Top gear: 80's hot hatches vs modern

[gadge]

So what does everyone think? Are modern hot hatch cars such as the new golf GTI or fiesta st better than there predessors form the 80's?

As a mechanic in the late 90's a lot of the 80's hot hatches were very much a common site for me and I had the pleasure of driving many of the old favourites and remember them fondly. Sure the moderns of today are a lot quicker and more refined but they deffinatly lack some of the charm and "feel" of the old uns

Did anyone ever own an 80's hot hatch? Nova gte? Or an MG maestro? What about an xr2 yuck or a 205 GTI?

 

[Gavv8]

I thought it was a very funny and interesting first episode tonight...I've owned mk2 Golf GTi's and Maestro efi and turbo's and they were good fun and easier to maintain and repair than today's hot-hatches, having said that the reason I love the panda 100HP so much is because it feels closest in spirit and driving sensation to my favourite car the mk1 Golf Gti.
My brother had a mk2 xr2 and he said its the most fun car he ever owned.

 

[sledge]

Lets look at it this way.......

The Golf GTI was born 38 years ago in 1976. 38 years prior to 1980 and we were halfway through WWII

Yeah......cars have changed since the hot-hatch era, but not as much as they did before the hot-hatch era

 

[colin79666]

Much of the reason I got the Swift Sport was to get close to the 80s style rather than something like the Fiesta ST, which while great somehow loses the fun with a turbo and more weight.

 

[EvoStevo]

Well that had me laughing my head off a few times.

I was expecting hammy to come dressed as a butler with tea for the guest driver

 

[gadge]

My guilty 80's pleasure was the 205 GTI. While I maintain that I am NOT a fan of French cars I always had a soft spot for the GTI. I thought it looked great but handled fantastic! They just seemed to stick on the road and you could feel the road. They were noises but it was ok - something that's not tolerated much these days. I think today's hot hatches are too refined and comfortable and lose the fun factor

Also is that really true about the hazard warning switch in the nova??

 

[custard]

My guilty 80's pleasure was the 205 GTI. While I maintain that I am NOT a fan of French cars I always had a soft spot for the GTI. I thought it looked great but handled fantastic! They just seemed to stick on the road and you could feel the road. They were noises but it was ok - something that's not tolerated much these days. I think today's hot hatches are too refined and comfortable and lose the fun factor

Also is that really true about the hazard warning switch in the nova??

not seen it yet. what was it?

 

[gadge]

He pulled the hazard switch out with his fingers turned it upside down and pushed it back in the hole. By doing this it somehow turned the ignition on so all you needed to do was bust the lock and bump start it and your away

 

[Gavv8]

My guilty 80's pleasure was the 205 GTI. While I maintain that I am NOT a fan of French cars I always had a soft spot for the GTI. I thought it looked great but handled fantastic! They just seemed to stick on the road and you could feel the road. They were noises but it was ok - something that's not tolerated much these days. I think today's hot hatches are too refined and comfortable and lose the fun factor

Also is that really true about the hazard warning switch in the nova??

A well driven 1.9 205GTi would give a lot of newer machinery a good run for its money, lovely handling and great 'point and squirt' ability....on the subject of the nova I've never heard that about the hazard switch before but that particular car had a lot going on that wasn't standard, don't remember the digital dash being standard on nova sri's..

 

[Jef]

The hazard switch thing is true you can also do it on the corsa B!!

 

[AppleSei]

Personally i thought the nova was just a lower spec model with a SRI door on it

A shame the xr2i was blown up - i always wanted one of those when i was a kid - on the face of it it looked a decent car as did the golf

 

[Gavv8]

Personally i thought the nova was just a lower spec model with a SRI door on it

A shame the xr2i was blown up - i always wanted one of those when i was a kid - on the face of it it looked a decent car as did the golf

I thought that about the nova until he lifted the bonnet and you could see the injection system, I think the xr2 was far worse than it looked as it seemed almost undriveable and I've seen far worse mk2 golf's than that rattling around.

 

[gadge]

A well driven 1.9 205GTi would give a lot of newer machinery a good run for its money, lovely handling and great 'point and squirt' ability....on the subject of the nova I've never heard that about the hazard switch before but that particular car had a lot going on that wasn't standard, don't remember the digital dash being standard on nova sri's..

I was (and am) a big fan of the nova too if I hadn't been so into fiats I probably would've had one as my first car - a 1.2 mind you lol

I'm not 100% but I have a feeling the nova GTE had the digi dash just like the Astra GTE and the senator (another firm favorate of mine ) but I don't think the SRI did?

 

[maggers]

Some Nove SRI's had a digital dash as did the Astra GTE. Mk3 XR2's were an utter pile of crap compared to the previous models, Ford seemed to loose the plot around then with this and the MK5 Escort. 205 GTI was THE 80's hot hatch after the Golf and much sweeter as a 1.6 rather than the 1.9. Oh,and the hazard light switch trick worked on Cavaliers and Astras as well.

 

[Gavv8]

Hardly surprising that insurance prices were so high for a lot of these hot hatches..

 

[maggers]

Oh yeah, but so fun and you didn't need a laptop to tune them.

 

[gadge]

Oh yeah, but so fun and you didn't need a laptop to tune them.

Amen to that! Tuning parts were a dodle to fit also general maintenance was easy too. You didn't need to remove the bumpers and headlights to change a bulb and a clutch could be done without removing the entire engine. I offen wonder how many modern cars will end up scrapped due to owners poor servicing or high maintenance costs

 

[Gavv8]

If you believe the conspiracy theorists, modern cars like modern appliances are designed to fail.

 

[Bushboy]

I owned an mk2 golf gti 8v a few years back now. JC isn't wrong. They are superb. Excellent build quality compared to anything of the time, great handling, nippy motor (for the time) and great looks.

The only 80s hot fiat I've owned would be 1 of 3 uno turbos. I guess the equivelant fiat these days would be the punto abarth. I would probably go for the uno but only for the memories... The punto is better in every way.

 

[gadge]

If you believe the conspiracy theorists, modern cars like modern appliances are designed to fail.

I'm not sure if it's by design or not but they certainly don't last as long. I think it's down to the value of the item - how much does it cost and how much is it worth.

Nobody's mentioned the renault 5 GTturbo yet