Page 9 - Fast Car (March 2020)

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Appreciating Depreciation Skoda Octavia vRS Mk2 ) New: £23,495-£32,295 Now: £3,000

For generations, the default answer to the question ‘What Compare them like-for-like in the classiieds and you’ll see that
car should I buy?’ has been ‘Get a Golf’. This is an answer that a vRS of similar age, condition and mileage will be usefully less
works equally well for hardcore enthusiasts and for people who money to buy than the GTI, and they’ve got a lot in common –
know nothing about cars – you know what you’re getting with a the hot Octavia is essentially a Golf GTI that’s a foot longer at the
Golf; you know it’ll be well screwed together, it’ll have a decent back, so you get the same engine, gearbox, chassis, switchgear,
level of equipment and, if you get a GTI, it’ll be a hoot to drive. the works. Plus it’s a bit more practical, as the boot of the Octavia
Thanks to the broad platform sharing across the VAG, it’s useful hatch is absolutely massive. And you get green brake calipers,
to note that you can buy Golfs in forms that don’t look like Golfs who wouldn’t want that?
too. What if you fancy, for example, a Mk5 Golf GTI that’s a bit Top 5 mods: RamAir induction, Milltek exhaust, Revo remap,
cheaper? Why, you should get yourself a Mk2 Skoda Octavia vRS! Bilstein B12s, Kenwood Apple CarPlay head unit

HYUNDAI HAS GONE TOTALLY INSANE,

IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY

There have been a lot of interesting
rumblings coming from Hyundai’s N division
recently. The i30 N proved itself to be one of
the biggest surprises the hot hatch market
has seen in recent years, elbowing its way
into the crowded marketplace dominated
by the Golf GTI and the Focus ST and so
on, and saying ‘Listen fellas, this is how it’s
really done’. It’s a bloody brilliant car, and its
success can be largely attributed to the fact
that Hyundai poached Albert Biermann from
BMW’s M Division to teach the engineers
how to make engaging sports cars. The i30 N
isn’t just a one-off either; you may remember
the N drift van that we recently reported on. shoved in the middle, a 2.0-litre four-pot Car sequential gearbox, and electronic LSD.
And just look what madness they’ve been kicking out 390bhp, which slingshots it to This is a test-bed rather than something that
up to now – a mid-engined hatchback, for 62mph in under four seconds. The pumped- heralds an actual production model, but the
goodness’ sake. up Veloster shell has all sorts of crazy aero, very fact that Hyundai is developing this kind
The RM19 Racing Midship Sports and hiding underneath are a race-derived of stuff suggests that the 2020s are about to
Car Prototype has a Touring Car engine double-wishbone suspension setup, Touring get pretty rowdy…

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