During my car carreer I have driven trusty but not so exciting cars. So from time to time I was thinking what would be my next purchase.
Besides dreaming about unaffordable cars (which we all do), I had serious plans in buying a classic car. The restrictions in this type of car told me not to do so eventually.
What returns from time to time is the desire for a little more power. Again, serious plans took form when I checked for an Alfa Romeo GT - an utterly beautiful automobile IMO. But when you want to combine the gracefull lines with more then adequate power, the V6 is the only option (the 2.0 engine also seems to have some other nasty habits).
6-Cylinders (or more obviously) are no option for me at the moment as our money tree in the backyard died recently. So, combining the need for more power in a modern 4-cylinder package, the need for a (sort of) hot hatch eventually seems the logical option.
Just wanted to share my current candidates for next year in random order. Please note this may change by the minute! Maximum budget would be 15K in Euro's.
Small pic's just for the idea.
2007 Peugeot 207 1.6-16v T RC (175 hp)
2006 Renault Clio 2.0 16V 200 Renault Sport (197 hp)
2006 Seat Ibiza 1.8 20VT 132KW 3D Cupra (180 hp)
2005 Opel Astra 2.0 Turbo GTC Sport (170 hp) - no hot hatch I know
Candidates without pic:
2009 Abarth Grande Punto (155 hp) slightly above budget
2004 Peugeot 206 2.0-16V RC (177 hp)
2007 Alfa Romeo 47 2.0 Twin Spark 16V Distinctive (150 hp) - lacking thrill
2003 Honda Civic Type R 2.0i-VTEC (200 hp)
Strong preference for the Clio at the moment.
PS: I love the Abarth Punto and more upscale cars like new Megane RS, Focus 2.5 20V Turbo ST but the purchasing price is still too high. While not even talking about running costs for the latter two.