Hot hatches

Honda Australia has dropped a new allocation of its supply-limited Civic Type R hot hatch. The Japanese carmaker has claimed there’s “strong customer demand” for this hot hatch and customers that have signed up will be prioritised. Now with a starting price of $79,000, drive-away, the Honda Civic Type R is $4900 more expensive than it was when it was last on sale. It’s now also over $23,000 more expensive than the top-specification regular Civic variant, the e:HEV LX. A highlight change with this 2025 production run is a new 'Racing Blue' exterior paint colour option. It replaces 'Rally Red' in the colour options. 'Championship White', 'Crystal Black' and 'Sonic Grey' continue to be offered and are all no-cost options. There’s also a new optional carbon-fibre spoiler available for an additional $5300. Power still comes from a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine which produces 235kW of power and 420Nm of torque. This is mated exclusively to a six-speed manual gearbox with drive sent to the front wheels only. It’s still covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with five years' 'premium roadside assistance'. Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km, whichever comes first, and the first five services are capped at $199 each. “Civic Type R has captured the imagination of Australians for generations and continues to represent the pinnacle of performance in small cars,” said Honda Australia Director of Automotive Robert Thorp. “We’re pleased to welcome the new Racing Blue colour providing a genuine performance model halo presence.” Looking beyond the Civic Type R, Honda is soon set to announce model year updates for the CR-V and ZR-V SUVs which will include more hybrid trims and Google Built-In software for the multimedia system. Additionally, the new-generation Prelude is set to launch in mid-2026 and later in 2026 Honda will launch its first electric vehicle (EV) in Australia.

Hyundai’s top brass has hinted at the imminent electrification of its performance N division, with a clear direction towards hybrid hot hatches and cheaper EVs.

The next car to come out of Hyundai's N division promises to step up the philosophy and capability of the already-loved Ioniq 5 N. We've been invited to the brand's R&D facility to drive the Ioniq 6 N before the car is even revealed.

Sound has never been a hotter topic in the world of cars than it has been in the past decade. From the introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles to even the more muted soundtrack of modern F1 cars, the noise cars make has become a major talking point.

Peugeot's legendary hot hatch returns.

The Golf R swings with the heavy-hitters of the hot hatch world and Volkswagen has given it an '8.5' series boost in terms of performance, tech and spec. Are these upgrades enough to take it to the top of the compact hot rod class? CarsGuide attended its local launch to find out.

BYD's factory-backed premium operation says it won't mirror its European roll-out.

Renault has opened the order books for the second batch of its bespoke EV hot hatch, with 500 units available to regions including Australia.

I recently purchased a 2022 Renault Megane Trophy from a dealer as a demo/used car that had 9000km on it. When I inspected the car it had the original Bridgestone Potenza tyres fitted front and back. 

When I returned to pick up the car a few days later the dealer had replaced the front tyres with a cheap set of Chinese made tyres that have many bad reviews on line. When I questioned the dealer they claimed that they were trying to look after me and that they replace any tyres that don’t have a minimum of 3mm of tread left.

My question is are they able to do this ? I would have happily paid the difference between the cheap set and a good quality brand if they had of mentioned it to me. It’s soured my experience with this dealer or is this common place these days?

If we offered you a free Ferrari or free Toyota which would you take?