The best hot hatches of the 1990s

From the Clio Williams snatching the crown of kind of the hot hatches for Renault to the Volkswagen Golf GTI catastrophically falling from its perch, the 1990s was a year of change for the hot hatch. As cars got bigger and a bit flabbier some hatches struggles to have the same aura as they has before. But the French and Italians managed to still hold out with some cracking models.

These are the best of the best from the decade of Blair, Clinton, The Spice Girls and Britpop.

#gwoverdrive #hothatches #bestof

[GoodwoodRR]

We all know the Clio Williams is number 1 right?

[nextgenpsychos]

no pulsar gtir that was a pocket rocket

[ExMachinaEngineering]

The Saxo S1600 was turbocharged..? Come on, guys. You're supposed to be car enthusiasts. S1600 was a category in rallying and it was, by regulation, NA. SO all of the S1600 cars were NA.

[gaspererjavec]

No mention of a car that destroyed the competition without even being anything special. The humble civic vti....

[chilltill]

Where are the jdm gems? I miss them alsowe in the 80s Clip.

[gemaskerdebeuker]

My first car was a 306 XSI 1995. Absolutely fantastic car (except for the paint).

[RSADYNAMICS]

Not a fan of Japanese hothatches then !

[HFIntegrale]

I also miss the Citroen AX GT and the FIAT Uno Turbo :)

[MrGwaldo]

Fiesta RS Turbo sadly didn’t come with lsd like the Escort. Really fast though with 133bhp not 135 as stated here. You got the 133bhp correct on the 80’s video about the Escort though.

[wickiezulu]

The Renault Clio Williams makes one wish Renault made an effort with the Hot Hatch versions of the Renault 19 1.8 16v / Megane 2.0 16v during the 1990s by fitting the latter two with similar spec engines that would later find their way into the Clio RS 172/182.
The Peugeot 306 meanwhile should have received the same spec engine as the Peugeot 206 GTi 180, though Peugeot could have also done a better job of developing a proper successor to the Peugeot 205 instead of the mess that is the Peugeot 206 which would signal the company's decline in Hot Hatch terms against the likes of Renault and Ford.

[TheVentour]

Saxo Kit Car and S1600 on JWRC never was turbo. 1.6 atmospheric like the Ignis, Clio S1600 etc..

[aussiebloke]

Shame you didn't get the Ford Festiva Shogun - but I believe they only made 7 of them. It's similar in size and appearance to the Ford Fiesta (although not the same platform), only with Ford SHO's 3.0 DOHC V6 in the back seat.

[wickiezulu]

Thought the mk2 SEAT Ibiza was derived from a modified mk2 VW Golf platform? Since it would be shrunken even further to become the Arosa / Lupo city cars.

[bigdundee]

Escort cosworth? Sunny gti r? Uno turbo?

[adammundell]

Come on guys the silver 306 Rallye isn’t a UK GTI-6 based Rallye! It’s the 1.8 from the continent.

I should know I own S891OAC who’s photo you use in your video!

[pereldh]

Again you’ve been living under a rock (or, wasn’t even born)
The Tipo 16V wasn’t half the Hothatch of the Punto GT, an evolution of the Uno Turbo albeit MUCH faster and refined.
It would have to be that, or the 306GTI-6 although the Peugeot didn’t look as good.
Again - I doubt you’ve even driven one...

Talking of 90’s Peugeot’s I’d go for the ultra-cool 309GTI16 of 1992, a forerunner to the 306GTI, but with 5-speed box and masculine styling

[matteovrizzi]

Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluzione2, Peugeot 205GTI 1.9, JDM Honda Civic EP3 Type R

[nessuno]

Usual errors & omissions, along with the usual butchered foreign language pronunciation 👌🏻

[pentagrammotorsport]

Hmm, not convinced that you’ve done your homework on the Mk3 Golf.

The engine grew from a 1.6 in the early Mk1 and 1.8 in the Mk2 to a 2.0 with either 115bhp or 150bhp. Certainly more than the original 110bhp. Not enough power? There was a V6 version too.

At the time, the press weren’t impressed by the weight gain but it was a relatively tiny amount and today they’re a light weight car. Combine that with the fact that it was essentially a wide-track Mk2 Golf chassis and driving one today will make you realise that they’d actually really got the car right.

[CLK.]

And a video about "WHat if's" in Hot hatches? :D
For example the Punto Abarth from 95, the Visa Lotus :D and so on..
Nice idea? :D