Hatchback Reviews

We drive the Volkswagen Iroc concept, which foretells the new Scirocco's 2009 arrival in Europe and possibly the United States. more

When you boil it all down, there's only one thing to say about the new Mini: it looks a lot like the old Mini. Yes, it's better; yes, it's faster; yes, the engineers continually emphasize the number of parts that aren't shared with the outgoing car. But the po more

The original Volkswagen Rabbit was an excellent small car. Unfortunately, VW soon began to Americanize it, thinking we wanted more luxury features. We didn't. It was already the best in its class, and the embellishments watered down all its German-engineered a more

The Mazdaspeed 3 is the hottest sport compact to roll this year. Check the facts: 263 hp, a fortified chassis, and a racy cabin for a base price of $22,835. Radar guns see a demure econobox. The reality is that affordability, practicality, and stealthy velocit more

I, assistant editor Sam Smith, claim publicly that the Hyundai Accent SE is more fun than a Honda Fit! The Fit may have torque and sheer horsepower on the Hyundai, but the Honda's chassis falls flat under aggressive cornering--and ultimately fails to provide t more

Adria, Italy As a send-off for the current Mini Cooper, Mini is offering the Cooper S with the John Cooper Works GP kit, a stripped-down, pumped-up version for 415 of the hard-core faithful. The GP dumps its rear seats and rear wiper and forgoes options such a more

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Let's get the bad news out of the way first: The Audi A3 3.2 S line Quattro is expensive-really expensive-and it suffers from a slightly harsh ride. OK, now let's talk about the good news, because there's plenty. more

In January, visitors to Iceland might expect snow from wall to wall and extreme temperatures that threaten to turn skin into parchment. But instead, the island where we had an exclusive first go in Volkswagen's Golf-sized Concept A crossover welcomed us with p more

There's just one thing wrong with the 400-hp, all-wheel-drive Mitsubishi Eclipse Ralliart turbo: you can't buy it. It's a one-of-a-kind SEMA concept that showcases Ralliart, Mitsubishi's new line of performance parts. But maybe one day you'll be able to buy it more

Monaco- When we first drove the new GTI more than a year ago (December 2004), it impressed us with its torquey, direct-injection turbo four-cylinder and solid chassis. It felt like a return to the formula that made the original 1983 GTI a cult icon for car ne more

The lower and wider stance of the new R32 that debuted at the 2005 Frankfurt show is more than exterior decoration; it communicates that this is the fastest-ever Golf. Subtle changes from the stock GTI include twenty-spoke, eighteen-inch wheels, larger air int more

TOCHIGI, JAPAN - Throw the 2006 Civic Si into turn 1 of the Twin Ring Motegi road course, and it's immediately clear that this is the best Civic ever built. It gobbles up corners, rotates willingly, and steers effortlessly on the throttle like some sort of a p more

The Aveo offers slightly more than it has to--more style, more comfort, even a better warranty. more

A fun and functional favorite. more