Too many manufacturers have got obsessed with headline power figures in my view. We all know, or should know that torque is that what really matters and that is one of the reasons I chose the gti, because it has tons of torque from low revs and in gear acceleration in the real world comes from lotS of low rev torque.
I think cars like the s3 can put the power down, as can the m135 but most front wheel drive cars I maintain around 220 bhp or so is the sweet spot in terms of using the power and putting it on the road. Any front drive car that can do 0-60 in around 6 secs is pretty much as good as it will get. My 1997 fiat coupe with 220 bhp can do that, so it shows in 15 years of development, the game hasn't been moved on much in terms of front wheel drive.
Headline power figures are just for pub talk IMO, in the real world other things count, like torque, grip, build quality etc and this for me sums up the gti package
As someone said before. The fiesta st or a used Clio 200 cup would do the hot hatch thing perfectly if the other factors were low priority..
