Performance Car of the Year 2013: Small Cars – Classic MOTOR

AFTER all the oohs and ahhs, the fingerpointing and bonnet-openings subside, and once the entire 14-car field for this year’s Performance Car Cup had gathered together for the first time, there was a general consensus that we’d be in for a few surprises over the event’s three-day running.

This Performance Car Of The Year article was first published in MOTOR Magazine January 2013.

And most of them would come from this bunch; the underdogs. Y’see, never in the 17-year history of this competition had we had a group of cut-priced contenders with as much potential to punch above their weight as this; a motley bunch from all corners of the globe attempting to converge on the same destination by offering just as many thrills as our heavyweight contenders for a fraction of the price.

But then there was a whole bunch of ways you could dice them up: a pair of sub-$40K fun machines; a head-to-head between two of the hottest hatches; two rear-drivers versus two front-drivers; or even working class against premium… the list could go on, and on.

While what matters most here is performance, and the thrill factors they deliver, it’s hard not to put this quartet into perspective when it comes down to dollars.

The Focus ST kicks things off at $38,515 (including its premium – and very yellow – paint), but it only takes an extra pineapple to get into the $38,650 BRZ (here with its optional leather/Alcantara and heated front seats but, unlike anything else, includes all on-road costs).

While an $80K hatch may seem pretty hefty, the inconspicuous little BMW packed a solid punch down Sydney Dragway’s blacktop. Jaw dropping, even. Its mildly tweaked 3.0-litre single-turbo six might only produce 235kW, nearly half of its sledgehammer sibling the M5, but its brilliant eight-speed auto helps to harness all the power and a fat-as torque curve (with 450Nm on tap from 1250rpm) with such devastating effect.

The BMW M135i’s glorious six howled its way to the fourth-quickest time to 60km/h (behind the Audi S7 and both Porsches), clocked triple figures in 4.84sec and tripped the 400m marker at 13.04 with a terminal speed of 175km/h.

And, if you didn’t realise, that’s M3 territory for a third of the price. Not impressive enough? Well, amongst a field full of big dick-swinging machinery, it was only 0.4sec slower than the likes of the M5 and SLS, and faster than we ever managed to get out of the manic 1M Coupe.

No surprises then that it was head-and-shoulders quicker than the other small cars. And no surprise that the BRZ, the least-powerful car in the field with only 147kW and 205Nm, was the slowest.

But not by as much as we expected, because it was literally a head-to-head shootout with the Focus ST for the straight-line wooden spoon; the BRZ using its light weight and better rear-drive traction to clock 100km/h fractionally faster (7.19sec versus 7.21sec).

It’s probably enough for each to claim a victory (or a dead heat at least), but ultimately it’s a disappointing start for the Focus which most of the crew expected to perform better. But then, the thickness of the humid morning air may have hampered it a little… Or so some thought.

That was until the Megane RS265 clocked 6.54sec to 100km/h and powered across the 400m marker in 14.39sec at 162.72km/h, the fastest times we’ve ever recorded in the French hyper hatch. And it kept on pulling hard too, a full 1.5sec quicker to 180km/h than the Focus.

Whereas, at the other end of the spectrum, the Focus’s sliding caliper set-up might look ordinary, but it helped pull up the five-door hatch with the fifth-shortest distance of 36.24m.

Out in the real world, the number crunching meant nought as the form guide was thrown out the window.

The BMW is no less impressive on the road, though not quite as exciting as it was on the drag strip as it just doesn’t have the edginess of its rivals.

We don’t think a BMW blown straight six has ever sounded so good either, with a liberal dose of its howling exhaust note filtering through to the cabin. But, while there’s always an underlying degree of rear-drive balance in the 1-Series’ chassis set-up, it likes to hang its tail out more on a trailing throttle into the corner than it does on the way out and the M-fettled suspension, even in its Sport+ setting, is more biased towards comfort than corner carving.

The Variable Sports Steering provides little in the way of intimate feedback and the seats lack bona-fide lateral support compared with a lot of the PCC field. It kinda felt like it was going to be a bit underwhelming when it hit the track… Yet it blew them all away; its 2:15.50 easily the fastest of the tiny tots and up there in the top half of the field.

There’s no hiding the fact that it’s fast and amazingly efficient, and the pick of the small cars to cover long-distances in, but, apart from inducing that straight-six exhaust note, it’s never really felt all that exciting… Especially in white. But if Workplace Health and Safety is your thing then the Focus stands out like a hi-viz vest.

Like the BMW, its five-door body means it’s more practical to live with everyday than either the Megane or BRZ and, while it’s nowhere near as fat (or is that Phat?) as the sold-out Focus RS, there’s enough boy racer in its bodywork to separate it from the garden variety model.

Get out of town, though, and the Focus doesn’t mind a good back road bollocking. The ride/handling balance is closer to the Megane than the BMW, but it never feels hyperactive or too stiff over pock-marked country roads. The electric steering is somewhere in between too, providing enough, though hardly intimate levels of, feedback.

And while it’s not too hard to outsmart the electronic front diff and induce wheelspin on the unloaded wheel – which, in turn, sends a faint tug of torque steer through the wheel – the Focus has masses of grip and its overall balance is fairly neutral.

In the end it didn’t set any benchmarks, its lap time of 2:20.70 was the second slowest of the day and it didn’t win over any of the judges either. Which is something you can’t say about the remaining pair.

The BRZ doesn’t have the bling or the luxury, and certainly not the convenience of useable rear seats and a boot, like the Focus and BMW, but jeez it makes you feel like you’re driving something fun, even when you’re not hammering it.

The low-set driving position and generously, but not overly, bolstered seats are perfect no matter whether you’re tootling around town or thrashing around the track.

And the electric steering really is on par with Porsche’s for feedback and natural feel.

It’s not the most refined powerplant, and you really have to be right up the top of its powerband to get the best out of it, which means, in this prestigious company in particular, you have to work hard to keep up with anything else.

It kinda doesn’t matter in a way, because the BRZ’s precise steering, its playful lack of grip from the low rolling resistance tyres and its ability to drift like a demon more than compensate for its lack of outright performance.

Conversely, despite a fatal end to our long-term custodianship of the Trophy 8:08 RS265 when it threw a piston through the front of the engine block (just after Luffy had finished its hot lap, meaning no other judge drove it on the circuit), we clearly overlooked the Megane’s many faults.

Its ergonomics are not great, its vision terrible and reliability clearly questionable, but what the Megane does that the Focus can’t is make you feel like you’re driving a supercar.

Then there are things like its wafer-thin Recaro seats, red seat belts, Brembo brakes and its androgynous style that elevates the Megane beyond just being merely a hot hatch. It’s more than all that, though; the Megane is deceptively quick on a back country blast.

And although its lap time of 2:18.50 is almost 10sec off the best of this bunch – it was, after all, 40km/h down on the M5 on the main straight – it was the fastest car bar none through the daunting high-speed Turn One as well as the tight, downhill Turn 11 hairpin, thus proving its no one-trick pony.

What that all equates to is that the input between man and machine feels raw, natural and well balanced. More importantly, it’s not artificially synthesised, or dumbed down to cater for the lowest common dominator. We applaud, and clearly admire, that. More of it, in fact…

FORD FOCUS ST Overall Rank: 14 JUDGES NOTES Andrew Maclean – 12th: “Fun, feisty and practical, but not as playful as the Megane” Curt Dupreiz – 13th: “Agile little bugger, but feels less than the sum of its parts” James Cleary – 14th: “Goes hard, and sounds growly. Gearbox’s shift is an Achilles Heel” Nathan Ponchard – 13th: “Brimming with fast-Ford DNA. Turns in well, but it’s not that quick”

WARREN LUFF SAYS “Such a great engine in this car, so torquey, so driveable, it really is the strength and basis of this car. The chassis is probably a bit too soft, the engine’s a lot better than what the chassis allows it to be. You’d like to see it a little bit more agile like the Megane and then it would be a fantastic package”

BMW M135i Overall Rank: 8 JUDGES NOTES Andrew Maclean – 8th: “Wow! Not that much slower than a M5 for a quarter of the price” Curt Dupriez – 8th: “Probably a better all-round prospect than the nail-hard 1M Coupe” James Cleary – 9th: “Firecracker on road that gets softer on the circuit. Better than the 1M” Nathan Ponchard – 8th: “Great engine note and great fun. Dare I say it, more of an M-car than M5”

WARREN LUFF SAYS “It’s a surprisingly fast car. It doesn’t feel that quick in the corners, it’s got too much understeer on the way into the corner and you’re forever fighting with that understeer, but the engine more than makes up for what the chassis can’t do in the corners and that’s where the speed comes from in this car”

SUBARU BRZ Overall rank: 7 JUDGES NOTES Andrew Maclean – 5th: “Who cares if it’s slow, the fun factor is so accessible. And it’s cheap!” Curt Dupriez – 6th: “Still love it. But far too slow here. Time for grip, brakes and turbocharging” James Cleary – 7th: “Huge fun. Balanced and responsive on road and track” Nathan Ponchard – 7th: “Underwhelming around the Creek, but is an exquisite driver’s car”

WARREN LUFF SAYS “Lacks a little bit of power down the straight but it’s a good, fun car. Very oversteery through the tighter sections. Surprisingly the brakes went away quite early, which is disappointing. The pedal was almost all the way to the floor at the end of the first lap, which doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence”

RENAULT MEGANE RS265 Overall rank: 6 JUDGES NOTES Andrew Maclean – 6th: “The best bum dragger just got better… But would I own one?” Curt Dupriez – 4th: “Achieves its aims better than many PPC rivals. Sorry we hurt you” James Cleary – 6th: “Mini-supercar for hot hatch money. Renaultsport knows what it’s doing” Nathan Ponchard – 5th: “Heaps of Gallic attitude matched to a sweet chassis and brilliant balance”

WARREN LUFF SAYS “Such a fun little hot-hatch on the limit. It does everything you want. Probably a bit too much understeer when you start pushing really hard but up to nine-tenths it’s a good fun car, you can throw it around, it’s got good brakes, great chassis dynamics, the engine’s fantastic and it does everything that you want”