My dailly commute is only approx 10-15 miles round trip per day........I've been uber sensible over the past 6 monts and used a 1 litre 1989 polo which I bought off a friend for £200.00 - It's been the epitome of reliability and not let me down once but I'm now finding the lack of performance, street cred, creature comforts, etc is starting to grate a bit. Not so bad in the winter months as was going to and leaving work in the dark so nobody could recognise me

But I digress, I'm now thinking of buying a cheap hot hatch for the commute, impending house move means I'm only going to have about £2k to play with. It's got to be fun to drive and handle well (got some nice country roads on way to work), have a bit of poke and cheapish to run. Hopefully with no more than 80/90k on the clock and a bit of service history. As near to standard as possible, no silly bodykits or 19" wheel combos So far on the short list I have the following:

Renault 5 turbo - always wanted one, reliability an issue and finding a standard one is going to be nearly impossible. I'm kicking myself for turning down a 1 owner standard 40k miler last year for £3k but timing wasn't right as I hadn't sold my 34 gtr

Ford Puma - plenty around, cheap to run, great handling.

Renault Clio 16v/Williams - had a 16v about 10 years ago and loved it. A decent Williams is probably out of question for £2k but seen a couple of nice 16v for under that. As with the 5 reliablity a bit of an issue as is finding a standard car.

Mk 2 Golf Gti - Only really like the later big bumper models and finding one that's done 100k or less is nearly impossible. That said, I know a well looked after example will do 200k but I'm a bit of a mileage tart

Pug 106 gti/rallye - Probably my favourite choice at the moment, seen a couple of nice gti's around the £1800 mark, rallye's probably just out of price range. Renowned for great handling.

Saxo VTR/S - Although probably identical to the 106, I just don't think I could bring myself to buy one.

Pug 205 gti - not a massive fan of the styling although I know they're great all rounders.

Any opinions on the above or any other susgestions much appreciated

Chris

 

Out of those the Puma would be the easiest to live with, but if it was me I'd be looking for a Focus 1.8 in 3 door guise.

All the French stuff will be good fun, but you will ned good spannering skills and need to be on top of them all the time to maintain them.

 

Driven my mum's focus on a regular basis but doesn't have the fun factor.

Agreed, most of the french clutter will probably be unreliable !!!! Hoping one with decent service history won't be too bad, wishful thinking no doubt

 

Out of that list.

106GTI every time. Cheap to run, great handling. Nothing comes close for smiles per miles/pound

 

either the 106 or 205 GTI, have had both, the 106 might be easier to live with.

 

Cheers chaps, 106 gti is at the top of the list at the moment, prefer the 106 to the 205 as obviously a bit newer.

Any other thoughts?

 

Despite being a 205 owner.....


106gti - one of the best handling FWD cars, cheap enough to buy, unburstable (well obviously not, but very strong) engine, solid and essentialy reliable - french foibles excepted.

 

Another sad victim of image. By all means buy the 106 but a £2k VTS will be far younger with less miles than a £2k 106. Be absolutely clear in your mind that you are happily paying over the odds for basically the same car just because you perceive the 106 to be less chav than a saxo.

Don't worry if you still go with the 106. You make irrational decisions like this nearly every day of your life - entire marketing careers are based on taking identical products and somehow making one more desirable than the other

We have a puma as a work hack and I have had a VTS in the past. The VTS is the faster and more fun car but the puma is slightly better as an overall proposition. If I had to live with one for the rest of my life I'd probably sneak back to the VTS - I simply like having fun too much and the 1.7l engine in the Puma - whilst peppy - is not alive like the 1.6 in the VTS. My concerns are getting a puma for £2k - they might be a little ropey at that money.

Personally I'd get a big barge for that kind of money. I had a 3.0 V6 406 for that cash a few years back and it would murder most of yesteryears hot-hatches in a straight line and had loads of toys, etc.

 

But surely the 106 is faster?



Note the smiley SB - don't go off on (even more of a) Saxo rant

 

Very surprised by that, our old MY00 Focus 1.8 is the nearest modern car I can find to the 205 GTI I own in terms of handling and fun, you can induce superb slides in a Focus on wet roundabouts.

Saxo/106 are OK providing you have size 9 feet or less, I have size 12 and its impossible to drive them.

 

But it was so amusing the last time though.

106 = Faster, better handling car.
Saxo = Burberry caps.

 

lol.

 

I have just jumped into a Rover 216GSi for the commute - she's deluxe!

 

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/ROVER+200/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-4294966797-4294966929/search.action?&sort=p_VehiclePrice|1&postcode=ts10 +2td&radius=1500&showMoreOptions=&page=9

4th one down looks chavtastic

 

Cheers for the comments chaps.

Saxo boy, I know what you're saying about the saxo is absolutely 100% correct and I don't normally bow to image - I mean I drive a 1989 polo at the moment ffs I know I should look at the saxo's but I just can't bring myself to do it. Thought about a big barge but they're not exactly nimble round the country lanes and if something goes wrong the cost of the repair is likely to be high. If I was doing longer motorway commutes then a barge would be in order, but for my short commute, not really necessary.

 

How about somthing completely out of the ordinary, especially if you're not bothered about image

I've built a Rover Metro GTI with a Rover 1800 VVC (vtec) for about 1k, brilliant fuel economy (no weight), faster than a CTR etc, good handling, and fun to drive. Mine even has half leather and elec windows too a very understated car !





Not mine, but...

YouTube - Metro VVC v Subaru WRX

Reyland Rover Metro 100 1.8 16v VVC on track with Ford Escort & Sierra Cosworths

 

That's pretty cool actually

Can't beat a sleeper !!!

 

I remember reading about the Metro 1.8 conversion in Max Power about a million years ago. Really fancied one then and you've got me thinking again. By all accounts it is a straightforward transplant because the K-series 1.8 is basically exactly the same as the 1.4 with a bigger bore. Lookes like you've got a really tidy bodyshell there too. I do like original, lateral thinking.

 

Guys this is getting ridiculous now

 

You must admit the recommendations make a change from the usual nonsense recommending a 15yr old BMW V12 with 8 turbos, NOS and a Batmobile-style jet engine. My mum had one of the first Metro GTIs in which I spent a lot of time learning to drive. They're just like a go-cart and with a 1.8VVC I bet you wouldn't be able to shake it up to 100 in a WRX and maybe even a standard STI. I know people won't like to hear that but you must be looking at something like 180bhp/tonne.

 

How the hell did you find one that wasn't more rusty than sunken battleship?

I had four loitering in the back yard as scrap- all due to excessive rust under the rear suspesnion mounting points and sills, one was just an R-reg (1998?).

I did think of of getting the two better ones (two 1.4s) and fitting the drivetrain out the one into the rear of the other (MG-F style ). Thus making a twin 1.4 engined 4 wheel drive metro. The idea was binned as I just couldn't be bothered, and two 1.4 engines only equates to 150bhp. So in the end, we chopped open the roofs and used them as scrap metal skips

 

I bought it blind off ebay

There is a bit of rust on the two back arches and the roof, but the subframe mounts are ok. I'm guessing that it will need a bit of welding to the floor come MOT time, so I'll be getting a MIG soon to sort it, and as soon as my garage is up, I'll sort the bodywork

It's a 143bhp model that I have and about 800kg, so it's nippy alright, plus the Rover 220 turbo ratios and LSD in the MGF gearbox, with Yoko' A021R racing wets, it sticks ok.

As a guide, when we went to Curborough (sp?) circuit in the Mrs' P1, we were lapping at about 29-30 seconds, the Metro VVC's do it in about 26

There's the 143, the 160 engines and the Lotus 160 that go straight in and plug in loom conversions available. the swap can be done in a few hours

There's also a lad that has a supercharged one, thats about 210Bhp and the M3 CSL couldn't shake him around Cadwell, he's breaking it now though, but wants 4k for the engine, loom and Emerald ECU, would be nice for me, but the one I have is fast enough for a toy and all my cash is going into the scoob

 

I'm possibly selling an Emerald ECU and bodies, would fit onto the VVC with some manifold work

 

What about a Nissan Almera GTI ?

 

Not thought of one of those, will look into it

Cheers for the suggestions thus far fellas

 

Toyota MR2 as well, they are very good for the commute to work.

Get a decent 94-96 plate Rev 3 for not much now.

 

Just got myself a Golf Mk3GTI 16V as a hack with a view to getting a toy to go with it when I find one. Have to say very nice, small, nimble, and although heavier than the Mk2 it makes it into a well screwed together solid little car that could makes you feel like you could do massive miles in it. Like it allot, in fact too much at the moment as it seems to have taken the urgency away from me getting a toy. Not fantasitcally quick, but revy, and enjoying thrashing the nutts of it which TBH really don't get the chance these days to do in any of the other big performance cars I have had.

I think somewhere in another thread someone warned me of the possiblity of buying a hack and actually getting fairly attached to it for its own reasons.

 

great cars, had two company 1.8's and MY00 and MY01 and just brought a MY00 2.0 ESP for less than £3k...loads of fun with lift off over-steer