Hot Hatch

If you've ever owned a high-performance compact car or hot hatch, you know that while they can be surprisingly versatile and practical for everyday driving and the commute, there's one thing that can completely sour the daily-driving experience: the exhaust note. Too often, go-fast four-cylinder...

A brand new generation of the MINI Cooper is just around the corner, and that means replacements for all the different variants including the sportier S and John Cooper Works trims, as well as new versions of the Clubman, Countryman and all the other bodystyles MINI is now offering. The first will...

Ford’s silence on the possibility of a new generation of its brutish Focus RS has led to all manner of speculation and conjecture on the matter, and the latest twist in the story is perhaps the most interesting yet. The last we heard, Ford was considering replacing the Focus RS with a Fiesta...

A high-performance AMG version of the third-generation Mercedes-Benz A Class luxury hatchback has been speculated on for close to two years but now, finally, we have some official details on the matter. Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that the new hot hatch will be called the A45 AMG (previously...

The 1969 film The Italian Job features one of the best chase scenes of all times, as three MINI Cooper S models run from the police through the streets and storm drains of Turin, Italy. In homage to the 1969 film, and to honor British athletes participating in the London Olympic Games (several of...

A brand new Volkswagen Golf is just around the corner, a car whose launch also heralds the arrival of a new high-performance GTI. While we’ve been spying prototypes for the new GTI for more than a year, the only solid details we have on the car is that it, along with the regular Golf, will be...

If you're amped up about the upcoming 2013 Ford Focus ST, you're not alone--and you might just have a chance to drive one before putting in your order. Ford is planning a five-city Performance Academy tour that will showcase the new Focus ST for drivers in L.A., Washington D.C., Boston, San...

When Subaru rolled out its Advanced Tourer Concept at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show last December, most immediately identified the vehicle as being a preview of the next-generation Legacy and Outback. Subaru didn’t say much about the concept, stating only that it was a mid-size wagon designed to...

Ford's engineers went to great lengths to make sure the new Focus ST sounds as fast as it goes.

Romanian supermodel Catrinel Menghia has done quite a bit to raise Fiat’s brand recognition in the United States market, primarily though a commercial called “Seduction” that was never intended to play on network TV. In fact, the commercial was created exclusively for the Los...

Unless you’re a hard-core MINI fan, chances are good that you’ve never heard of the 2006 MINI Cooper S John Cooper Works GP, or, simply, the Cooper GP. Only 2000 were built, and only 415 of these made their way into the United States. As GP MINI explains, the Cooper GP was built to...

Fiat brings a 2012 500 Abarth to Jay Leno's Garage for a test drive.

The next Volkswagen GTI will be shaving pounds and getting an infusion of horsepower.

The last we'd heard on the development of the 2015 Ford Focus RS, it wasn't even an officially approved production project, though it was in tentative development. Now news comes that the project has been shelved--at least temporarily--in favor of other tasks. That's perhaps disturbing news to...

Kia's newest Pro Cee'd hatchback gets a serious infusion of sport, and appears to have the Hyundai Veloster Turbo squarely in its sights.

Powered by an EcoBoost engine and displaying aggressive styling, Ford is taking the Fiesta subcompact to a new level with the ST model due in 2013. Due to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the new 2013 Ford Fiesta ST has had its chassis and engine developed on the famous Nürburgring...

BMW is expanding its hallowed M Division by launching a series of new performance-oriented vehicles fitted with exclusive M-tuned engines, handling packs, and stylish bodykits. Called the M Performance range, the new models aren’t set to debut officially until March’s Geneva Motor Show...

Ford’s upcoming Fiesta ST will debut with a new four-cylinder EcoBoost engine displacing 1.6 liters and delivering around 177 horsepower, but in the future we may see the engine downsized though at no cost to performance. A Ford exec has revealed that the automaker’s latest...

The latest generation 208 hatchback from French automaker Peugeot made its debut in Europe recently and now, just a few weeks out from the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, a sporty ‘GTi’ version has been previewed in concept form. While Peugeot is yet to officially confirm that it will be...

BMW is expanding its hallowed M Division by launching a series of new performance-oriented vehicles fitted with exclusive M-tuned engines, handling packs, and stylish bodykits. Called the M Performance range, the new models aren’t set to debut officially until March’s Geneva Motor Show...