Time for a hot-hatch 4WD mega-test. Who'll win? Find out here
If you hadn’t already noticed, hot-hatches are getting faster, a phenomenon detailed in our ‘Fastest Accelerating Hot Hatches’ gallery. But while numbers on a web page are one thing, wheel to wheel drag racing is quite another. The real world brings into play such variables as gradient, grip, nerve and the quality of the driver holding the wheel, so there’s always everything to play for.
Our makeshift drag strip assembled at the Circuit des Ecuyers, during our ‘Focus RS vs the Rivals’ group test, was neither perfectly level nor perfectly dry. It wasn’t the regulation quarter-mile in length either (a fifth of a mile was nearer the mark) and there were three normal humans behind each steering wheel. But the same conditions applied to all three cars in the race.
