Steve Sutcliffe of Autocar gives us the biggest hot hatch shootout of the year. The UK folks review the BMW M135i against the Mercedes A45 AMG and Volkswagen Golf GTI.
The entry level hot hatch, in terms of price and performance, is the new VW Golf 7 GTI that comes with an optional performance package and sells for 29,825 euros in Europe. The 230 horsepower are sent to the front wheels. If you can live with 220 hp and without differential lock at the front, the GTI gets even cheaper.
The BMW M135i is available with rear-wheel drive and xDrive configuration, but the standard RWD version starts at 39,850 euro and unfortunately it is not offered to U.S. customers. It produces 320 horsepower and we had a blast driving it from Munich to Geneva back in March.
The M135i is known to strongly focus on residual comfort and everyday practicality.
The Mercedes A45 AMG comes with an all-wheel drive setup and by far it has the highest price for its 360 hp: 49,682 euros.
So how do the cars stack against each other?
