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...
The newcomer versus the champ: this isn’t some naff reference to a big money fight, but by the same token, it kind of is – because here we have the much-lauded European that’s all about swagger, going against the stalwart chart-topper with a tremendous record...
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...
How does Peugeot's wicked new 308 GTi 270 flagship hot hatch fare against the established might of Volkswagen's GTI Performance edition? We hit the twisty back-roads to find out.
Until recently, Australians shopping for a new city car on a budget wouldn’t have even bothered kicking tyres in a European brand’s showroom. Light Euro tikes have typically been prohibitively expensive to purchase and frightfully costly to service, making their Japanese or South Korean counterparts the default choice...
The term ‘hot-hatch’ is commonly used to describe a hatchback that straddles the line between performance and practicality. Some skew closer to performance than practicality, while others veer the other way. What happens when you have Volkswagen Golf GTI money, though, but don’t necessarily want to blend in with the tartan-clad German crowd? That’s where the French Peugeot 308 GT and Italian Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV step in...
So, you like French brands. You like SUVs. You like the idea of personalising your car to be unique and to stand out from the crowd. Well, you haven’t really been spoilt for choice -- until now. That’s because there are now two models on the Australian market that will tick all of those boxes. They are the all-new Renault Captur and the recently refreshed Peugeot 2008...
Not everyone wants an SUV and even those who crave one may be better off with a traditional wagon – it is a line we’ve heard before, yet the sales charts scream that the people have spoken otherwise. Neither the Peugeot 308 Touring or Volkswagen Golf Wagon can provide the high driving position of a sports utility vehicle, and likewise they don’t sit high enough that you could slide a baby into a capsule without bending down into the car...
Definitions shift over time, none more so in the automotive landscape than with the term ‘people’s car’. What once referred to a German Beetle, French 2CV or an Indian Tata bringing motoring to their respective masses can also be placed in an Australian context...
