ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Fun retro hatchbacks?ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Ford Puma would be a good shout.The 1.7 is quick and revs freely plus you have great handling and the best FWD gearshift i've ever experienced.Great drivers car and still underrated. Won't be long before the Ford scene tax gets applied to these,but you can still get nice one for a grand. I'd Agree. I'd love one but the rust on those things put me off for a daily! I don't think I saw one without terminal arches! Peugeot 205 XS or GTI. If you can find one, a 106 GTI - haven't driven one but they are supposed to be great little motors. Years ago I bought a 106 GTi for £800. It was great fun and I loved the car. The driving position is a little so so and the tinworm can get to certain areas but they are a real charmer. Mine however did want a beam ideally when I owned it and paintwork in areas ; Good ones seem to have always stayed at £2k, but they are a wonderful machine. Fun for the money? Renault Clio 182 Cup is almost unbeatable. Stupidly good fun in the twistys, comfy motorway cruisers, and they'll embarrass a lot of exotics. Sold mine ('05 plate Full Fat, 82k, full MOT) a couple of months back for £895. That car made me giggle every time I drove it, which as a daily driver is a good thing, right? They're a proper Jekyl & Hyde car, drive like a nun round town at 30mph or drive like your hair's on fire and get out grinning like an idiot! Parts cost peanuts, they're reliable and they're right on the brink of shooting up in value. Just make sure the cambelt and dephaser pulley have been done. I replaced mine with another RR favourite, a W210 AMG E55 which is absolutely epic, but not as much fun as the Clio in a real world environment. For sub £1000 fun I know where my money would go! Christ, I'd have bought it for £900 back a few months ago if you had put it on here (that's another kettle of fish ). Near me there was plenty of dross for sale below £1.5k with them being described as 'minters'. I know a friend of mine is struggling to find a very clean 182 for less than £2.5k to replace his 172, which most people would say his is OK; it basically wants paint in parts and a cambelt to make it spot on . My 172 was more than £1k, but it is spot on. For the money I cannot think of a car that offers as much. They are an event to drive at most speeds and come with a nice amount of creature comforts. On a recenty trackday (OK, it was wet) it was a fantastic steer and quick compared to alot of the cars on the day! It was also fine to drive up to Cadwell. It does around 40+MPG on a run if you stay below 80MPH and offers old hot hatch fun (i,e lift off oversteer but controllable) but with many modern comforts like Xenon lights, Leather seats, Cruise controls on the later 172s and 182s, automatic wipers, climate control and so on. I have recently noticed that the cheap ones are not quite as cheap as they once were (they have not gone up a lot mind you!). There are a few things to bear in mind with them however which tragic has mentioned. The cambelts are a very pricey job (£360 or £550, maybe more depending on where you go and if the dephaser needs changing) because the access is awkward as a result of a large engine being shoehorned into a small engine bay, and some of the timing belt tools being unique to the F4R engine ; none of the pulleys are on a keyway. My dephaser was rattling at 69k but a friend's 172 which has been serviced every year despite not covering the miles is still on his dephaser. It seems servicing and using the right oil plays a role in how long the dephaser lasts TBH ; most specialists will want to change the oil when the dephaser is changed as well. A few are botched with differing results. Electrics are said to be troublesome but IME an equal amount are botched alot, and if things do go wrong you really do need a good OBD scanner or ideally Renault CLIP, but this seems to apply for an increasing amount of OBD-II/CANBUS cars now it seems ; I know my Ford lead got far more info back about the old Mondeo than a cheapo £15 ebay code reader did. Also, many have lived hard lives and been neglected as a result of their price, meaning there are some lemons out there. If you can get a good 172 for £1k it would however be my choice. For cheaper alternatives the 106 Quiksilver is worth a look too.
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Last Edit: Dec 1, 2015 19:52:44 GMT by ChasR
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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Easy for under 1k. 80s, RWD, hatchback.
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This is now a clicky linky!
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Ford Puma would be a good shout.The 1.7 is quick and revs freely plus you have great handling and the best FWD gearshift i've ever experienced.Great drivers car and still underrated. Won't be long before the Ford scene tax gets applied to these,but you can still get nice one for a grand. I'd Agree. I'd love one but the rust on those things put me off for a daily! I don't think I saw one without terminal arches! Yeah it's a downside for sure,i got one for the wife 4 years ago,48k and FSH for less than a grand even back then.It's now on 94k,i use it quite a lot myself as the Eunos doesn't go out in the rain. I've got one perfect arch on ours and one with slight bubbling but in fairness it hasn't got any worse in four years.That said i stripped the daft felt arch liners out as they stay permanently wet in autumn and winter and blasted it with Dynax black wax everywhere. It's had a small plate on the inner sill but is otherwise solid. It's been 100% reliable and is a lot of fun. Downsides as far as a daily goes are woeful headlights,parcel shelf constantly falls off,driving position is a bit high and they are a bit tiresome on a long m/way journey.Much much better car than the 1.6 Tigra she had before though.
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I'm looking for something for the winter. Wouldn't mind something a little fun, something around the £1000 mark. What's the most fun you've had in a cheap retro hatchback? Whilst catastrophically slow due to the 4 speed, the golf in your avatar is a good one A few bits that came off my car have made their way on to it, like the chrome cam cover for example. I know the previous owner Dom. Anyway, my Polo is the most fun I've had in a retro hatchback, and it was cheap before I chucked money at it, so have a pic. or two... That's interesting to know, I brought the car of Dom about this time last year. You haven't however got any more information about the car have you? He loaded me up with a pretty intensive description before I brought the car, but more the merrier. Your polo coupe is beautiful too, by the way. A car I've always wanted, but they don't come around too often, although there's a lot of mk2f's etc floating about.
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EmDee
Club Retro Rides Member
Committer of Autrocities.
Posts: 5,920
Club RR Member Number: 108
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Fun retro hatchbacks?EmDee
@emdee
Club Retro Rides Member 108
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That's interesting to know, I brought the car of Dom about this time last year. You haven't however got any more information about the car have you? He loaded me up with a pretty intensive description before I brought the car, but more the merrier. Your polo coupe is beautiful too, by the way. A car I've always wanted, but they don't come around too often, although there's a lot of mk2f's etc floating about. Thanks for the kind words about the Polo, it's about time I updated the build thread actually, I've not touched it for years. I don't really know a massive amount about your car. It was called Puff or Puffy due to the plate and he loved it very much, had it for years and it was like a member of his family. This doesn't really help you out much, but I'm pretty sure your coilovers are seized
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You'll get a Clio 172 for around that money and it'll be fun as against just being old.
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mk2 /2f polo , basic little car you easily work on , not scene taxed too much yet
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91 golf g60, 89 golf 16v , 88 polo breadvan
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EmDee
Club Retro Rides Member
Committer of Autrocities.
Posts: 5,920
Club RR Member Number: 108
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Fun retro hatchbacks?EmDee
@emdee
Club Retro Rides Member 108
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You'll get a Clio 172 for around that money and it'll be fun as against just being old. Are you trolling? You know this is a forum for old cars right? You know that modifying an old banger to go better than a Clio is 37.6 times more fun? Don't get me wrong, someone suggested a 182 on the previous page, they really do have a great following. I just feel like every time I sit in one the build quality seems worse than the last time. As a used car salesman I've seen some real woofers, I'd much rather have an old Fiesta or a Nova with a carbed Zetec/redtop.
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You'll get a Clio 172 for around that money and it'll be fun as against just being old. Are you trolling? You know this is a forum for old cars right? You know that modifying an old banger to go better than a Clio is 37.6 times more fun? Don't get me wrong, someone suggested a 182 on the previous page, they really do have a great following. I just feel like every time I sit in one the build quality seems worse than the last time. As a used car salesman I've seen some real woofers, I'd much rather have an old Fiesta or a Nova with a carbed Zetec/redtop. They aren't the greatest build quality but then neither are Nova's or Fiesta's, and the Clio will (all things being even) be a better steer than either. OP wanted a fun hatchback to get around during the winter rather than an on going project so getting something that is fun from the outset is the order of the day rather than buying something else and spending time/money making it better. FWIW I think a 182 is probably out of reach, there seems to be plenty of 172's in budget on the bay, especially if you can haggle a bit. Edited to add: I don't see how you could build a red top Nova for £1000, you're probably looking at half that for just an engine in reasonable shape, and I don't think you'll get much Nova to put it in for £500.
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Last Edit: Dec 3, 2015 11:25:06 GMT by 14500rpm
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mk2 /2f polo , basic little car you easily work on , not scene taxed too much yet I second that, they are fun and you cn put a moped in the boot! I know its may be a bit meh, but what about a corsa B? can modify endlessly and are decent when dropped on coilovers
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What about a 318ti compact not the quickest thing but cheap and loads of red winter fun
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That's interesting to know, I brought the car of Dom about this time last year. You haven't however got any more information about the car have you? He loaded me up with a pretty intensive description before I brought the car, but more the merrier. Your polo coupe is beautiful too, by the way. A car I've always wanted, but they don't come around too often, although there's a lot of mk2f's etc floating about. Thanks for the kind words about the Polo, it's about time I updated the build thread actually, I've not touched it for years. I don't really know a massive amount about your car. It was called Puff or Puffy due to the plate and he loved it very much, had it for years and it was like a member of his family. This doesn't really help you out much, but I'm pretty sure your coilovers are seized You've done well considering I thought parts and other 'goodies' wernt so available for polo coupes. Where can I find your build thread? And although I haven't had a look what they're offering, have you seen VW heritage added a parts for polos on the website. Yeah, he told me that. He was pretty truthful when I was considering buying which I fully appreciate. Cheers for that tho
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EmDee
Club Retro Rides Member
Committer of Autrocities.
Posts: 5,920
Club RR Member Number: 108
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Fun retro hatchbacks?EmDee
@emdee
Club Retro Rides Member 108
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You've done well considering I thought parts and other 'goodies' wernt so available for polo coupes. Where can I find your build thread? And although I haven't had a look what they're offering, have you seen VW heritage added a parts for polos on the website. Yeah, he told me that. He was pretty truthful when I was considering buying which I fully appreciate. Cheers for that tho Yeah I can imagine Dom was very truthful and open with his description, he's a genuinely nice guy. That VW Heritage site has very few Polo bits and they are all priced err aspirationally. They are selling front grilles for £81.95! Parts are generally easy to get for these as they're still not seen as desirable cars. Ebay is full of decent bits and TPS and the usual suspects are pretty good. ClubPolo has lots of good tips and providers that offer performance upgrades etc. My out of date thread is here (last updated June 2013)! I have a bunch of stuff to add which I'll try and get round to sometime soon. I have a stack of bits ready to be installed but right now I have to focus on my 155 which is being neglected - meanwhile the only car that is getting any attention is my missus' Multipla! Once you've decided what you're getting let us know and get a thread up
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chubz
Part of things
Posts: 339
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A mk5 fiesta zetec-s with a puma engine ? 123bhp doesnt sound much, but well worth converting from the 1.6 100bhp sigma engine. big power difference.
fast things and keep up with a lot of newer bigger stuff on the road.
can pick them up for less than a grand. and are so much fun..!!
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Fun retro hatchbacks?ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Are you trolling? You know this is a forum for old cars right? You know that modifying an old banger to go better than a Clio is 37.6 times more fun? Don't get me wrong, someone suggested a 182 on the previous page, they really do have a great following. I just feel like every time I sit in one the build quality seems worse than the last time. As a used car salesman I've seen some real woofers, I'd much rather have an old Fiesta or a Nova with a carbed Zetec/redtop. They aren't the greatest build quality but then neither are Nova's or Fiesta's, and the Clio will (all things being even) be a better steer than either. OP wanted a fun hatchback to get around during the winter rather than an on going project so getting something that is fun from the outset is the order of the day rather than buying something else and spending time/money making it better. FWIW I think a 182 is probably out of reach, there seems to be plenty of 172's in budget on the bay, especially if you can haggle a bit. Edited to add: I don't see how you could build a red top Nova for £1000, you're probably looking at half that for just an engine in reasonable shape, and I don't think you'll get much Nova to put it in for £500. As a buyer I have seen some real woofers of most cars below £3k these days near me ; I had a right time finding the 'right' daily below £2.5k ; most cars were simply tired wrecks that looked nice from a distance! Without sounding funny many of my mates will P/X a car into a trader if it is hanging or they are lazy, but generally it is former 9 times out of 10! It is shocking when you have owned a car with 250k and see something not much older with a 1/3 of that mileage in worse condition! I do prefer my RST to own but as a daily I would hate the car after the issues I have had with it this year which IMHO there would have been less of if the car was not quite as modified. The Clio there has been spot on and alot of fun, almost like my old 205 GTi but with more toys and punch about it. IMO the cheaper cars seem to be dying off, probably from neglect and potential costs in repairing them.
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Last Edit: Dec 9, 2015 2:03:50 GMT by ChasR
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