Traction attraction

Testing performance cars and then choosing an outright winner can be quite a tough call sometimes. Especially so, when you have three supremos of this calibre in your parking lot. What we have here is a new breed of mega-hatch, rearing to take on a well-established all-wheel drive super sedan. Can Audi’s new S3 and VW’s Golf R32 beat the Rex? In fact, they’ve well surpassed the standard WRX in output terms, so it only seemed fair that we’d find a closer match — and our PCOTY finalist Prodrive edition fit this picture like a tight glove.

One of the most common procedures when comparing cars is to look at their respective retail prices. Here a veritable baby’s blanket covers the differences between them. The S3 sets you back R336K, WRX Prodrive R332K and R32 Golf R344K, enough to get buyers scratching their heads in puzzlement. So the next thing you do is to compare not just the respective outputs, but power and torque to weight ratios too.

Thankfully matters start taking a direction with the WRX Prodrive coming out on top on average with the Audi S3 a close second and the R32 some way behind. However in doing this you will note that the R32 is handicapped not only by lower outputs but also its corpulent weight of 1535kg, compared to the sprightly 1430 of the Subaru WRX Prodrive and even leaner 1420 of the S3.

If engines turn you on, then their diversity could be another confusing aspect. However the beautiful sounding normally aspirated V6 SOHC 24-valve 3.2 on the R32 could sway you, or perhaps the more unique boxer-four DOHC 16-valve turbocharged Scooby that sounds as though it has an inherent misfire, or the whooshing though conventional turbo assisted four-cylinder DOHC 16-valve turbo-assisted engine in the S3.

But that’s only the beginning of the game, because as a petrol-head you know a trite more about engine matters. You see, the petrol heads like to know to what extent the edge of the envelope is stretched to in specific output terms. Here the S3 proves its engineering prowess with a figure of 96kW per litre compared to the 75 of the WRX Prodrive and 58 of the Golf R32.

It is round about now that you throw you hands up in despair, and seeing you can’t get all three agents to let you test their cars you do the next best thing. You check out the claimed times, right? Well, think again. For if you live at high altitude, as do around 70 percent of South Africans, you’ll soon discover that the figures are those tested close to sea level.

So at altitude the unfortunate normally aspirated R32 will suffer the results of having 17 percent less oxygen to breathe — so its claimed 6.2-second time means nothing. And because you’ve checked our test times by now you’ll have noticed it managed 7.8 seconds, with the S3 achieving 7.0. Naturally the two turbo-cars have the edge at altitude while competing well at sea level, too. By now the WRX Prodrive’s figures are seemingly swinging the buying pendulum into its favour.