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How Much Should We Pay for Performance?

The belt we were all asked to tighten by men some years ago in power has never completely been loosened again, has it? I don’t care if you live in Detroit or Paris, things have changed since 2008, as you're less likely to take a 6-year loan for any old boring car with leather that you can't really afford. but instead of focusing on the bad parts, those automotive gears you have in your head should have made you more of a capitalist and less likely to put up with dull cars.
So that raises the question: given the constant advancements of technology - REVO-Knuckle suspension, electronic diffs and electric turbochargers - should we really accept the penny pinching Germans and their boring ‘hot’ hatches? It feels like the rebirth of the fun car is coming, but only if people know what they've been missing.

The acid test of a sporty four-seater front wheel drive hatch or fake coupe is in its hooliganism power. Yet I keep getting assaulted by VW fans every time I compare the Golf GTI to a Megane 250 Sport not to mention a Cup car. If you’re going to be all mature and grown up about the comfort and practicality, than I won’t stop myself from telling you that the ride on the Golf is squishy and the servicing is too expensive.

But seriously, how expensive can it be to come up with a performance setup? Every automaker worth anything is involved in some sort of motor racing, and I’m especially interested in one-make series or small class rallying, where a decent setup should come from.

I’m not talking about using a sequential gearbox or diff on the road because that would be impossible. But a good, controllable, fun coupe, be it a Subaru BRZ or a Megane 265 Trophy gets that much better when it has a neutral setup.

So, where are they missing the point? Well, how about the cradle of German performance, BMW. You’d think they get everything right, but one of their new vehicles has been conspicuously missing from the picture. Now, we know there is never going to be a Z4 M any more, so the 25is should have been a benchmark. But even though it’s got nearly as much power as an E46 M3, nobody is going to ever compare the two. That’s not only because it’s soft like a week-old tomato, and also as expensive and posh as those cherry tomatoes you buy during the winter.

What else?! Well, there’s a car that we haven’t been able to drive yet, the reborn Opel Astra OPC. Frankly, we’re never going to get that into it when it does arrive, because they are asking what is obviously too much money for it. Instead of sitting in hot hatch territory where it belongs, they’ve played the fake coupe game and slapped on a sticker of over €34,000 in Europe. Even if that’s not my first choice, I’d rather let Volkswagen play with my bank account and give me a Scirocco R.

But that would only be my choice if quality was the main issue. Because for a lot less i could grab one of two cars. First, there’s the Focus RS, which sounds like it’s the son of satan, and comes with the sort of serious grown works body kit no other road car offers. And then there’s the sweetheart of the performance world. It’s faster round the Nurburgring Nordschleife than a Ferrari 360, a Diablo SV an Audi T-RS or a KTM X-Bow. Can you guess what it is? No, it’s not the Ariel Atom, it’s a French car with 265 HP and a mechanical diff. Everybody says it’s more fun than most sportscars out there.

But how have they done that? For once, there’s no comfort for comfort’s sake. You don’t get any of that fake luxury that the Japanese are trying to push these days - extra cup holders, leather, lane assist or a machine to wipe the buggers from your nose. It’s just a car!

Thanks to an independent steering axis layout at the front, the suspension and steering functions have been separated to ensure that handling doesn’t come at the expense of strange behavior. The independent steering axis front suspension (R.S. Performance Hub) was first seen on a Renault production car in 2004, with the Megane RS of the time.

How can then offer that and a mechanical limited slip differential for the same soft of money as a MINI hatchback with a 112 horsepower diesel engine. Really, all the polish and chrome plating in the world isn’t going to hide this fact!

Why burden yourself with credit you can’t even afford, for a car that will not make you fell alive just because some auto review site says the build quality is worse. If you’re going to keep searching for faults, no car, no matter how expensive, will seem good enough. But at the end of the day, when the engine ticks itself cool and you wait for the tire smoke to clear, your wallet doesn’t need to be burning! Are you happy? Don't tell us, just keep it to yourself and let yourself be guided by these thoughts.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

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.
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