Drag races (starting tests) are usually good entertainment, but to find out all the performance and dynamic potential of any vehicle, there's nothing like putting some curves along the way. This is precisely what our colleagues from the German publication Sport Auto did, taking them to the Formula 1 circuit in Hockenheim (Germany), nine hot hatch.
The variety of proposals is still large, and therefore, not all are directly comparable to each other, which justifies the reason why the German publication separated the nine hot hatch into several groups.
In the first we have the MINI JCW (John Cooper Works) against the star of the moment, the Toyota GR Yaris . Even the authors of the duel indicate that the MINI JCW is not the ideal rival for the GR Yaris — the JCW GP would be more suitable.
The GR Yaris comes “armed to the teeth”: its 1.6 l tricylindrical turbo delivers 261 hp and four-wheel drive via a six-speed manual gearbox. The MINI JCW, despite the 2.0 l engine and four cylinders, stays at 231 hp, with traction being just the front wheels, also via a six-speed manual gearbox.
The Japanese pocket rocket comes with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, while the British pocket-rocket comes with Pirelli P Zero. The end result is predictable, but keep in mind the time of the GR Yaris, which will make some of the other bigger and more powerful hot hatches present blush.
In the second group, there is a superior balance between competitors. Are they the Ford Focus ST , The Volkswagen Golf GTI it's the Hyundai i30 N Performance . All of them front-wheel drive, all of them with turbo in-line four-cylinder blocks — 2.0 l for the Golf GTI and i30 N, and 2.3 l for the Focus ST — and all of them with a six-speed manual transmission .
The Golf GTI is the least powerful, with 245 hp, the i30 N Performance adds 30 hp, totaling 275 hp, with the Focus ST topping the trio with 280 hp. The rubber chosen also differs between the three: Bridgestone Potenza S005 for the Golf GTI, Pirelli P Zero for the i30 N and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S for the Focus ST.
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Even with a power deficit, it's not worth neglecting the dynamic effectiveness of the Golf GTI, recently arrived on our market and also already tested by us. The times achieved thus demonstrate it.
Going up one more level in the "arms race", we have a duo, the Germans Audi S3 and Mercedes-AMG A 35 . The technical specifications of the two seem to be taken from carbon paper. Both have 2.0 liter four-cylinder turbo engines, both have four-wheel drive and both use a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The advantage of the S3 over the A 35 is a meager four horsepower: 310 hp against 306 hp.
Contact with the asphalt is made with Bridgestone Potenza S005 tires for the Audi S3 and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S for the A 35. Place your bets:
Finally, we found another duo, perhaps the most anticipated: Honda Civic Type R and Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport . The Civic Type R (2020) has been the king of the hot hatch, being the most powerful of them with front wheel drive, with 320 hp, and also one of the most dynamically efficient. The Golf GTI Clubsport is a “vitamined” GTI, with 300 hp and an optimized chassis, with adaptive suspension, for example.
Both use a turbo engine with 2.0 l of capacity, both have only front wheel drive, but use different transmissions: the Civic Type R (Continental SportContact 6) uses a six-speed manual gearbox, while the Golf GTI ( Bridgestone Potenza S005) makes use of the seven-speed DSG (dual clutch) — more efficient and faster, says Volkswagen. Will it be enough to cancel the 20 hp difference against the Japanese rival?
Laps made and, unsurprisingly, the last two hot hatches, the Honda Civic Type R and the Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport were the fastest — the most “focused” among all, with the exception of a Japanese pocket rocket bearing its name GR Yaris. They were separated by just a tenth of a second, with an advantage for… Golf GTI Clubsport!
Surprisingly, the model that followed them and finished the podium was the little monster Toyota GR Yaris, even faster than the other four-wheel drive hot hatch (Audi S3 and Mercedes-AMG A 35), which proves that this special of approval is no joke, despite being damned for the joke.
All the times achieved by these nine hot hatches:
| Model | Time |
|---|---|
| Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport | 2min02.7s |
| Honda Civic Type R | 2:02.8s |
| Toyota GR Yaris | 2min03.8s |
| Ford Focus ST | 2min04.8s |
| Audi S3 | 2min05.2s |
| Mercedes-AMG A 35 | 2min05.2s |
| Volkswagen Golf GTI | 2min05.6s |
| Hyundai i30 N Performance | 2min06.1s |
| MINI JCW | 2min09.6s |