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2009 Throwback Thursday Video Shows Old Hot Hatchbacks With 1.6-Liter Engines

Nowadays, Ford will sell you a 140 horsepower Fiesta with a 1-liter engine. But back up a few years and you'll notice most small cars had 1.4 and 1.6-liter engines of the naturally aspirated variety.
2009 Throwback Thursday Video Shows Old Hot Hatchbacks With 1.6-Liter Engines 6 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
2009 Throwback Thursday Video Shows Old Hot Hatchbacks With 1.6-Liter Engines2009 Throwback Thursday Video Shows Old Hot Hatchbacks With 1.6-Liter Engines2009 Throwback Thursday Video Shows Old Hot Hatchbacks With 1.6-Liter Engines2009 Throwback Thursday Video Shows Old Hot Hatchbacks With 1.6-Liter Engines2009 Throwback Thursday Video Shows Old Hot Hatchbacks With 1.6-Liter Engines
That sounds like the theme for a great Throwback Thursday video. Thankfully, auto motor und sport shot just such a review back in 2009.

Oh, 2009, such a lovely year. Kanye West didn't talk about himself all the time; Miley Cyrus had long hair and nobody cared about Justin Bieber. Of course, we were all in the middle of a new recession, so those Golf GTI purchases had to be put on hold.

As alternatives, many car companies offered small hatchbacks with peppy 1.6-liter engines. These were high-revving little monsters, not quite as fast as the big boys, but still enjoyable to drive.

To make themselves appear many, these small cars covered themselves with spoilers, exhaust trumpets, and big wheels.

The Suzuki Swift Sport in this test is the first-gen model with 125 PS. It's the thirstiest of the bunch and gets to 100 km/h in 9.6 seconds. However, it's about as cheap as today's average Polo. Both the Clio GT and the Fiesta Zetec use slightly more advanced mills with variable valve timing to save fuel. However, they are bigger, heavier and thus slower, requiring over 10 seconds to reach 100 km/h.

By today's standards, those times aren't good enough. Neither are the fuel consumption numbers acceptable, as something like the BMW M140i would match them, at least on paper.

But back seven years ago, cars had more direct hydraulic power steering. Keen drivers might also miss the ability to disengage stability control or the fine art of launching a car the old-fashioned way.

The winner of this review is the Renault Clio GT, a car that nobody cares about these days. It's the cheapest car in the test at €16,300; it's comfortable and a good all-rounder. So keep all that in mind when it's time to buy a second-hand car from 2009.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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