VW Golf GTI Edition 50 v Toyota GR Yaris Aero v Honda Civic Type R: hot hatch stars go head-to-head

Great drives sometimes start in wholly unremarkable places. In this case, the KFC car park in Newport East Retail Park, adjacent to B&M Bargains and Topps Tiles. It’s getting late, and as I tuck into this evening’s dinner (Zinger Stacker, extra Supercharger sauce, no lettuce) the Golf’s satnav plots a route to our overnight stay some 200 miles north in Holyhead. It comes up with two options. The quickest heads west out of Wales on the M4 and then north on the A49, before cutting back into the country for the final stint towards the hotel. Or there’s the direct route through the middle of Wales, which is half an hour longer but looks infinitely more interesting, winding through the Brecon Beacons and crossing some of the best roads in the region. This GTI Edition 50 already feels like the best Golf I’ve driven in years and I’m itching to get to know it better, so it has to be the longer route. Just pray not to catch any caravans or buses…

It’s the right decision. The GTI feels brilliant on these roads, an archetypal hot hatch with a nailed front end, gutsy engine and fantastic composure through the endless combinations of dips, crests and corners. There’s the odd straggler every few miles but they seem to always appear at the perfect moment for an overtake, and whether nipping through tight, hedgelined roads or flowing over open sections of moorland, the Edition 50 is hugely effective and rewarding, yet as undemanding as a Golf should be. It condenses the four-hour drive through the night into a short, intense rush. It certainly has the hallmarks of a genuinely brilliant hot hatch, but tomorrow it faces the toughest test possible, against two cars that redefine the class altogether.

> Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 50 review – the best hot Golf in years, and the fastest hot hatch we’ve tested

Now is both a good and bad time for hot hatchbacks. Good because cars like the Edition 50, Toyota GR Yaris and Honda Civic Type R have raised the bar for how capable and how fastidiously engineered they can be. Bad because, on the whole, there are far fewer of them to choose from, and the ones that remain are stretching further out of reach of the average enthusiast. The cheapest car here, the new GR Yaris Aero Performance, costs from £49,145, while the Civic and Golf are well in excess of £50k as tested. The Golf hasn’t been part of this elite club of hot hatches since the superb Mk7 Clubsport S, but now is its chance to get back on top – incidentally using upgrades inspired by that car. The Edition 50’s chassis changes over the GTI Clubsport, coming as part of an optional £3675 Performance package, are comprehensive and detailed, including a 5mm lower ride height, stiffer springs and retuned adaptive dampers, plus stiffer control arm bushes, top mounts and revised front hubs.

As I’ve discovered, the result is a Golf with noticeably more bite and attitude than any Mk8 yet, but without being anywhere near too hardcore for the road. Given the stiffer springs and bushings, I thought it might feel uncompromising, but the 15-stage adaptive dampers have great bandwidth, ranging from supple and fluid in Comfort to sharp and tautly controlled in Sport. There’s less slack in its movements than a Clubsport, noticeably less roll and a really strong front end. The progressive-rate steering is calm off-centre but weights up as the front tyres dig in, and the car pivots hard around the nose, the rear swinging subtly around even when you’re not trying to provoke it. You can crank on lock and dive for an apex with huge commitment – helped by the sticky Bridgestone Potenza Race tyres, which come with the Performance pack.

These tyres were used to set the Edition 50’s Nürburgring time: a 7:44.523, the fastest of any front-wheel-drive production car, and three-tenths quicker than the Civic. We’ll be exploring the cars on track later, but even on the road the GTI’s grip and balance feel like a big step on from a Clubsport. The engine has taken a step too, albeit a comparatively smaller one, producing 321bhp to the Clubsport’s 296. It’s an effective, brawny four-cylinder but not as revvy as some others, and it’s a shame not to have a manual gearbox to interact with. The DSG shifts quickly, but there’s zero joy to be had from the plastic paddles (buttons, really) on the wheel.

The Toyota rolls into our meeting point near Snowdonia with the attitude and aggression of an old Impreza or Delta Integrale. The exterior add-ons of this Aero Performance model, including a vented bonnet, front wheelarch vents and towering rear wing, give the Yaris the visual punch it’s always been missing to go with its mighty performance. By the sounds of it, a host of detail mechanical changes – including a stiffer bodyshell and tweaked steering and damping – make it a treat to drive, too. ‘It’s the best GR Yaris I’ve driven,’ says deputy editor James Taylor, who climbs out beaming. ‘It’s remarkable how tiny improvements have added up to a greater whole. The ride, response and steering feedback all feel better than before.’

Shortly afterwards, evo contributor Antony Ingram pulls up in the Civic, which upstages both its rivals with a big carbonfibre wing and (slightly tacky) red decals on its Championship White bodywork. These are features of this run-out Ultimate Edition model, which marked the end of European Type R sales earlier this year. ‘It’s hard to see how a hot hatch can get better,’ reckons Ant. ‘For engineering and ability I think this might be the zenith.’

It’s always a joy to get reacquainted with the Civic, and even before I’ve started it up, I see where Ant’s coming from: it’s a car that’s been developed with obsessive attention to detail. You sit much lower than in the Golf, in some of the best seats fitted to any road car, holding a slim, perfectly round suede-trimmed wheel, with a delicate, beautifully formed teardrop aluminium gearknob. It’s a tactile delight, and just about everything is more ergonomic and better built than in the Volkswagen. How times change…

The first time I turn into a corner, I wonder whether this test is already a foregone conclusion. The Civic feels sublime. It’s like driving in high definition, such is the clarity of its responses and the way it tracks along so precisely. You find magic when pushing hard in the Golf, but the Honda reveals it instantly, at all speeds, at all times. In some ways it’s less alert – the throttle doesn’t have the instant snap of the Golf’s in its raciest mode, for instance – but everything in the Civic is so linear and expertly judged.

This purity and focus does come at a price, namely in terms of the ride. Even in its Comfort setting the Type R is tightly controlled and firm, with less fluidity to its damping than the Golf. Over big bumps the dampers rein in the body sharply, as if trying desperately to remove any slack or vagueness in its movements. I find it perfectly liveable and just on the right side of stiff, but there’s no question the Golf is more easy-going in its softest mode.

Honda clearly tried to channel the character of old naturally aspirated VTEC engines with this 324bhp turbo unit and the result is a buzzier, more free-revving nature than the Golf’s. It fizzes through the mid-range and rewards you for hanging on to the red line, although not with an exciting sound. It’s a thinner and more synthesised noise than the VW’s, but the response of the drivetrain and the joyful manual gearbox more than make up for it.

The engines are just one part of the huge character difference between Honda and Volkswagen. They’re worlds apart dynamically too, the Civic being more racy, more tactile but less upright and playful, less like a traditional hot hatch to drive. I’d say the Type R feels more like a sports saloon, but in terms of its steering, brake feel and general feeling of resolute control and accuracy it’s better than a BMW M3 that costs twice as much.

James has been getting to know the Golf, and he’s impressed. ‘This is really good… Just as the Aero is the best GR Yaris I’ve driven, so this is the best Mk8 Golf. That might not be saying much, but I do think this is a genuinely great car. The rear is so mobile, surprisingly so for a modern hatch.’ Meanwhile Ant has been enjoying the very different flavour of the Yaris. ‘It’s the odd one out here, but I love how the GR does things. It’s actually more intense in some respects; it spurs you on in a way the others don’t.’

You sense the Toyota has been developed with the same fanatical approach as the Honda, such is the Japanese way. Case in point – this Aero Performance has numerous small upgrades in addition to its exterior mods, some of which haven’t been openly disclosed by Toyota. There are more weld-points in the structure for extra stiffness, the power steering has been recalibrated and the damping revised. Among the more obvious changes is the handbrake, which now sprouts vertically from the centre console for easier handbrake turns. It looks like it might get in the way of the gearlever (the Aero Performance is manual-only) but the positioning and feel are perfect, even when you’re not doing your best Rovanperä impression.

The Yaris feels like a tier below the other two in terms of quality, finish and rolling refinement, but I love how built-for-purpose it feels. There’s been no attempt to make the cabin look pretty, it’s purely functional. The big slab of dashboard reminds Ant (a JDM obsessive) of an R34 GT­‑R, while the driving position is usefully lower than that of the original GR Yaris. You’re still perched higher than in the other two, though, and coupled with the Yaris’s slimmer body, you’ve the space and vision to really attack a road. And attack you most certainly can, with more confidence than in either the GTI or Type R.

In fact it’s hard to think of any car that feels so reassuringly robust, readable and as instantly approachable as the Yaris. On the road, the limits seem so far out of reach and perfectly telegraphed that you simply sling it from corner to corner with massive commitment, relishing in its directness, compact size and never-ending traction. Some of the wildly undulating, broken roads around here are a brutal test for a car’s damping, but the Yaris shrugs them off – even with passive rather than (as in the other two) adaptive dampers. You very quickly learn to stop wincing at the dips and bumps and just marvel at how the Yaris stays so taut and controlled.

You’ve much less thinking to do than in, say, the Civic, which needs more careful management of traction and gets more excited by bumps. Does that make the Toyota a less involving car? To an extent, yes. But it still pulls you into the experience by putting you in intimate touch with the surface and available grip. The steering, if not quite as precise and transparent as the Civic’s, is heavy and communicative, brake feel is superb and the manual gearbox keeps you busy. Again, it’s not quite as slick as the Honda’s, but it’s more physical and robust feeling, and a key point of difference to the less interactive Golf.

The Yaris is fast, too. Its three-pot isn’t as sweet and free-revving as the Honda’s four or as outright punchy as the Golf’s, but there’s a grumbly, muscly nature to it that really suits the car. And despite being considerably less powerful than the others with a peak of 276bhp, the Yaris somehow seems to hit harder out of slow corners – perhaps due to its lighter weight, and the fact that it never wastes a scrap of power through wheelspin.

Fundamentally the Aero Performance feels like the GR Yaris we know and love, but one or two per cent better in every respect. There’s a touch more sharpness to its responses, the ride is a little more polished, and it feels less nose-led than other GRs I’ve driven. The variable four-wheel-drive system is still far from playful, even in the most rear-biased Track mode, but you occasionally get a sense of it pushing from the rear out of corners to spring you onto the next straight. In every sense the Yaris feels tailor-made for these roads, and it’s hard to think of anything that could keep up – Golf and Civic included.

Deciding which of the three is the most rounded and satisfying as a whole is a much tougher and more nuanced task than any of us expected. The Golf is certainly in the conversation, which itself is a big achievement given where the Mk8 started from. It’s the calmest and most easy-going of the three but also massively exciting and capable when the moment allows, and dynamically it amplifies the most endearing traits of a front-drive hatch. There’s no question it belongs in this group, but there’s equally no doubt that the Civic and Yaris both feel like more bespoke products, with performance and feedback baked in, rather than added after the fact. This separates them from the Golf.

The Yaris is now more compelling than ever and its character is so distinctive, but I can’t help but be drawn to the Civic. It feels cruel because there are very few objective measures where the Yaris falls short, but the Honda is more captivating, more challenging and has an even greater sense of focus. No other hot hatch is able to mimic (and sometimes better) the qualities of a sports car quite so well, without any real sacrifice as a daily car. On the road it’s peak hot hatch – now to find out whether that brilliance is also unmatched on track.

Anglesey is about as tough a challenge as it gets for a hot hatch. Its long, fast sweepers demand so much of the front end and reward cars with a low centre of gravity and good high-speed stability, while the fiddly slower sections are a combined test of turn-in and traction.

The standard GR Yaris has always felt a little out of its depth on circuit, its security and reassurance on the road translating to frustrating, nose-led handling at track speeds. The Aero Performance, however, gives you a little more freedom to influence the balance before it overloads the front tyres. Driven just below the limit it’s enormously effective, being small, wieldy and full of feedback, and it gives you confidence to immediately get on the pace, just as it does on the road.

The engine’s torque is a real help out of the hairpins, so too the Yaris’s traction. There’s no need to wring its neck – instead you can pick a gear higher and generate strong drive away from corners, the rear sometimes edging wide if you get on the power hard and early (which is needed to anticipate the onset of boost). The brakes feel fantastic too, firm and easy to modulate right up to the ABS.

Push harder and it still suffers from understeer, which requires patience in the long first, second and third corners of the lap, but through the twistier second half the Yaris’s agility and traction make up for it. That helps it post a lap of 1:19.28, pretty much matching the previous-gen BMW M4 on our Anglesey leaderboard, and showing just how much the Yaris can do with comparatively little. It’s also just a couple of tenths shy of the SEAT Leon Cupra Sub8, which ran on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres rather than the Yaris’s less aggressive Pilot Sport 4 S rubber.

The Civic is running on the same tyres as the Toyota, but just as on the road, it couldn’t be more different in how it uses them. After the Yaris it feels much lower, wider and stiffer, and much more nailed-down and stable through high-speed corners. In some places it actually feels too stiff in the raciest +R mode (which is needed to turn the ESC off), finding bumps in the surface that were undetectable in the Yaris. Braking into Anglesey’s first hairpin it bucks and hops like an old Super Tourer.

Overall the Civic is brilliantly connected and responsive, and, as in the Yaris, you can immediately drive up to the limits with confidence. Its accuracy means you can place it just so in fast corners, using the full width of the track and nibbling just the right amount of kerb, while the brakes – a touch softer than the Toyota’s – make it easy to trim just the right amount of speed on the way in.

Oddly, though, the Civic doesn’t come alive the harder you push. It sends all the right signals when going at a decent pace, but when pushing for a lap time the front end is the limiting factor at pretty much all points in the lap. Try to brake deep and use the brakes to rotate the car and the front tyres scrub across the surface, and you need to be precise with the throttle on the way out. Too much and the front diff locks up and slides the nose wide, but with the right amount you can feel it working to hold a tighter line. The Civic posts a 1:18.48 – a sizeable chunk faster than the Yaris, but perhaps not the gulf you might expect, given how much better suited to the track it feels initially.

The Golf’s biggest strength on the road, its superb front end, also defines its character on track. Hop in after the Civic and you miss the intimately connected steering and firm brake feel, but as you approach the limits you relish its balance and how hard you can commit on corner entry. It takes a little longer to get there, since the Civic and Yaris communicate their limits more clearly, but once you’re in tune with how hard you can attack, the GTI is devastating.

Having less feedback and no manual gearbox means you’re more detached from the process of extracting that performance, but the Golf rewards you for driving at the limit more than the other two. Much of that’s down to the stickier Potenza Race tyres, but also the front end is so positive. The long first hairpin is a prime example – the GTI carries more speed in, holds a tighter line and straightens up earlier for the exit compared with the Civic.

As a result it posts a mighty lap time: a 1:17.49, making it quicker than a 991-gen Carrera S Powerkit, and just over half a second shy of a 2014 Nissan GT‑R. The only caveat is that it can’t sustain that pace for long, having shredded its tyres after just three fast laps. Still, a twist in the tale of what’s been a truly absorbing contest.

This story was first featured in evo issue 347.

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