AS YOU WERE
The BMW is first to fall. It’s comfortable and has the best interior quality but it’s just too dull to drive compared to the others. If an old rearwheel-drive M135i/M140i were here, it would be a strong contender for a podium spot.
The regular transverse-engined 1-series would still be our pick over a basic Golf or A3 but in the superhatch sphere both the hot VW Group cousins feel faster, more responsive and more agile on these challenging roads.
Golf or RS3, given they use similar building blocks? For me, the Golf has more poise to its handling and better body control but the obstructive, infuriating touch-control interfaces are a genuine reason not to buy. The Audi’s more usable ergonomics and glorious five-cylinder heart nudge it ahead, and into third place.
Four-wheel drive makes its advantages felt in this multi-season, single-day weather for traction and confidence, and both the Golf and the RS3 can offer rear-biased, oversteer-happy modes on closed roads. But the two front-wheeldrive cars in this test feel more adjustable, more pure, more exhilarating. And the Honda is roomier and nearly as comfy as all of the posh German trio.
If this test were based on value alone, the i30N would be the runaway winner. And three of our testers insist that the i30 N is often more fun than the Honda. It has a more extrovert character, more of a sense of humour. It might well be the car for you.
And in fact, since the Honda is so damn dicult to buy, it might have to be. Only a few hundred Type Rs per year will make their way to these shores, and this year’s allocation is long sold out. That explains the toppy price too; with low volume comes higher cost – but also the chance for Honda to make the FL5 Type R the very best performance car it can be.
And it’s a masterpiece. The highest-fidelity hot hatch there’s ever been, it wins this test.