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 Ah, memories!

I was surprised to see this review pop up when I logged in this evening.

My old R5 Turbo suffered the usual faults:-

* Throttle cable snapped for a past-time

* Fuel would evaporate from the carb despite the turbo heat sheild, making starting unpredicatable

* The door metal was so thin that the theiving scum in Poole managed to steal my new Kenwood head unit and trash the door in the process!

Otherwise, I would agree that this was a fun and exciting car to drive. It is what it is, a proper hot hatch. The rush from the turbo was addictive, in a similar was that the torque of a 205 GTi 1.9 was.

I'd love a car now that would give me a smile like this car used to. What would be the closest modern equivalent?

hohum:

I'd love a car now that would give me a smile like this car used to. What would be the closest modern equivalent?

Sadly, I don't think there is one. I'm sure there is, I just can't think of one.

Somebody needs to invent one...and no, not a retro version, oh God no, please.

To create a modern 5 Turbo, we need a car with serious weight-saving as its driving force. Then, having made a car with ultra thin panels, strip out all the usual rubbish - air bags, noise absorbing underlay, carpets, stereo, electric this, electric that. Then soup it up. To be honest, I guess the closest "modern" equivalent would be a Caterham, or similar. Or, hopefully sometime soon, a Tata Nano GT Turbo.

I think we need a paradigm shift in car design.

It is so nice to read a road test and not hear about interior quality. Bring back the old days...