Hot Hatch World Cup

[AGB]

I'm not sure if anyone follows The Intercooler - online car magazine founded by Andrew Frankel and Dan Prosser.

They've taken a world cup format to identify the greatest hot hatch of all time and are using Twitter polls to vote through winners and get to an eventual greatest. They're taking nominations for Germany from 7pm (UK).

Here's a link to get you started: Twitter - The Intercooler

I'm interested to see what comes in second after the Golf GTI Clubsport S.... 

Something light hearted amidst the Christmas mince pies.

[Exonian]

I don’t do Twitter but that looks like a bit of fun.
One World Cup that Argentina and Brazil might just struggle in…

[Yusee]

Gotta be an easy win for the french, surely?
They’ll certainly have the strongest squad- take your pick from about a dozen.

[AGB]

I don’t do Twitter but that looks like a bit of fun.
One World Cup that Argentina and Brazil might just struggle in…

Not a fan of Twitter but professionally useful for me at times. The spirit of Intercooler is firmly enthusiast and a broad church, a bit like this forum in some aspects so I'm interested to see what it produces as the winner.

[willni]

Gotta be an easy win for the french, surely?
They’ll certainly have the strongest squad- take your pick from about a dozen.

Have to agree, although the golf has always been the best all rounder the Megane's and Clio's are far too strong in pure hot hatch fun.

Personally I don't think heavily limited edition models like the Clubsport S should be included as surely accessibility should be a factor for best hot hatch.

[symonh2000]

This was my Clio. Great to drive to drive on short journeys. But it wasn't reliable, and was a PITA on a longer trip.

I also had this, which was a great car. Not as Raw as the Clio, but more reliable and easier to live with day to day.

[sjw]

Gotta be an easy win for the french, surely?
They’ll certainly have the strongest squad- take your pick from about a dozen.

Have to agree, the all though has always been the best all rounder the Megan's and Clio's are far too strong for pure hot hatch fun is too strong. Personally I don't think you can count heavily limited edition models like the Clubsport S, as surely accessibility is a factor.

I can't make head nor tail of this

[willni]

Gotta be an easy win for the french, surely?
They’ll certainly have the strongest squad- take your pick from about a dozen.

Have to agree, the all though has always been the best all rounder the Megan's and Clio's are far too strong for pure hot hatch fun is too strong. Personally I don't think you can count heavily limited edition models like the Clubsport S, as surely accessibility is a factor.

I can't make head nor tail of this

Apologies, can you tell I had a headache?  Modified it to resemble some form of English. 

[Yusee]

This was my Clio. Great to drive to drive on short journeys. But it wasn't reliable, and was a PITA on a longer trip.

I also had this, which was a great car. Not as Raw as the Clio, but more reliable and easier to live with day to day.

Wow, that clio must’ve been an absolute lemon to be less reliable than an alfa.

The clios were great hatchbacks- and that one looks a beauty.

[AGB]

Gotta be an easy win for the french, surely?
They’ll certainly have the strongest squad- take your pick from about a dozen.

Have to agree, although the golf has always been the best all rounder the Megane's and Clio's are far too strong in pure hot hatch fun.

Personally I don't think heavily limited edition models like the Clubsport S should be included as surely accessibility should be a factor for best hot hatch.

Isn't the Renault Clio Williams the Clubsport S and RS Trophy R with a different badge? Won't be right if they're not included.

Not sure about accessibility - assume you mean price? I paid within £1k for the Clubsport S as I did the TCR. You can buy both as second hand cars at accessible prices - particularly when you consider the cheapest entry into a new car of any marque is now around £14k and it won't be in the same league.

I get the price argument with cars like the Trophy R at £51k and then with carbon wheels taking it to £72k or perhaps an A45S. But you don't think about the price when you're driving them so I'd argue that price should not be a factor in determining fun.

I see an argument on practicality and 'mainstream appeal' for specials where they share fractional amounts in common with the unlimited production car but I think that's the beauty of cars like the CSS as they share so much in common. But if they're classified as two seaters, they're way more practical than cars like the 911 but then, that's not a hot hatch?