THE hot-hatch market never stands still, with Renault, Ford and – briefly – Opel staking valid claims for class honours with their respective Megane RS 265, Focus ST, and Astra OPC.

But the daddy of them all, Volkswagen’s venerable Golf GTI, wasn’t about to surrender its hard-fought crown, as evidenced by the all-new Mk7 version that builds on the low weight and high efficiency advances of the impressive bread-and-butter models.

After our first spin, it’s clear they don’t come more fierce or ferocious than the one that started it all.



Click here for the full review...