"New XR3"

Hmmm, that's not a denial.

Heh. With the last three Alfa Romeos I've had the pleasure of driving, the anticipation was far better than the drive. Probably as it would be if you had a date with a supermodel.

If it is the 2.0litre then its already in a highish state of tune at

Tim..

hehe, children, playground, bullshit, boring, save it.

Probably a CT20, flows slightly better than my CT26, in a car like an MR2, probably would actually kick. The T3 in the Saab did.

Well, it is Turbo'd, so 215bhp is about right i reckon.

hehehehehe

The 2.0T VVC as in the S60, which this engine is based on produces 180 in the S60 and chips to around 210bhp on 95 octane, and around 220 on 98.

Tim..

"all eyes will be on the hot hatch market to see if the Golf GTI loses its crown."

Erm, wtf? Civic Type-R ?

If Ford havent made the ride too firm and harsh, and the 5 pot is nicely lag free, and it can get the power down as well as the Golf, then VW should be worried.

At the end of the day though, the Golf GTi looks the dogs, and the new Focus is just a pumped up shrunken and bloated Mondeo ugly looking beast.

Tim..

Looks the dogs? No it looks like any other Golf with big wheels and a red bit of trim at the front, heh. Just as the Focus will look like any other Focus with big wheels...

Sure, there's more to it than this, but most hot hatches these days look like mid range models upwards. Sure, bigger alloys, but to most people, they're still alloys...

OK, I've just spent a few mins on it, but I'm having trouble. It's nowhere near as obviously bad as the Merc.

...and you'll end up with a heap of old Italian s**te.

How exactly will that compare to the hugely competent machine that will be the Focus RS ?

It's basically the size.

Rover use a Garrett T25 (circa 230bhp maximum before it can't flow any more) in the T16 Turbo. There are loads of other Garrett T25s in other cars, and they aren't usually interchangeable, although they will flow similar air if you could get them to fit. The Sunny GTi-R's T3 will bolt to a Rover T16, but I dunno how much work is involved.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

For a minute there, I thought you were suggesting the Fiat 20v Turbo lump would last as long as the Volvo engine !

Then I realised you must have been making a joke.

He was obviously just being sarcastic.

What about it ? There's the four-grand-cheaper Clio 182. There's the new (expensive) Golf GTi, the Megane 225 Trophy, and there will soon be the Astra VXR too. You can almost pick up a new Impreza Turbo for Civic-money from your local Car Supermarket. I'd rate the Astra Coupe Turbo much higher than the Civic too, although that's prolly a controversial view.

Civic is old news - it was never at the top of the pile anyway. It's just a ghetto-spec revbox :)

You really think so ? I think it's bland-o-roony, and they've forgot to paint the bottom half !

It'll do kick ass wheelspins :D