Autocar UK – 28 August 2019

KNOCKOUT ROUND BBADC 2019

28 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 49

Price £21,985

Engine  4 cyls, 1368cc,

turbocharged, petrol

Power  177bhp at 5500rpm

Torque  184lb ft at 3000rpm

Gearbox 5-spd manual

Kerb weight 1070kg

0-62mph  6.7sec

Top speed  140mph

Economy  41.5-42.2mpg

CO 2 , tax band na

ABARTH 595 COMPETIZIONE

Δ £32,000 Ford Focus ST, sneaking

271bhp, adaptive dampers, a limited-

slip differential, an active exhaust,

customisable driving modes and a

coupé-like silhouette replete with

spicy ducktail spoiler in below

£30,000 deserves recognition. But it

has to hang together from the driver’s

seat, doesn’t it?

The truth is that it doesn’t for

the Hyundai, not quite, although

this new i30 N Fastback remains

a sterling effort from a marque so

new to the hot hatch game. It has the

same hefty steering and nailed-on

f r ont a x le a s t he or i g i n a l h at c hba c k ,

and it gives you the confidence to

slip through kinks and corners on

the road at tremendous speed. It’s

not a car that spins away its power

on the exit of tighter bends, either,

i n s t e a d g u a rd i n g it f ie r c e l y w it h t he

help of electronics. The trade-off for

that seems to be corrupted steering

feel, which along with the blunt but

powerful engine response, slightly

clumsy gearshift and poorly placed

pedals, leaves an impression among

all judges that although Hyundai

is on the right track, the Fastback

needs a year or two in hot hatch

f i n i sh i n g s c ho ol.

That’s a school run by the

G ol f GT I. We k now f r om t he

old Mk7 Clubsport S that the

engineers behind this car can

transcend the GTI’s traditionally

c on s e r v at i v e br ie f i f t he y r e a l l y

want to, but is that the case with

the new TCR?

According to at least three judges,

not especially, although it’s still a

prodigiously appealing all-round

pr op o sit ion a nd , a s a l w ay s w it h r e a l-

world performance cars, that matters

when it comes to scoring. “It’s weird

how one of the oldest cars here can

still feel like one of the freshest, both

inside and out,” says Davis, who

also finds the moderate steering

response better suited to road use

than that of the rapier Focus ST. An

engine tweaked to just shy of 286bhp

finally gives the Golf the firepower to

compete at the sharp end of the class,

along with some vocal character,

specifically induction roar. On the

road, there’s also no doubt that

this particular car’s track-day-spec

Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres give

it a n a dde d do s e of s t e e r i n g pr e c i sion

a nd fe e l – s o lon g a s it ’s d r y.

But this isn’t the usual f lawless

performance from the car that in

1975 made hot hatches mainstream.

Questions are asked of its composure,

feedback and interactivity, while

on track it suffers from a stage

f r i g ht si m i l a r t o t h at of t he M i n i. It ’s

quick to a point and dull thereafter,

translating none of its huge front-end

grip into tail-happy dynamism, and

at times it feels “oddly scrappy”, as

one tester puts it.

What, then, of the mighty Honda

Civic Type R? For starters, it isn’t new

and we will admit the only reason

it’s here is to act as a yardstick for the

Ford. But it is quite a yardstick ◊

Prior lamented

the Mégane Cup

chassis’s firm ride

An^ appealing^ view.^ Sce

nery impresses^ as^ well

MX-5 sh o n e. Go l f wa s

less convincing the

harder you pushed it