Welcome to Part Two of the video feature for our recent 2018 Hot Hatch Mega Test. To recap, we've assembled three all-wheel-drivers and three front-drivers from non-premium marques, with pricing ranging from $43k (i30 N) through to $57,690 (STI Spec R). It's a rich and diverse field with each competitor representing its maker's fastest and most fun-filled efforts...
We pit five of the best turbo hot hatches - and one wildcard sedan - against one another to find out which is the fastest and most fun small rocketship for under $60k. In this video we test outright performance and lap times...
Is there a more vibrant and diverse segment on the market right now than that labelled 'hot hatch'? In fact, is it technically a segment at all, but rather a broad net cast wide enough to include a $25K compact-sized Suzuki Swift Sport at one extreme and larger, circa-$80K Audi RS3s and Merc-AMG A45s at the other? And that’s just hatchbacks...
Front-wheel drive has been part of the classic hot-hatch formula since the genre was ignited in the 1970s. The layout would dominate any all-time-greats list for the category, featuring the likes of the Peugeot 205 GTI, Renault Megane RS, and of course Volkswagen Golf GTI (Marks III and IV excepted!). Yet, there have long been exceptions, of course...
For all the hoo-ha about booming sales of SUVs, the so-called 'small car' segment remains the market's most popular, still accounting for almost 20 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Australia. Of this, the majority are hatchbacks instead of three-box sedans, which draw people in based on their improved practicality and generally less conservative design approaches...
We’ll admit a comparison test between the BMW M140i and Ford Focus RS doesn’t seem particularly logical on the surface, but there’s a method to the madness. Each demonstrates a different methodology for doing the same thing — turning a garden variety small hatchback into a bona fide road weapon...
We assembled 17 of fittest 'fun cars' under $60k at Sydney Motorsport Park at the recent MotorWorld event and there you, our readers, into the test seats. And we gave the mega test field a spin ourselves. Together, we decide what's hot, what's fun and what is exception value for money...
The first part of our Ford Focus RS versus Subaru WRX STI versus Volkswagen Golf R comparison, the road test, ended with the Volkswagen claiming victory over the new Ford and the Subaru. This, though, is the second instalment – the track element – and it's the best chance the compromised but vastly gifted RS has to win back some ground...
Think turbocharged, four-wheel-drive cars and it's hard not to picture rally monsters flying over jumps and sliding through forests millimetres from trees. These days, though, buyers keen for a road-going, boosted, all-paw performance car are spoilt for choice. And, if you've got around $50k to spend, three of the best you can buy are the Ford Focus RS, Subaru WRX STI, and Volkswagen Golf R...
Small hatchbacks such as the Mazda 3 and Ford Focus are not selling quite as well as they used to, with the boom in small crossovers such as the Mazda CX-3 and Honda HR-V eating heartily into their market share. But despite the changing face of the auto market, this segment of vehicle remains Australia’s most popular overall...
Ford versus Holden, the definitive Australian automotive rivalry, seen here but not as we know it. There's not a V8 engine, a sedan body or a rear-wheel-drive configuration in sight. Instead, we have a pair of hot hatches, both (re)launched inside the past few months, that go about doing broadly the same thing as each other in notably different ways...
