Most people seem to think that hot hatches are measured in absolutes, like power, prestige and acceleration. But the majority of buyers think of them as sort of lifestyle choices, a bit like the people who decide to take a Porsche as their daily driver. That's why you often times see buyers considering two models from totally different classes just because they like them. Should I buy a MINI Cooper S or do I want a Scirocco?
The next duel is one such comparison, where two cars from totally different hot hatch segments are pitted against one another. Up top, we have the Audi S1, which was launched this summer and comes with a 231 horsepower 2-liter TFSI turbo and all-wheel drive. It's only 4 meters long, but it weighs the best part of 1.3 tons.
The dark horse from Germany is faced with a tough contender, the French grand master of going fast, both on the track and in the real world. Ever since its launch, the Megane RS has been a a benchmark and thanks to frequent updates, it's still very relevant. A track-tuned version of the car in this video recently took the record for the fastest production car with front-wheel drive ever to go around the Nurburgring track.
It's going to be a good one…
The Audi S1 is small and has all-wheel drive to give it traction off the line. But it's also quite heavy for its class. The output of the German model is also 44 PS down on its rival. Off the line, the S1 is a little faster, but by 50 km/h the Renault has caught up. B 100 km/h, the two are virtually neck & neck, but after that, the superior power output of the Megane proves to be a decisive factor.
It's close, so maybe we need a match point decider: the price. As standard, the S1 costs €29,950 in Germany. The sporty Megane actually costs more at €35,990. We're going to have to leave it up to you to decide which one is best.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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