Circuit judge

We didn’t have the chance to put our four contenders around a race track, but sister title Motor included the manual versions of the i30 SR and the Astra RS in their annual Bang For Your Bucks comparison. The results? Pretty much as we’d predict. The Astra ran a lap of Winton in 1: 43.9 with the Hyundai trailing in 1: 44.6. The Holden held a higher corner speed in the fast turns but the Hyundai was able to claw some back under brakes.