Before the fireworks are blown at year’s end more than a quarter of a million Australians will sign for a small hatchback or sedan, of which about 75 per cent will pick one of the eight nameplates featured in this test.
This is the bigge...
Before the fireworks are blown at year’s end more than a quarter of a million Australians will sign for a small hatchback or sedan, of which about 75 per cent will pick one of the eight nameplates featured in this test.
This is the biggest, most relevant test of the year. The catalyst for this mega-comparison is the arrival of the new Volkswagen Golf. It joins the Ford Focus, Holden Cruze, Honda Civic Hatch, Hyundai i30, Mazda 3, Opel Astra and Toyota Corolla in the battle for small car supremacy.
Mid-spec, petrol-engined, automatic-equipped hatchbacks were chosen, with prices ranging from $23,000-28,500 on test. Another two models could have been added, though the five-door hatchback versions of the Kia Cerato and Nissan Pulsar hadn’t quite landed in time for this test.
Some models gained an early lead for price and equipment. Interiors were then measured, with each model ranked for space and practicality. A pothole- and speedhump-ridden urban drive loop was conducted to find the most comfortable contender. A longer country road drive then established each car’s level of drivetrain punch, seat comfort, refinement, and steering and handling prowess.
Back at home base, after 500km of driving, calculators were tapped to find real-world running costs over four years/60,000km.
Let the sport begin…
PRICE AND EQUIPMENT
Cheapest car in the field is the $22,950 Honda Civic VTi-S Hatch. Standard are 16-inch alloy wheels, auto off lights, single-zone climate control, cruise control, reversing camera, and Bluetooth audio and phone connectivity.
At $24,690, the Holden Cruze SRi adds larger 17-inch alloys, a bodykit, fog lights, seven-inch touchscreen, auto-on headlights and part-leather seats; but misses climate control and a reversing camera – it only gets rear sensors.
Battling within $100 of each other are the $26,490 Mazda 3 Maxx Sport and $26,590 Hyundai i30 Elite. Both include satellite navigation and dual-zone climate control, but the Mazda gets 17-inch wheels to the Hyundai’s 16s, and neither get part-leather trim like the Holden. Most disappointingly the Mazda gets neither a reversing camera nor parking sensors.
The Volkswagen Golf 90TSI is $27,490 when optioned with the $3500 Comfortline pack that brings 16-inch alloys, dual-zone air, ‘comfort’ front seats and rain sensing wipers, among other trim enhancements. It uniquely gets front parking sensors, in addition to rear sensors and a camera, but it misses fog lights.
Two cars battle in the $28,000 range – we could only obtain the upper-middle-spec $28,190 Focus Sport, while the $28,740 Opel Astra Entry included a $2750 option pack.
The Ford matches the Hyundai’s kit, but the Opel misses sat-nav and any form of climate control, and gets only 16-inch alloys. It is the second most expensive of the group and one of the least well equipped.
As with Ford, Toyota could only supply a $30,490 Corolla Levin ZR instead of the requested $25,990 Levin SX. Although it matches the Focus Sport for standard equipment, and adds leather trim with front seat heaters, the ZR also costs $2300 more.
From a price and equipment perspective, the Civic is the most impressive, packing middle-grade equipment for base grade pricing, while the i30 in particular leaves the Focus, Astra and Corolla looking overpriced.
In terms of value beyond equipment, the Cruze SRi is the most powerful contender here, yet it is the second-cheapest.
INTERIORS
Turn from interior equipment to interior quality, however, and there is an obvious leader – the Volkswagen Golf.
Soft-touch dash surfaces interplay with gunmetal-metallic dash inserts, tactile switchgear, intuitive controls and comfortable seats to spell ‘premium’ like no other car here.
According to our tape measure, and with the front seat set to the position of a six-foot/183cm driver, the Golf offers a benchmark 285mm of rear legroom in addition to being the only car here with rear-seat air vents. Its 380-litre boot is also the third-largest here, behind Cr