3 of Today's Hot Hatchbacks in Competition.
In the climate of today it seems that we require ever more far-reaching sophistication and performance for our budget cars as well luxury models.
As an example of how performance and specification demanding we have now become, we compare three of today's smaller hatchbacks.
The cars we are going to look at are the Mini Cooper S, the Renault Clio 2L Renaultsport 197 and the new Vauxhall Corsa VXR.
The initial perception with regards to the Vauxhall is that it is a much nicer car than previous versions.
For a small car it develops a massive 189bhp from a 1.6 L turbocharged diesel engine and would genuinely appear to have the getup and go to match the good looks.
It is up again serious competition however. Perhaps this is a selling off how important the market is.
From an inauspicious start the Clio does start perform and with 194bhp coming from a 2 L engine once underway to car starts to fly (so to speak).
The power of the Mini Cooper S is obvious to see right from the start with a turbocharged diesel 1.6 engine providing 173bhp.
From a drivers perspective the Mini has stunning performance and lightning reactions. With regards to the Renault, it does appear to perform better the faster you go. Finally the Vauxhall has loads of performance and handles extremely well.
As with all things the interior of the cars there is always an element of compromise with the poor plastics of Mini set against the brilliant driving position. It was difficult to get comfortable in the Renault despite the quality of the interior and lastly though the design of the Vauxhall inside was great this somehow compromised the visibility.
One of the definitive issues that we needed to take a look at what's how much value for money was there actually in any of these cars. With a very small depreciation and a strong second hand price the Mini was a definite attraction as far as second-hand owners were concerned. The Vauxhall would have performed better being the cheapest car to purchase and potentially being better equipped but this was marred by sharply increased quite steep running costs
Looked at objectively all three of the cars are actually quite good value for money but probably the Mini Cooper S. comes out on top the handling speed and overall performance of the Mini means that it has quite the strong support to place despite the amazing fact that the inside looks cheap but hardly any boot in the rear seats are extremely small. Certainly one of the aspects of the Mini is that the extras are surprisingly expensive.
Set against the mini you look at the Vauxhall and think that this is a good all rounder of a car. The performance is excellent and the handling superb has an excellent interior. The downside is the fact that the visibility is compromised another negative factor is that it does not appear to have as many safety features as the other two.
Surprisingly the Renault Clio comes in third despite an excellent showing in the performance stakes. Indeed probably once you've managed to get the car wound up in going this is the best of the lot.
Scott James writes about all sorts of Automotive issues on the Internet and Check out the following for more information about the above: Ferrari Cars ; Driver Education and Car Dealers Manchester
Feel free to grab a unique version of this article from the Automobiles Articles Submissions Service
About the Author
Rating: Not yet rated