This category includes four fast and affordable cars and there's not a bad one among the lot of 'em. It's tough to pick a winner, but in the end the Mazdaspeed3 stands out from the pack .
Mazdaspeed3
The Speed3 is Superman dressed up like Jimmy Olsen. This turbocharged little four-door hatchback — barely distinguishable from the basic Mazda3 — whomps off the line when you dig into the throttle. Wham! Back into the seat you go. The rush lasts 6.6 seconds, all the way to 100 km/h — second-fastest in the group.
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Braking? Tops, too. From 100 km/h to nothing in 36.2 metres. (The $149,600 Audi S8 super car eats up 37 metres.)
So punch the gas pedal, spool up the turbo, dump the clutch and light up the 18-inch rubber. Keep your foot in it and you get a loud chirp as you grab second, and again with third. Your limit is the electronic governor at 248-km/h.
This is what a turbocharged 263 horses and a whopping 280 lb-ft of torque bring to the party. The overgrown adolescents who engineered this car at Mazda said the idea was to build “the fastest front-wheel-drive car in the world.” Success.
The downside? Single-piston calipers grab ventilated rotors in front and solid discs in the back. They get a bit mushy if you push hard. On price and performance, this is my winner.
Volkswagen GTI 2.0T
The red-accented plaid seats — straight out of the Burberry catalogue — are an ironic wink from Volkswagen. The GTI may be wearing a school uniform, but there is a bit of the delinquent here.
The GTI, a Golf hot rod, is handsome, fast and fun. Stand-out feature: flared fenders that seem to just barely enclose its wide tires.
Inside, there is real brushed aluminum trim.
The GTI is for people who consider driving a sport. Stomping on the gas pedal releases an incredible gush of power — a healthy 200 hp from the engine. Except the throttle is oddly numb and lethargic right at the top.
Power? On challenging country roads, it's almost impossible to be in the wrong gear and everything else is a treat, too. In cornering, the front end bites hard into the asphalt and only breaks away under severe provocation. The rear end is much more playful, wagging its tail rather easily.
The brakes are disappointing, though. They overheat too quickly and do not offer enough in the way of feel despite being ventilated all around.
Acura CSX Type-S
When you look at it head-on, the Type-S is imposing — broad, squat, and aggressive. A styling triumph.
Inside, the cabin is tight, but build quality is top-rate. From the sport bucket seats, the split-level dials are less than ideal for hard driving. The digital speedometer is not in your line of sight, though the rev-counter — with its busy graphics — is in the right spot.
Love the drive, however. The engine revs to a peak of 7,800 rpm. The short gearing and light weight, a limited-slip differential and a wide rev band, make for a heart-thumping experience. The thing is, you have to drive hard to wring out the performance — really thrash the nuts off it, knowing it's capable of taking a hammering. Still, at low engine speeds, there isn't enough torque to pull the car up hills and squeeze it around corners on a half-open throttle.
A last point: There is a compliant ride, but the weight-saving comes at the expense of sound deadening.
The Mazda and the VW are bigger hatchbacks for less money, with more power and less racket.
Saturn Sky Red Line
Pretty car. And break-your-heart fast. If that's not enough, the Sky Red Line is both quick and controlled in the corners. Here we have the only roadster in a group of under-$50,000 performance cars — a real two-seater with a drop-top.
That means you sit low, backside almost on the ground. On the sometimes rough streets of the airport runway converted into a race track for the AJAC testing, the feeling is powerful and connected to the pavement, sometimes almost too connected.
The heart of it all is a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine with direct fuel injection. This engine delivers lots of snort over a broad range of engine speeds.
The performance-tuned suspension feels a bit heavier than you might expect, but the steering is quick and there is feeling in it, too.
And this car is a looker, right down to the chrome-tipped dual exhaust and the 18-inch polished aluminum alloy wheels.
Alas, little Red is a bit out of place in a group of four-seaters. Pricier than the rest, too, by a fair margin. And that's why it won't win.
