Hot Hatch Legends

This drive has been a long time coming and one of the most anticipated test drives of recent times for me. The chance to drive two hot hatch legends from my youth and one of which started a life-long passion for hot hatches in me.

There have been some lovely hot hatches before and after these. There have been those who have been more pioneering, faster, better handling etc. but especially to us 80s/90s kids, these two - the Renault 5 GT Turbo and the Peugeot 205 GTi - are the all-time icons of hot hatchery.

Over the last decades since they were unleashed on the world, there have been a slew of fine articles by various publications that would have pitched the two against each other and detailed there technical strengths and weaknesses. So, I’ll try not to bore you with yet another one of those. 

If you bear with me, I’ll just tell you about hot hatch love and what these two have meant to me. 

HOT HATCH ROMANCE - THE BEGINNINGS

My love for small fast cars probably started with my dad’s series of little hatchbacks that our family went through in my youth. Renault was a big player in the list of cars we went through, starting with a R4 and a series of Renault 5s: a blue TL and a red TS with a comical police siren for scaring errant buses out of the way (highly un-allowed of course, but rather tame compared today’s annoying flashing police light mods). My dad’s peak fast hatch moment was a gorgeous black Renault 5 Gordini Turbo, purchased from his good friend and legendary local race driver, Bri Ponnambalam, the second gent integral to my hot hatch tale. My dad was a fast driver in his day, especially in the peppy little Gordini and had many a laugh scaring the teeth off some elderly relatives in the passenger seat. The black car with red pinstripes across the body and turbine wheels were Uber cool to a pre teen Gishanka, and hey, it still is.

Fast forward many years, getting a licence and having gone through some pretty dull cars, opportunity presented itself to me to purchase my first car, thanks to a new job job at Unilever and a car loan allowance. Fate appeared to play its hand again and my dad and Bri Ponnambalam came together to suggest purchasing the latter’s pride and joy, a 1988 Renault 5 GT Turbo Phase 2 with a fantastic racing pedigree. He was compelled to let it go as it was his great tempter to keep racing, which had apparently been banned by the household at the time. With a tear in his eye, I was handed over the keys and the pristine GTT was with me, the original rear plastic covers from factory still on it. It was a mini legend at the time having been successfully raced, and holder of the Mahagastota hill climb record in it’s class for nearly a decade as I recall.  It was also the first car with a “6669” number plate which has stuck with me to date.

Experiencing this pocket rocket and it’s delights sparked a life-long fire in me for the appreciation of tiny, fast 4 wheeled devices which are ideally suited for real world fun, any time and all the time.

HOT HATCHES - TLDR

·       Definition- a high performance compact hatchback car. The “hatch” part is a key definer as otherwise cars like the Fiat Nuova 500 Abarths and Mini coopers (which had boots, not hatchbacks) would have preceded these.

·       Who was first - Simca with their 1100Ti in 1973 (with all of 82bhp) Renault with the afore mentioned Gordini Turbo was next in 1976, followed in the same year by one of the best known of all, the Golf GTi. 

·       Next came the two legends featured here from 1984 onwards. 

·       Peugeot gave up trying to improve on the epic 205 but Renault has persevered with their excellent Clios and Meganes which continue to produce some epic hot hatchery to this date.   

·       Mega Hatches are a recent evolution with 400 bhp madness from AMG, Audi and BMW.

·       Hot Hatch sales appear to be dying, but the current undisputed king is the rally-bred and instant classic Toyota GR Yaris

 So, with that bit of brief history, on to the two beautiful specimens we are to drive today. 

THE RENAULT 5 GT TURBO

This itself is a special moment. I’m re-united with this self same car I owned and hot hatch fire-starter, after more than a decade of parting company with it. Wincing as it is to say, I left it a bit worse for wear at the time after some youthful idiocy. Thankfully, in the hands of the new owner it has been beautifully and faithfully restored and been given some tasteful, race-ready upgrades.

Design wise, to these eyes, the sharp Marcello Gandini (a la Lambo Countach) lines are still modern and have aged well. The slick surfaces of the sloping rear hatch and front headlamps, along with the signature profile and beefy body-kit are still striking, muscular and have a fantastic stance.  It’s also remarkable that it weighs around 830kg compared to the 1,200-1,400kg fast hatches of today and about the same as a much tinier modern Honda S660.

It's almost shocking to note that this fast car of it’s times rides on 13" alloys. The current owner has now shod them with some tasty and ultra grippy semi slick Nankangs.

Inside, black bucket seats with red trim welcomes you along with bright red carpeting all around. The dashboard is quite retro futuristic but as brittle as you would expect from 1980s budget euro cars. The steering wheel is still gorgeous and the beefy three-spoked circle is one of the most handsome designs out there.

The controls are rather typically French crazy with rollers and odd stalks scattered across the dash and very low set and unusable window controls.  

The gear lever is now a stocky aluminum item and is improved with a short shifter.

Under the hood much looks the same except for some select upgrades such as a blueprinted engine, bigger turbo, and radiator. 

THE PEUGEOT 205 Gti

The lines may not be penned by one as fancy as the R5 - in house by Gerald Welte -  but wow, this still look great 35 years later.

The shape is taught and is elegantly simple. The rear lights are tiny and jewel like whilst the strongly triangular C Pillar houses two charismatic horizontal strakes, one of which identifies this as the potent 1.9L version.

This GTi is shod with gorgeous 15” pepperpot alloys which would have been quite massive for its time and fill those flared wheel arches perfectly.           

It’s remarkable how similarly sized and proportioned both the Peugeot and Renault are but are styled so distinctly differently and still reach apex 80s coolness.

Inside, the similarities follow, with similar black on red styling flourishes and a a bright red carpet as backdrop. The Peugeot dash and controls are a lot more conventional than the more future forward Renault, but are ergonomically superb.

The 205 is left more untouched than the R5 but does treat itself to a close ratio gearbox.  The gear shift itself is positioned rather too close to the seats, meaning engaging the lift-up collar reverse a bit of a tricky affair. Other than this, the rest of the controls are much more sensibly laid out than its French compatriot. 

THE DRIVES – RENAULT

OK, enough pouring over the various facets of these two little gems. It’s time for the main event. Driving one of these would have been a treat, but both, back to back is utter oo la la: the Renault I haven’t savoured for a decade and is now tastily upgraded, whilst getting to savour the legendary Peugeot 205 GTi is a first for me, even after 23 years of test drives.

I get into the Renault and immediately I’m familiar with it. The car is now shared between two experienced race driver petrol heads. One of them gets in as a passenger with me, eager to to find out what I feel about the upgrades they’ve lovingly imparted on the little French cracker.

And my goodness, it’s beautifully curated set of upgrades: The engine has tastefully been blueprinted by GCB Motorsport in the UK and treated to a larger T25 Turbo and oversized radiator to manage an increase heat load and boost,  and specially chosen plugs by the owner to complement the engine. There’s also  a short shift gearbox I mentioned earlier, better rubber, original brakes but with near race spec pads, lowered coils springs and reset torsion bars.

I ease off the heavy competition clutch quite gingerly, whilst gently feathering the throttle eager not to suffer embarrassed looks in front of it’s new keepers. Gladly, I find, even with all the mods, it’s like riding a bike, my dear old friend has been to the gym but is still as familiar as an old pair of sneakers.

We set off, and my passenger is keen for me to go full beans on their upgraded little beast.

And what a beast it is now.

The R5 was always a boosty little thing but now, with the bigger turbo, delivers a huge lump of acceleration once you pass 3,000 rpm. This goes like a damn steam train locomotive. The car was always solid, grippy and super steadfast through the corners, but now with better rubber and tweaked suspension, it’s vice-like hold on corners is taken up several notches. We take a fast corner and it just keeps gripping and even encourages you to gently gas it some more.

The engine feels notably smoother and fearless up the rev range and delivers a nice dose of whiplash acceleration if you’re not ready for it.  And then come those stoppers. I was warned but I still wasn’t ready when these upgraded pads locked in as I nearly had reverse whiplash.

One thing I did note though was that torque steer seemed a fairly tamed, probably thanks to the smartly retained suspension.

Overall, the R5 is the same hilariously fast missile it was, just with the wick turned up closer to ten now. It’s handling is still highly confidence inspiring and is a little rocket in a straight line.  But with its boosty power delivery and heavy steering and clutch, you need to respect it and need to know what you’re doing to get the best out of it. 

So, my dear first hot hatch is in good hands and is now back to being a track machine and hill climb weapon as it was in its first life. 

THE DRIVES - PEUGEOT

And, on to the Peugeot. Something I’ve always wanted to do but with it’s immense rarity, especially in Sri Lanka, didn’t think I’d really have an opportunity to savour.

This is a pristine and beautifully original example. One that’s been lovingly and meticulously maintained and cared for by it’s owner. I’m planning on being being very careful in my - at least my first 10 minutes with the 205 to familiarize myself with it. Thankfully I was given a breaking-in opportunity when we had to first ease it along some slow tracks for some photo ops. 

But ten minutes proved a massive over estimation for familiarity. Within my first corner at just 30kmph, the 205 lets me know that it’s one of “those” cars.  Just 30 seconds in, you realise, this is a damn special one. Some cars, you need to take it up to the right speed, the right road and the right corner for it to reveal its secrets and rarely, greatness. However, very few let you know so quickly and at ordinary speeds, and that is exactly what the 205 GTi does.

The steering feels communicative, electric and connected. The turn-in is immediate and at faster speeds, even more so. That first corner is a grin inducer that reminded me of that rare feeling of laugh-out joy I got on my first fast corner in my beloved S660.  

Then, there’s the engine. The 1.9L naturally aspirated 4 cylinder doesn’t make a big showy noise like modern sound-curated power plants do, but man does it deliver. 130 hp and and more importantly, 164 Nm of torque are delivered emphatically and enthusiastically. From 3,000 rpm onwards, it’s such a solid slug of power, you’d almost swear it was turbocharged.  The tractability and rev happy nature of it reveals the joys and beauty of the oh-so-rare-now N/A engine.

To complete the package is a notch and slick shifting gearbox. The 5 speeder has perfect ratios that work in complete harmony with the engine. The two are as perfect a sync as you’d find, with the entire power train coming together to give you massive confidence in the car within just a few minutes on the road. Gear changes and rev matching are effortless and a delight. The clutch is quite light and as is the steering, especially in comparison to the stiffer R5.

The greatness of the 205 GTi lies in how connected it makes you feel to it. It’s a tad heavier than the GT Turbo at around 860kg, but you meld with the car and its’ controls, effortlessly. It delights you in every corner, every squirt of acceleration. I get why Peugeot didn’t bother to try and top this.  It really is sublime. 

HOW DO THEY COMPARE?

So, at the end how do they compare?  The answer is that you shouldn’t.

These two are both legends who are wonderfully designed to approach Hot Hatch greatness through two quite different paths.

The R5’s one is of hilarious and near brutish power and grip that also bites, and thus makes you respect and it learn it’s ways to become a more masterful driver. The 205 GTi takes the path of being a finely orchestrated combination of controls and feelsomeness, whilst being slower, is bit easier to learn and flows more smoothly and naturally on it’s path. The R5 is a gold tequila, the 205 a refined single malt. They’re quite different, but both are damn fine ways of getting drunk.

Given a choice, I’d say forget choosing, I would want them both.  And one of our lucky owners here has exactly that, with a R5 GT turbo in his garage next his 205 GTi. 

They say, you shouldn’t meet your heroes as they will dissapoint you. Today, I’ve met two who thankfully makes that saying utter bunkum.  Maybe that’s why I sometimes like my cars more than most people.

This was indeed a truly warm-glow special day for me. I got to drive back-to-back two of the all time greats of hot hatch lore and I’m enormously grateful to the generosity of the enthusiast owners of these two very special cars and my dear editors for nominating me for the drive.

THE BOOK-END

As a book-end to my hot hatch journey, I only found a suitable replacement for my beloved Renault 5 GT Turbo many years after departing with it. It came in the form of an Abarth 500c SS which carries that rorty, characterful spirit of my first one. I’ve also got one of the older hot hatches in my stable in the form of a lovely handling Alfasud Ti.  Finally, as a sign of how the passion for the pleasures of the small, fast hatch burns long and bright, Mr Bri Ponnamblam, one of the two gentleman instrumental in my hot hatch journey, is now slowly succumbing to the seduction of an Abarth 500 for himself. So, the cycle begins again.

Unfortunately, people seem to be falling out of love with sports cars these days and this genre of small fast cars whilst misguidedly seeking all forms of SUVs instead.  All I can say is that until you drive one of these classics or some of the fine modern hot hatches, it's difficult to describe how much of this analogue, fizzy and connected driving experience we’re all going to miss out on one day. Long live the Hot hatch!