DS3 Racing, 500C Abarth and Clio RS Coming to Top Gear

Top Gear usually tests Lambos, Ferrari, Zonda, Porsches and a whole lot of other super monsters that we mere mortals usually can’t afford. While that provides great entertainment value, especially when all three presenters take part in their usual road trip/shootout, cheaper performance models have been conspicuously missing. We don’t know why - the show’s demographic might have gotten too old, or not enough new supercars were available - but Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond were spotted in the medieval town of Lucca in Tuscany, central Italy, with three of the supermini hothatches, according to Netherlands-based Autojunk. The Clio has been king of its little corner of the world ever since the 197 was launched in 2006, so to find out how good the newer 200 RS still is, they’ve pitted it against another French rival and one from Italy. But while the Clio RS might come with a promise of sweet handling and a revvy naturally aspirated engine, that 500C esseesse is a convertible with a “La Dolce Vita” attitude, and that DS3 Racing is probably the best looking hothatch in its segment right now, not to mention the fact that it's got that impressive turbocharged 1.6-liter engine. If we were betting people, our money would be on Hammond in the Clio, Clarkson in the DS and May in the 500 (because he used to have a Fiat Panda). We’re really sorry for spoiling the surprise, but we just couldn’t resist the Top Gear + hothatches combination. The popular TV show will return sometime next month and we can’t wait to see what happened in Italy. Update: Lotus F1 test driver Ricardo Teixeira just tweeted a picture showing that Bernie Ecclestone is in the DS3 Racing with Jeremy Clarkson, and it seems that he’s giving some pointers. We just can’t wait to see what this is all about!