Namibia's content-driven motoring portal
In hierdie tye van besparing en kommer oor skadelike gasse kan mens wonder of daar nog ‘n aanvraag is vir opgewarmde sportiewe luikrugmodelle wat gebou is vir spoed eerder as ekonomie. Maar as jy na die lys van aanbiedings op die mark kyk is daar nogal heelwat. Die bekendste is seker Volkswagen se Golf GTI wat al lank met ons is. Dan is daar ook die Opel Astra OPC en die Renault Megane RS en later in 2016 kom die Ford Focus ST.
Met die bekendstelling van Kia se Koup 1.6 T-GDi is die driemanskap met die Cerato sedan en die vyf-deur luikrugmodel voltooi en het Kia dan ook ‘n belangrike leemte in hierdie modelreeks gevul. Die Kia motormaatskappy het, veral oor die laaste dekade, sy teenwoordigheid in Europa, die VSA en ook hier te lande in min of meer al die motorsegmente deeglik laat geld.
Despite what you may read in the media, don’t believe a word about performance cars disappearing soon. I always cite BMW’s 1M and Ford’s Focus RS which arrived in South Africa already sold out. The hot hatch segment’s never been bigger and just welcomed another contender: Opel’s Astra OPC.
The Ford Focus ST is part of an exclusive club of motorcars which includes the Golf VR6, BMW 325iS, Sentra STi, Kadett Superboss and Civic VTEC. Performance machines which have all become collectable and share one compulsory characteristic: there isn’t a single unmodified specimen left.
Once or twice a week my computer pings at me and announces the imminent arrival of a new test car. Should the electronic reminder include the word “Toyota”, my heart usually sinks in expectation of drab plastics, blunt sheet metal and, with the FJ-flavoured exception, a week of lacklustre driving.