Hot hatchbacks aren't just about having fun. In fact, part of the reason why Germany makes so many of them is the Autobahn road network, where a family car with a powerful turbo engine can stretch its legs.
But after the bashing received by the Golf GTI in recent days, we're not surprised that the two hotties in this video aren't German. The i30 N is Hyundai's first such car, built with the help of a man who worked for decades at BMW M.
Its rival of the day is the 308 GTi, also designed to de-throne the Golf GTI. While Peugeot had access to 2.0-liter turbo engines, it decided to fit the 5-door compact with the most power-dense 1.6-liter in the world.
The video below will provide you with a side-by-side look at what accelerating to 250 km/h in either of these cars is like. Even though they are different in many ways, the two are quite evenly matched.
The i30 N has 5 HP and about 20 Nm more torque. However, the 308 is designed to be super-light and thus reaches 100 km/h 0.1 of a second quicker. It seems that the Hyundai is never allowed to catch up. 200 kg of extra weight will do that to you, but the conditions might not allow it to make full use of its traction.
A part of what makes the first Korean hot hatch so appealing is modularity. There are multiple drive modes, rev-matching, adaptive dampers, and steering. This tech doesn't necessarily make the car faster, but ticks the "is it cool?" box.
The GTi from France is bare-bones, but the 270 HP version we have here (there's a 250 HP model) comes with sticky tires, bigger brakes, and a mechanical limited slip differential. Despite the lack of fancy tech, Peugeot asks about €4,000 more for one its hot hatchbacks.
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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