Which "hyperhatch" would you most like to own?
Discussion
It's a pretty exciting time for the hyperhatch really. 30k+ for a Golf/Focus/Civic sounds like a lot of money but when you consider that it has similar performance to a supercar of ten years ago and day-to-day useability, they are actually pretty good value.
I guess the Golf R and A45 AMG deserve a mention but to be honest, I don't have a burning desire to own either despite reviews for the Golf R being excellent and if we're talking 300bhp+ to enter the hyperhatch club, the Golf doesn't quite make the cut.
I'm pretty excited about these three though and can't wait to see how they stack up.
Which one would you most to like to own?
As the owner of a cooking version of the latest model, owning the ultimate version of my car (the Civic) has some appeal. I imagine in true Type R tradition, this would be awesome on track (I hope it beats the Megane's Nurburgring lap time) and the engine will no doubt be a masterpiece with the top end power that we've come to expect from a Type R but bags of torque lower down the rev range thanks to the turbo too. It does look a bit "boy racer" though and I think I'm probably at least 10 years too old to carry off the styling convincingly!
The Audi will no doubt be a very nice car to live with and I haven't seen enough "new" A3s on the road yet to have the same contempt for it as I had for the old model. It will comfortably have the most power, coupled with an AWD transmission that will allow some oversteer apparently but will also be a good deal more expensive than the others and it is possibly a little bit too understated (i.e. it looks like any other A3). Also, how good will that new gearbox be?
The Focus (on paper at least), looks like it might offer the best blend of power, value, styling and traction then but I'm not so sure. The mk1 RS was a very good looking car and the mk2 RS looked really tough and had that charismatic engine, which made it hard not to love. This one looks a bit "tame" and the mk3 Focus isn't the best looking car to start with anyway. AWD shows promise for dynamics but perhaps the Ecoboost engine lacks some character? We'll see.
On balance, I would probably take the Audi, as I know it would be easy to live with and that engine!
I guess the Golf R and A45 AMG deserve a mention but to be honest, I don't have a burning desire to own either despite reviews for the Golf R being excellent and if we're talking 300bhp+ to enter the hyperhatch club, the Golf doesn't quite make the cut.
I'm pretty excited about these three though and can't wait to see how they stack up.
Which one would you most to like to own?
As the owner of a cooking version of the latest model, owning the ultimate version of my car (the Civic) has some appeal. I imagine in true Type R tradition, this would be awesome on track (I hope it beats the Megane's Nurburgring lap time) and the engine will no doubt be a masterpiece with the top end power that we've come to expect from a Type R but bags of torque lower down the rev range thanks to the turbo too. It does look a bit "boy racer" though and I think I'm probably at least 10 years too old to carry off the styling convincingly!
The Audi will no doubt be a very nice car to live with and I haven't seen enough "new" A3s on the road yet to have the same contempt for it as I had for the old model. It will comfortably have the most power, coupled with an AWD transmission that will allow some oversteer apparently but will also be a good deal more expensive than the others and it is possibly a little bit too understated (i.e. it looks like any other A3). Also, how good will that new gearbox be?
The Focus (on paper at least), looks like it might offer the best blend of power, value, styling and traction then but I'm not so sure. The mk1 RS was a very good looking car and the mk2 RS looked really tough and had that charismatic engine, which made it hard not to love. This one looks a bit "tame" and the mk3 Focus isn't the best looking car to start with anyway. AWD shows promise for dynamics but perhaps the Ecoboost engine lacks some character? We'll see.
On balance, I would probably take the Audi, as I know it would be easy to live with and that engine!
TheJimi said:
If I was spending "hyperhatch" money, I wouldn't be buying a "hyperhatch".
To be fair, with my hypothetical 30-40k neither would I (probably several cheaper cars for different purposes). However, as a one car to do it all type prospect, one of these cars would be quite appealing. Out of interest, what would others call a hatchback with over 300bhp? Maybe, I should have gone to "superhatch" before going to "hyperhatch" but that's a bit close to "supermini" (a generally accepted term for a Fiesta-sized shopping car). Back in the day, I don't seem to remember cars like the Escort RS Cosworth and Lancia Delta Integrale being classed as hot hatches (a hot hatch was something like a 205 or Golf GTi).I'm not particularly a fan of the term "hyper" (hence the "") but at the same time, I can't see how a Suzuki Swift Sport with (125bhp?) can be compared to a c.370 bhp Audi RS3. It's stupid to say that a car with 299bhp is a hot hatch and a car with 300bhp is a "hyper" hatch but what other criteria could you use? Price? I don't think that anyone would disagree that a Focus ST is a hot hatch but the Focus RS is quite a different proposition in terms of power, price and traction. The hottest Leons/Meganes are sailing close to 300bhp but not such a big step up compared to their lesser brethren, so still hot hatches in my opinion. I merely used the term to identify the type of car (latest breed of fast hatch) that I was talking about, rather than to spark a debate about a definition and whether it exists or not! 
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