A french hatch could be twice as quick but it still wouldn't tick the boxes for me. Massive depreciation, poor reliability, poor dealers, horrible cheap plastic interiors I just wouldn't! The r26 is a lovely car to drive when you're in the mood, most of the time its just an unrefined annoying rattle box. When i was 19 that would have done me, 10 years later I'm not interested. I love the GTI, being able to get the balance of everything makes it the ultimate hot hatch in my book!