High-riding hatches, pretend SUVs... whatever you want to call them, the look is taking off around the world. Which of these three is most deserving of your attention?
While buyers continue to gravitate toward SUVs, small cars haven’t entirely lost their appeal. They account for about one-in-seven new vehicles sold this year, with this cluster of models forming the vast majority of the segment’s sales. We’re testing flagship variants here, with sticker prices between $30,000 and $40,000...
When it comes to small cars, Australians have consistently shown their affinity for Japanese models – especially the Toyota Corolla and Mazda 3. And in the last decade or so, the love has spread to Korean cars – notably the Hyundai i30. That’s left European contenders such as the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf – models that perform so outstandingly in their own market (and the UK) – to conduct their own private, best-of-the-rest sales war...
Renault and Volkswagen engineers had the great minds to think alike in 1976. Each group took their respective manufacturer’s humble three-door hatchback and beefed up it with go-faster components – creating a whole new breed of affordable performance car for enthusiasts...
The new Toyota Corolla took us aback when it arrived a few months ago. Far from familiar, its maker has driven the market's top-selling passenger car down a bolder path. Its design is edgier, its handling sharper, its safety tech leads the class, and a hybrid drivetrain is available at all specification levels. And it’s more expensive...
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...
Volkswagen’s reputation for producing exciting, attainable hot hatches is legendary, and with over 40 years' experience to draw from, so it should be. There’s a new challenger in town, though, with Hyundai looking to spoil the Golf GTI’s party with something it’s never tried before: a hot hatch of its own called the i30 N...
Trent Nikolic: Traditionally, boxing’s heavyweight division is the one that gets the most attention. Something to do with the big boys and their savage, one-punch-knockout power. Middleweight, however, has always been the glamour division. With fast, nimble, deceptive all-rounders – it’s the division the purists love to watch...
With so many go-fast Golfs available right now, it's fair to presume the new cut-priced GTI Original appeals to nobody... Except some hardcore traditionalists, that is. We pit the latest Mk7.5 three-door, manual, tartan-trimmed Volkswagen hot hatch against arguably the best: the much-loved Mark V.
