Hatchbacks
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By their nature, hot hatches are a little juvenile. They start out as economy cars and add turbocharged power, big wings, wide tires, sport suspensions, and all manner of tack-on parts to toughen the look. The new Ford Focus RS is no exception. It looks like it just dropped out of the latest Fast & Furious movie. Everything's oversized: the rear wing, the exhaust outlets, the front air intakes that feed the hungry intercooler and brakes. But that doesn't mean it can't win our Best Car To Buy award. We care about performance here, and fun behind the wheel can trump any issues we have with...
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2018 Volkswagen Golf debuts with more power, techVolkswagen’s taking its humble Golf down the high-tech road by introducing some advanced features not normally found in the compact class. The features are part of a mid-cycle update for the seventh-generation Golf and will be available during 2017. Specifications for the United States are...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW M2 vs. Ford Focus RS: Have turbos, will travelBeing low man on the totem pole isn't always so bad. Two of our finalists for the Motor Authority Best Car To Buy 2017 award, the 2016 BMW M2 and 2016 Ford Focus RS, started life at or near the bottom of their respective lineups. The Ford Focus’ platform dates back to 2011. It’s a...
Kirk Bell -
2016 Ford Focus RS video road testTime for a confession. We've been angry all these years. Europe has been sliding around behind the wheel of the Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] Focus RS for years. Here in America--land of the free, dammit--we've been RS-free. Time for that to end. The Focus RS is finally here, finally free to drift...
Aaron Cole -
Honda Civic Type R Prototype to appear at 2016 SEMA showFollowing its debut at September’s 2016 Paris auto show, Honda’s Civic Type R Prototype is now en route to Las Vegas for an appearance at the 2016 SEMA show. The car represents our best look yet at the production Civic Type R due in showrooms in 2017. It builds on the low and wide...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Ford reveals first of its SEMA-bound 2016 Focus RS hatchbacksThe Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] Focus RS may turn out to be one of the most popular cars at the upcoming 2016 SEMA show. Why? Because it combines two traits vehicle modifiers adore: a reasonable price tag and an engine just begging for more power. Ford will have a handful on its own stand, the most...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volkswagen's seventh-generation Golf is about to receive some updates. The updated car should be on sale in 2017, as a 2018 model. The German automaker has confirmed that we’ll see the covers come off in early November 2016, although only for the European specification. All VW is willing to say about the car is that it will feature some new safety technologies. We already know a lot about it, though. For example, the design won’t be changing much. Images leaked in August reveal only tweaks to the headlights and bumpers. Those headlights are expected to be available as LED units...
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2018 Honda Civic Type R spy shots and videoIt’s been exactly one year since we last saw prototypes for Honda’s new Civic Type R and now we have new spy shots and video of the latest testers for the upcoming hot hatch. Honda launched a Civic Type R outside the United States in early 2015 but that car was based on the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Sporty or blowing smoke? Chevy says diesel Cruze RS comingGeneral Motors Company's [NYSE:GM] chief in North America said Tuesday the automaker plans on offering a diesel-powered version of the 2018 Chevy Cruze RS and—gasp—it may actually be fun to drive. "We designed these to be sporty, as you can see," said Alan Batey, President for GM in...
Aaron Cole -
2016 Ford Focus RS first drive review: the hottest of the hatchesFord couldn't have released the Focus RS at a better time. The Mitsubishi Evo is officially dead, and the Subaru WRX STI is getting long in the tooth. The most recent generation of the STI is only offered as a sedan, and an Evo hatchback was never offered in the U.S. While other automakers are...
Kirk Bell -
RN30 concept previews Hyundai’s first ‘N’ performance carHyundai established a standalone performance division in 2015 to develop cars leveraging knowhow from its various motorsport programs, namely its World Rally Championship efforts. The division is called Hyundai N and the first product will be a hotted-up version of the new i30 hatchback. The i30 is...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
VW ID concept to spawn 300-plus-mile electric hatch in 2020The Volkswagen Group in order to shed any vestiges of its diesel emissions cheating scandal is embracing vehicle electrification with open arms. The automaker is committed to launching 30 electric cars by 2025 across its various brands, many of which will come from the namesake Volkswagen brand. VW...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
In Honda speak, Prototype means almost production ready. Prototype vehicles are often shown just a few months ahead of the on-sale date and the changes between them and the production vehicles are usually minor. That should warm the hearts of Honda fans anxiously awaiting the Civic Type R as the car Honda revealed Thursday at the 2016 Paris auto show is a thinly-veiled version of the 300-plus horsepower hot hatch we will receive starting next spring. You can compare it with actual prototypes of the Civic Type R production model testing in the wild. This is the first R-badged Honda ever to...
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2017 Honda Civic Hatchback priced from $20,535The new Honda Civic Hatchback, which hits showrooms on Monday, September 26, has been priced from $20,535. That compares with the $19,475 you have to pay for the Civic Sedan and the $19,885 for the Civic Coupe. (All figures include an $835 destination charge.) What marks out the Civic Hatchback...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2017 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive revealedSmart was one of the first mainstream automakers to introduce an electric car when it launched its original ForTwo Electric Drive last decade. Now it’s become the first to offer a lineup of cars that offers the choice of internal combustion or electric power. That’s right. Smart has...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
New concept previews Hyundai i30 N hot hatchHyundai will use the upcoming 2016 Paris auto show to introduce its new i30, the hatchback of the latest Elantra range and the likely replacement for our Elantra GT. The i30 is Hyundai’s answer to the Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] Focus and Volkswagen Golf, and like its rivals it will feature a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
New Mini Clubman spawns 228-hp John Cooper Works modelMini’s extra versatile Clubman was redesigned for the 2016 model year. For 2017 it spawns its high-performance John Cooper Works model. The car is a hot hatch that packs a turbo four, all-wheel drive and track-tuned suspension. In other words, it’s anathema to the boring buzz boxes you...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV priced from $37,495General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] has stuck to its word of bringing the 200-plus-mile Chevrolet Bolt EV to market for about $37,500. On Tuesday GM confirmed the starting price at $37,495, including destination. It follows an announcement on September 13 that the car has an EPA-estimated range of 238...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Honda has unveiled its new Civic Hatchback ahead of the car’s world debut September 29 at the 2016 Paris auto show. The car is based on Honda’s 10th-generation Civic platform and will be sold in the United States. All versions will come from the United Kingdom, though, as the car is being assembled exclusively at Honda’s Swindon plant. It will join the related Civic Sedan and Civic Coupe in local showrooms in the fall of 2016, arriving as a 2017 model. It will be the first Civic Hatchback offered in the U.S. since the seventh-generation model early last decade. Honda has...
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2018 Ford Fiesta 3-door spy shotsFord Motor Company [NSYE:F] is working on a new generation of its Fiesta and today we have spy shots of a prototype for the popular subcompact’s three-door hatchback option. It should debut alongside the five-door at one of the major European auto shows in 2017, and eventually we should also...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV promises 238-mile rangeChevrolet on Tuesday confirmed its 2017 Bolt EV electric hatchback will be coming with an EPA-estimated range of 238 miles. That beats Tesla’s [NSDQ:TSLA] 215-mi estimate for the Model 3 by a significant margin, and the Bolt EV will also beat the Tesla into showrooms, arriving in late 2016...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
New Hyundai i30 revealed, Elantra GT-badged version still pendingHyundai has revealed its new i30 hatchback ahead of the vehicle’s world debut later this month at the 2016 Paris auto show. The car is the Korean automaker’s rival to the Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] Focus and Volkswagen Golf. It’s also the successor to our Elantra GT, although...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2018 Renault Mégane RS spy shotsRenault on Friday was flogging an early test mule for its new Mégane RS at the Nürburgring. The Mégane is the French automaker’s entry in the compact segment and the current, fourth-generation model made its debut at the 2015 Frankfurt auto show. The Mégane RS is a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Hennessey’s first stage Focus RS already spitting out 405 hpFord Motor Company’s [NYSE:F] Focus RS has landed and no doubt many owners will be keen to install some mods. Famous Ford tuner Mountune has already announced some factory-backed upgrades including a package to raise the output to 370 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque, up from the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran