16 Long Term Test Cars on The Road Racing to The Hill

OURCARS.
Flash, fast, feasible
You like the finer things in life but you also like rear doors and a boot.
Chances are you're looking at one of these three
F THERE'S A connection it's real-world desirability; a heady
blend of space, practicality, affordability and, from two of our
three at least, a pretty compelling lick of speed.
Let's turn to young Master Moldrich's bewinged, blistered
and butchered Type R first. During the 48 hours in which we
turn swathes of Snowdonia into our private test track, everyone
hates the way the Civic looks but returns to base time and
again wearing toothpaste-advert smiles.
I think the Civic looks like a grotesque joke, inside and out,
but eventually I succumb to the i11evitable, take the Honda out
and wring it. It's good; if 3oobhp-plus front-drive hatches are
your thing, that is. Low-slung driving position, chunky and
tactile steering, brilliant gearshift, heroic brakes and superb
body co11trol - they all support tl1at ma11ic blown engine perfectly,
allowing the Civic to careen, scrabble and slither across
these punishingly sinewy Welsh roads with a level of driver
engagement that sweats your
palms and dries your mouth.
But good enough to excuse
its retina-scarring looks? Hell
no, though others are more
forgiving. 'I really don't know
what all the fuss is about,'
says Ben Miller, who's had
plenty of seat time in Curtis's
Civic. 'That said, I think the
Mercedes Unimog is a design
classic. The Civic is, however,
a sensational car to drive;
much of the precision, thrill
and speed of a 911 GT3 for a
fraction of the money. The new Renault Mega11e RS, when it
finally shows up, will have to be extraordinary.'
Chris Chilton's vRS 245 sits at the other end of the taste spectrum
to the Honda. Primer-like Meteor Grey paintwork and
flash alloys aside, it all looks and feels VW Group: crisp lines,
spacious accommodation, generous levels of equipment and an
intelligently configured dash layout. Very class-swot neat and
tidy; very Skoda.
And so it proves on the road. If the Civic is rash and brash,
then the fast Octavia is mature and controlled. Irrespective of
pace and road conditions, it always feels delightfully poised and
balanced. There's enough power and torque to ensure you cover
ground at indecent -if sub-Type R -rates but then the Skoda
never feels ragged or uncouth, even when you're squeezing
every last drop of go-faster juice from it. And on the roads that
varicose-vein their way between Ffestiniog and Bala much
squeezing is t1ndertaken.
Zesty engine, satiny gearshifts from the seven-speed DSG,
sound body control from the DCC adjustable dampers and
a ride quality just on this side of firm all work harmoniously
together. Pity the hefty steering isn't chattier, but that electronically
controlled LSD means you can sling the Octavia through
corners that would send open-diffed rivals into a wheel-turning
orgy of understeer, and into the sheep-speckled Welsh countryside.
It's a surprisingly compelling package.
If I said the same about my new long-term Insignia, you
might have to coax your eyebrows back down from the ceiling.
Bt1t in a very different way this big family estate - a veritable
rarity in our SUV-obsessed times -has plenty going for it.
The Vauxhall's playing to its core strengths when it wafts
me up from Chichester to Wales in the pre-dawn dark in highspeed,
low-stress comfort.
With LED lights scything
through the gloom, muscular
bi-turbo diesel ticking over
at a lazy 2ooorpm, adaptive
dampers on their plumpest
-
setting and the Bose audio
punching out Old Dominion,
we cover the 300 miles in four
hours dead.
And then when it arrives at
the other side of the country,
this load-lugger puts its best
dynamic foot forward and
makes a pretty good fist
of masquerading as something sporty. Sure, 110 one poured
themselves out of its driver's seat begging to hold on to the keys
for another B4391 strop -such unseemly fawning was reserved
for the Ms -but the combination of entertainingly high levels
of wet-weather grip from its savvy GKN-sourced Twinster
torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive layout, and surprisingly taut
body control meant it isn't the understeering blancmange most
expect. Needless to say, the return trip to the sun11y south coast
the following day was dispatched with equal ease.
So, the11 - a determinedly unhinged hot hatch, a convincing
and punchy estate, and a family car that's surprisingly
accomplished when the roads get interesting. Three seemi11gly
disparate cars united by embodying the best their makers have
to offer. Now, what's your poison? ►
BEN WHITWORTH
2018 I THE BEST CARS AS YOUR CHOICES 12