Newswheel @ the Paris show: Hatchback hotness. VW’s Iroc Concept, Honda Civic Type-R, Renault Twingo
Newswheel staff :: 04 October 2006 :: Filed under Hatchback, Honda, Honda Civic, Renault, Volkswagen, Volvo, Europe & UK, Trade shows
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Hot hatches ahoy
Crusty old form factors like C-segment saloons may be dying a slow, undignified death at the hands of MPV and crossover upstarts. But the hatchback is alive and kicking in 2006. VW, Honda, Renault and Volvo are all keeping the hot hatch real at the Paris show…
Volvo C30
Volvo’s design renaissance continues. The C30 is not a conventional beauty. But it does have bags more road presence than the premium hatch competition including the likes of Audi’s A3. Particularly the five-pot T5 turbo, which is taking pride of place on Volvo’s Paris stand. Twin tail pipes and contrasting, gloss-painted wheel arch, sill and bumper extensions are the stand-out features. Overall, it’s a much classier and more grown up effort than its closely related in-house rival, the Focus ST.
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Honda Civic Type-R
It’s not as dramatic as the Concept shown as the Geneva show this spring. Already, the '90s concept car design vibe is looking a little dated. And the tech specs aren’t hugely inspiring - the latest hot Civic is no more powerful than the outgoing model and Honda’s decision to emphasise improved refinement and mid-range torque isn’t exactly what V-TEC-addled ricers wanted to hear. And yet…there’s still something beguiling about the latest Type-R. Although the 18-inch rims fight a losing battle for prominence with the wheel arches, there’s a distinct air of battle readiness about the car’s stance. But most of all, it’s the Type-R’s incredibly intimate wrap-around cabin that gets your juices flowing. It’s simply impossible to park yourself in the preposterously big-bolstered pews, twiddle the alloy gear knob, soak up the technotastic instrument pack and not want to spank this car to within a millimetre of its existence.
Yup, it’s fussy and frankly a little naff. But we’ll eat an ancient oil filter if it’s not an absolute riot to peddle down a twisty road.
Renault Twingo concept
The original Twingo was cheeky, refreshing and original. But this tarmac toasting concept is pretty pedestrian. Granted, it’s aggressive and extremely well planted. It’s also much more mature and will no doubt prove massively more refined in production guise than the existing Twingo. But the underlying car is a predictable update of the current tiny T’s monobox proportions with a smattering of the usual Renault design cues. The final production variant of the next Twingo will top out with a 1.2-litre turbo mill cranking out around 100bhp. The concept’s exaggerated wheel arches are less likely to make it to showrooms.
VW Iroc concept
Given the original VW Scirocco’s modest pedigree as a sports hatch, it’s a little perplexing that the upcoming reborn model is so hotly anticipated. Still, with the Golf ballooning to ever more elephantine proportions and the Polo never quite making the grade as a driver’s tool, we’d warmly welcome a more compact and agile hatch from the VW stable. Enter the Iroc concept, the spiritual progenitor of the all-new Scirocco. No doubt several styling features as well as the basic proportions will find their way into the series production model. However, we suspect much of what gives the Iroc its showbiz moves will disappear in translation. In particular, the massive rims and aggressively low roofline are unlikely candidates to appear in a VW showroom anytime soon.
Posted 29 October 2006, by Marla
Thank you!
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