3 of Today's Hot Hatchbacks in Competition.

Nowadays the economy driver is just as discerning with regards to expectation of performance as the buyer of the bigger luxury cars.

As an example of how performance and specification demanding we have now become, we compare three of today's smaller hatchbacks.

These three columns on the Renault Clio 2L, the Mini Cooper S and the Vauxhall Corsa VXR.

The general conceived opinion about the new Vauxhall is that the design is head and shoulders above all previous editions.

For a small car it develops a massive 189bhp from a 1.6 L turbocharged diesel engine and would genuinely appear to have the getup and go to match the good looks.

It is up again serious competition however. Perhaps this is a selling off how important the market is.

From an inauspicious start the Clio does start perform and with 194bhp coming from a 2 L engine once underway to car starts to fly (so to speak).

The power of the Mini Cooper S is obvious to see right from the start with a turbocharged diesel 1.6 engine providing 173bhp.

The lightning reactions and extremely good performance of the Mini compares very favourably with the overall power of the Renault once it's running and the performance and shop handling of the Vauxhall doesn't let it down either.

As with all things the interior of the cars there is always an element of compromise with the poor plastics of Mini set against the brilliant driving position. It was difficult to get comfortable in the Renault despite the quality of the interior and lastly though the design of the Vauxhall inside was great this somehow compromised the visibility.

One of the definitive issues that we needed to take a look at what's how much value for money was there actually in any of these cars. With a very small depreciation and a strong second hand price the Mini was a definite attraction as far as second-hand owners were concerned. The Vauxhall would have performed better being the cheapest car to purchase and potentially being better equipped but this was marred by sharply increased quite steep running costs

All three cars represent quite good value for money with possibly the Mini Cooper S edging it overall. The overall handling speed and performance of the Mini makes it very popular despite the fact that the interior plastics look cheap and the rear seats are tiny and the boot is negligible. One of the additional factors is that most of the extras for the Mini are quite expensive.

Set against this the Vauxhall is a good old rounder with excellent performance superb handling and an interior of excellent quality. Set against this unfortunately is the other role compromised visibility and the fact that they're all quite as many safety benefits and features as the other two.

The Renault Clio comes in last of the bunch which is quite sad when you consider the power and performance of the car. You have to wind it up to get it going and when she do you won't be disappointed but it was the depreciation and the lack of residual value that was against it.

Article Source: http://www.articlegoldmine.com

Scott James writes about all sorts of Automotive issues on the Internet and Check out the following for more information about the above: Ferrari Cars ; Driver Education and Car Dealers Manchester

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated