post above re the location, so its not too far. If you want I can have a word with him when he's back in the office next week to see what he is after and details on the car. Don't know much about it, he just mentioned it in passing the other day.

 

No harm in asking - but I can't move on it this side of yule-logging. I don't want to piss anyone about

[NorfolkNWeigh]

As the MX5 was on the initial list , is a Honda S2000 any good ? I don't know much about them but always thought of them as a faster posher , less rusty MX5. Other sub £2k roadsters that would probably * come good financially but wouldn't see which way an S2000 went include TVR S2s and Alfa Spiders ( proper rwd rusty ones)

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Scrub that.

The S2000 ship has well and truly sailed, sideways V tec yowling , over the £4K horizon!

[AnthonyG]

Some Pumas were bought by people who walked into a dealer looking for a Fiesta but opted for the Puma because ‘ooohhh pretty car’. If you can find one of those that’s been looked after it might be a good buy having escaped thrashing. The sort of buyer here was a reasonably affluent middle aged lady - I worked in a Ford dealer at the time of their launch and quite a few Fiesta prospects were converted into Puma sales.

 

Having said that this mainly applied to the 1.4s as they weren’t interested in power.

 

A surviving Millennium edition would be an good choice if you can live with the YELLOW.

[Sloth in a bowl]

Slightly off the wall suggestion but how about an original Seat Ibiza Cupra? I think the early ones had the ABF engine from a Mk3 Golf GTi and then they got the 1.8T later on? Probably quite rare now but they seemed to have a strong following back in the day.

 

 

I looked for a tidy one of these before getting the Megane. I found some rocking horse shit at my budget, but no Seat.

[bigfella2]

Clip 182 Full Fat with both Cup Packs but NOT a 182 Cup, then it’s a lavish enough place to be for daily driving, quite practical and also hoonage shenanigans, they are a brilliant drive, loads of fun, one of the best looking small cars ever produced, comfy interior, hard to beat for a hot hatch IMO.

 

Only trouble is like any hot hatch, especially older ones that are cheap to buy, could be well thrashed already and not looked after, so need to search about for a decent one. Was also told it’s an engine out job to do timing belt and aux belts, don’t know if that’s bullshit though, but it was a Renault Dealer mechanic who told me, dephaser pulley things seem to always be mentioned in the same breath as Renaultsport Clios too.

I disagree with that, 182 Cups are few and fair between, whereas just about every 182 is a FF or full fat version, so when the numbers start to dwindle it should be worth more, well thats my theory anyway. Timing belts don't require the engine out but it is an arsehole of a job to do, and even harder to do it properly.

[dome]

Timing belts don't require the engine out but it is an arsehole of a job to do, and even harder to do it properly.

Yep, I can vouch for that. I covered doing the belts on mine in my thread, they hadn't been timed up properly the last time the belts were done. I got there in the end though. The Renault mechanic that says the engine needs to be removed isn't a real Renault mechanic

[unclecalzone]

Clip 182 Full Fat with both Cup Packs but NOT a 182 Cup, then it’s a lavish enough place to be for daily driving, quite practical and also hoonage shenanigans, they are a brilliant drive, loads of fun, one of the best looking small cars ever produced, comfy interior, hard to beat for a hot hatch IMO.

 

 

That’s a good shout to be honest, a 182 cup is not a true lightened down cup model like the 172 cup was. A full fat has a few extra toys and the interior is nicer, plus you get the benefit of the suspension bits from a 182 cup.

The difference in weight isn’t worth bothering about.

There’s a lot of mumblings about dephaser pulleys but as long as the oil is clean, kept that way you should be ok. 6k max for an oil change keeps it happy

[unclecalzone]

I disagree with that, 182 Cups are few and fair between, whereas just about every 182 is a FF or full fat version, so when the numbers start to dwindle it should be worth more, well thats my theory anyway. Timing belts don't require the engine out but it is an arsehole of a job to do, and even harder to do it properly.

I disagree 182 cups seem to be everywhere, full fats are less so in my opinion.

Doesn’t seem many people specced their car in anything other than the metallic blue, black or silver either

[Honey Badger]

S2000 are only just getting down to 4 grand and that's for a bit of a nail, pretty unburstable if you change the oil regular.

 

Civic Type Rs are the one to go for, sweet gearboxes that make it easy to keep the engine in Vtec and it's addictive to keep blatting into the vtec as the car just takes off, they handle well too.

 

197hp, no rot and easy to work on, beats all the other options hands down if you ask me.

 

If you could find one that isn't rotten the Accord Type R is a blast as well.

[face]

Some great tips and opinions. Thanks guys 

[SpareSnare]

Funnily enough this week's Autocar has an article on hot hatches on a £2k budget. Most options already suggested, but worth a read.

 

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

[Pillock]

I see someone's suggested an Ibiza - how about a Leon Cupra?

Not sure the budget will stretch to an R but the regular ones are in budget - 180bhp, they're parts-bin VAG-by-numbers so easy to fix, and I do think these will gain a following

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201709048970177?aggregatedTrim=Cupra&make=SEAT&model=LEON&radius=1500&advertising-location=at_cars&price-from=1500&price-to=2000&sort=sponsored&postcode=s89qb&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&page=1

 

Or how about a Fiat Coupe?

[omegod]

I once owned a B reg 1.6 205 GTI , must have been one of the first batch brought over, it was a near finished restoration but me and the Mrs at the time split up and I had to clear it out of the garage under great pressure, I got £15 for it.....yes the regret keeps me awake at times