4 Alternative Budget Hot Hatches

Hot hatches, what's not to love about them? They combine practicality and performance, usually for very little financial outlay. Trouble is some of the worlds best are harder to find than unicorn poo in Australia or depressingly never made it here in the first place, I'm taking about Peugeot 205 GTI's, early Golf GTI's, Renault 5 Turbo's and Ford's XRI range of hatches. So what Aussie alternatives are out there for the budget hot hatch connoisseur? Let me share with you 4 of my favourites.

Ford Laser TX3 Turbo

Based on a Mazda 323 the Laser range was a massive sales success for Ford in Australia over 5 generations. And naturally at the height of the 80's hot hatch war Ford couldn't resist strapping on a Turbo, some all wheel drive hardware and an X badge. Available in a sportier 3 door body style with obligatory rear spoiler, skirts and alloy wheels the TX3 actually has more than a passing resemblance to Ford of Europe's Mk3 Escort. With a turbo charged 117kw 1.8 litre and a kerb weight of just 1180kg the TX3 was good for 0-100km/h in 8.4seconds. The 4 wheel drive also meant the Laser was that little bit more sure footed than it's rivals on the twisty stuff. A truly forgotten hot hatch hero if ever there was one that you can pick up now for less than $3000, a future classic perhaps?

Toyota Corolla GTI

Twin cam's, 16 valves and the engine code 4A-GE, 3 phrases that should raise the heart rate of any die hard car guy. Unfortunately though if you were brought up in the last 20 years the words Toyota Corolla are more likely to put you to sleep than set your heart racing. But imagine a time when all those words were thrown together! What appeared was a Corolla that deservedly wore a GTI badge on its boot. 100kw of naturally aspirated 1.6 litre goodness teamed to a light body and willing chassis saw the early 90's Corolla do a rather good job of being an every day performance car. 0-100km/h took a little under 10 seconds so although it wasn't blistering it had just enough fun factor to distract you from what was at best bland styling, the AE93 Corolla GTI is a rare gem which can be had for as little as $1500 nowadays, if you don't mind fixing one up like the car in the pics.

Holden Barina GSI

Holden's European cousins Opel/Vauxhall thought it was a good idea in the mid 90's to tune the engine they put in they're tiniest car and give it a set of 3 spoke alloys, what they created was the Corsa GSI, a car which thankfully Holden imported and sold here as the Barina. The Barina measures a mere 3.7 meters and has a dry weight of less than 1000kg, these figures are good from a handling point of view and when you slot in a 1.6 litre 16 valve engine which loves to rev, your left with a recipe for the perfect winding road warrior. The lady in the picture is certainly happy with hers.

Suzuki Swift GTI

My last choice makes do with just 1.3 litres and 74kw but it is arguably the most back to basics hot hatch on this list. With a willingness to rev, some period body modifications and a set of bucket seats the Swift GTI really isn't a whole lot more. And the great thing is it doesn't need to be, I've been passenger in a basic Swift (GLX if you want to get technical) which was driven briskly and can honestly say without sounding too clichéd it lives up to the name! A surprisingly balanced car that with a shot of GTI'ness makes it all the better. You can get one for under $3000 and I cant recommend one enough.  

       
Coming from a era when 16 valve's, twin cam's and liberal usage of the letters S and X implied your car was better than everyone else's I hope my little run down has given you something to think about, especially if you find yourself sad at the lack of retro hot hatches Down Under. Naturally certain people might not agree with my 4 cars and for obvious reason, a least one of them looks like an utter pudding, but what lies beneath are ultimately fun and engaging cars with a liberal dosage of nostalgia. Perfect for tearing up a good road, without breaking the bank. Whack their names into Gumtree.com.au and see what I mean.

Bruce's Car of the Week: Saab 900 Turbo

A rare and alternative Swedish beastie this week, the Saab 900 Turbo, also referred to as the 900 Aero. These cars appear to be disappearing fast from Australia's roads meaning that now might be the best time to buy one before they completely vanish into collectors hands and the prices sky rocket.

What you need to know 

Unless you've been living under a rock you should know that Saab no longer exist. GM ditched Saab during the financial crisis and after a succession of failed takeover bids the company shut up shop in 2013. At the time fingers were pointed and ultimately GM was blamed for the death of the once iconic car company however this isn't strictly all true. For years Saab had lacked the money to develop interesting and truly new cars. Their model range in 2013 was pitifully small and the cars themselves severely dated and outclassed by almost all of their rivals, the writing had been on the wall for some time.

A convertible was also available

Image

There was a time though when Saab had some capital and dared to be different, the 900 Turbo comes from this era, the 1980's. A decade where Swedish stablemates Volvo were playing it safe with conservative boxes, a trend they hadn't given up on until fairly recently to be honest, Saab went down a more radical approach to designing and engineering. Taking ques from its predecessor the 99 the 900 shape with its long bonnet upright "A" pillars and sloping coupe-like rear end is unique and instantly recognisable, even to those who don't have petrol running through their veins. It's safe to say that if you drive a 900 your sure to get some admiring glances. Cars say a lot about their owners too and arrogance and obnoxiousness are not befitting of a Saab owner, they have traditionally been the go to car if one wanted to appear understated and calm. So as well as standing out in a queue of traffic the 900 might be right up your street if you want to come across as a level headed, academic, cross word extraordinaire sort of chap.

 

Engineered differently

So we've established that Saab designed cars differently and that driving one says a lot about the owner. But Saab also went about engineering it's car differently, the 900's engine for example is installed backwards and its argued that this is for many complicated space saving and weight distribution reasons. Although for everyone else all it means is that all those belts and pullys usually easily accessible at the front of engine bay are squashed up by the firewall at the back. 900's also had double wishbone front suspension that made the 900 ride and handle much sweeter than its MacPherson strut equipped counterparts. You can probably guess by now that the addition of a turbo to the 900 just makes the Saab experience more enjoyable, albeit maybe slightly irritating until you get used to the 80's turbo lag. How much power you get varies on what year your 900 is from, but suffice to say any 900's 2 litre turbo motor in either 8 or 16 valve will be more than enough, although with the 16 valve making 130kw and can cracking 100km/h in 8.5 seconds I know which one I'd hold out for.

   

The Saab 900 Turbo, a unique, understated, sophisticated and rare beast. And a car that I think is just going to rise in value despite the demise of its maker. A fact which shouldn't put potential buyers off. Groups like the Saab car club of Australia make it easy to keep these cars on the road and with most spare parts available online from Europe with minimal postage, the 900 has all the makings of a reliable classic.

A gorgeous early 900 turbo

Go get one

This weeks find comes courtesy of Gumtree and for a change it isn't perfect. The seller admits that the car pops out of second gear, however don't let this put you off as a lot of money has been spent elsewhere by an owner who appears to have looked after the old girl. I especially like the colour of this 900 and those 3 spoke alloys are just superb. For $5000 this car is an absolute bargain.

1989 Saab 900 Aero Turbo 16S, $5000