some people want fat rides, thier mates are impressed with thier RS6 replica rims and lowered with black`d rear lights etc. they would own a MK5 gti is they could afford or an S3 as yes these cars are silly well built and superquiet on the move also tunable, i couldnt think of a more uninvolving drive TBH though as they weigh more than you`d think. thing is your mates wont be impressed with a clio, and certain types of girls wont be either.
btw on a side note my dad just sold a very poorly looked after 1.2 polo of around 1995 age with rusty everything externally inside had NO rattles !!!!!!!! this is an absolute sh*t heap VW thats 11 years old with way over 100k miles and has not 1 rattle at the back or front ! my first 172MKII brand new had rattles within 2 months of owning, also i cant stress how well it drove (not performance) and how quiet it was on the move. if build and refinement is on the priorty list dont hesitate to get a polo or a golf or even a bora (saloon golf) you can pick them up at good price`s etc a really nice sensible choice, but if you want to step out of boring used car world for a moment dont consider owning one for fun driving.
ohh about the 200hp comment to keep with a 172/182 i actually think this is why vw masked the increased LBFT HP figures for the new golf gti so as to keep insurance down (not once did the vw make less than 207bhp) and tax but when tested by journo`s it would seem impressivley fast. it was really close to the megane sport in autocar 0-100-0 test yet the megane trophy is 100kg lighter and has better traction and 22bhp more + 10lbft more ?!?
i think a MK4 gti with 200hp would still struggle due to weight seen as a 182 can hang with wrx`s (same weight as golf) at 222hp until way above legal speeds.
220hp MK4 gti will be same as 182cup and a tad faster above say 110, but to get another 70bhp out of the 1.8T will cost about £1500 and push insurance up (also reduce reliability unless you wann go serious with IHI turbo`s etc..)
basically dont bother with one.
