So, what *was* the best 80s hot hatch?

[Matt Bodycombe]

^

Except they rusted away and you could not get in the back seats lol :p

[Lady Elanore]

^

Except they rusted away and you could not get in the back seats lol :p

Mine had a new tail gate at around 4 years old as the original had rotted away. Front seats were epic! but as you say, you couldn't tip them forward enough to let anyone but a contortionist or a small child, get in the back

[Dr Zoidberg]

Fiat Uno Turbo

 

I remember sitting in one while my Dad picked up his first new car, a C reg 1.0 Uno. Even it would crack 100mph.

 

Death traps obviously.

 

One car that I remember seeing on the road near me was a Fiat Panda with Turbo stickers down the side. Obviously there never was a Panda Turbo but it definitely had something non-standard in there by the way it went. It may have been an Uno engine, or more likely the 1.05 litre turbo from a Lancia Y10.

 

A friend of a friend had an Escort RS Turbo which was very impressive at the time, but that was when I was learning to drive in a ****ty nova, so anything moderately quick would have seemed great.

[grr666]

I know it's not a hatch, but my first car was a mark 2 Escort and I wanted

the RS2000 so much I could taste it.

Ended up with a 2.0 Cortina as car number 2 though :(

 

My first hatch was far from hot.

Sierra 1.6LX on a G reg when I was about 23. 

[Defenderben]

^ hope it was not that awful pale blue?

[Soot1e]

I know it's not a hatch, but my first car was a mark 2 Escort and I wanted

the RS2000 so much I could taste it.

Ended up with a 2.0 Cortina as car number 2 though :(

 

My first hatch was far from hot.

Sierra 1.6LX on a G reg when I was about 23. 

Shame being too young Gary  .   

The RS2000 was the Glitzy wannabee,  for those in the know the one to have was the RS1800 with the BDA engine and still is sought by the classic rally boys.

[Soot1e]

I agree with this, as I love my French tat. Also, Visa and BX GTis, which are pretty rare nowadays.

 

R5 GT Turbos were also great, but rubbish through the corners. I had ~130bhp and remould tyres in a 106 Rallye that was easily a match for a 200+bhp R5 GTT round the old Snetterton. Absolutely battered me on the straights but I was twiddling my thumbs round the corners watching him try not to fall off.

 

PS. I know you, Bernie, from waving the flags at Woodbridge.

Yes, I'm there a lot, hopefully again in March if me car is back together again.    Are you a marshall there?

[Matt Bodycombe]

I know 106 Rallye is 90s but it is a terrific little car as is the Clio Williams.

[fordfan]

I worked in car rental in the 1980s &1990s.  In 1986 Europcar introduced some more rental groups, one contained the XR3i, Golf GTi and the MG Maestro 2.0 EFi, the other had XR3i and Golf GTi Convertibles.  In the early 90s at Eurodollar they had just for the branch managers the MK 3 XR2i, of which a few got written off and on the fleet some Peugeot 205 GTi - though only the 1.6 form, whilst Europcar got some SRi Novas and Astras.  We would occasionally allocate one to depot use for a day or two, though one of my mates did get a *******ing for enthusiastically driving a XR3i convertible in the local Mercedes dealers car park.

 

A Europcar XR3i got used in this TV advert:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP4YgTpf2nU

(11 seconds in, if you want to skip it)

 

Out of that lot I preferred the Maestro, relatively quick, comfortable and loads of room.

[P6bJOHN]

.   

The RS2000 was the Glitzy wannabee,  for those in the know the one to have was the RS1800 with the BDA engine and still is sought by the classic rally boys.

 

 

I thought they only built around 109 of the RS1800, so you had to be very special to get your mitts on one.

[vRS19TD]

Another one i quite liked and would own was the MG Maestro Turbo.

[Dark_Hero]

I missed most of the 80s, but my first car was a Citroen ax forte. Not sure if it was around in the 80s, but was a great little car

[j0hn]

Maestro Turbo supposedly very good. I always wanted a 309 GTi (although I'd have preferred the France only S16) and/or a series 2 Escort RST.

Do the XR4i and the XR4x4 count in the hatch category?

[BrownBarge]

I wasnt born until 87 but i remember as a kid my mums cousin had a mg meastro turbo. Bright red. That was fast. Not sure if its an 80's car tho?

And theres always the k10 micra super S and the nissan march super-turbo

But lets be honest the best and most loved is probably the golf

[D@z]

Citroen AX Gti!

[J306TD]

As I wasn't born till November '89. I don't know what was best lol

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

[vRS19TD]

I wasnt born until 87 but i remember as a kid my mums cousin had a mg meastro turbo. Bright red. That was fast. Not sure if its an 80's car ?

It was around between 1989-1991, so just sneaks in.

[daverapid]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3123/5862879668_d87d0a79f6.jpg

[servicepoint]

 

Twas my Fiesta XR2.

Turbo Technics conversion

water injection system

Hand built stainless steel exhaust

bilstein adjustables

variable boost control

running 1.65bar

 

faster than a Sierra Cosworth and could break traction in 5th gear.

Car and Car Conversions ran a feature on it ''fastest Fiesta''

Edited 3 February, 2014 by servicepoint

[mikey vrs]

Has to be a Peugeot 205 gti for me,i do like the mk1 XR2 & Astra GTE 16v & both mk1 & mk2 Golf gti. 

 

Here's a couple of pic's of my 205. 

 

 

 

 

[vRS19TD]

Maybe a poll should be set up with the cars mentioned to see which is most popular.

[O.C.D.]

I agree with this, as I love my French tat. Also, Visa and BX GTis, which are pretty rare nowadays.

 

R5 GT Turbos were also great, but rubbish through the corners. I had ~130bhp and remould tyres in a 106 Rallye that was easily a match for a 200+bhp R5 GTT round the old Snetterton. Absolutely battered me on the straights but I was twiddling my thumbs round the corners watching him try not to fall off.

 

PS. I know you, Bernie, from waving the flags at Woodbridge.

 

Talking of french cars this is one i had in the good old days..Renault 5 turbo. 

[niceyellow vrs]

Another vote here for the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus.

 

My Dad is just looking after this one for me

 

[O.C.D.]

Nova sport.

 

Nova sri.

Nova gsi.

Edited 3 February, 2014 by O.C.D.

[Jim H]

I bet the answer to both questions won't be "MG Metro".

 

Oh yes it is! But only when there is a 3.0l V6 in the back, connected to a 4wd drivetrain.

 

I agree with above, the MG Maestro was a very under-rated hot-hatch. My dad loved his 2.0 EFI and has been his only car bought from brand new. Rover boasted that the MG Maestro Turbo could out accelerate a Ferrari (Mondial) to 60 mph.