Hot Hatch Shootout - BMW M140i vs Audi RS3 vs VW Golf R w/ Tiff Needell. Part 1 

Which one would you take? (and what's your take on 18:10 TBC?!)

They should’ve used the S3 instead of the RS3. That’s a closer comparison to the R and M140

The rs3 should be compared to the m2 based on price. Really the s3 would have been a bettet comparison.

M140i for me. Last of a dying breed.

M140i, sold! Fun wins out every time! Need to get on that rwd & straight 6 before it goes boring 2l 4x4 in the new model! 53k for a hot hatch is just laughable. Great Vid, can’t wait for pt.2!!

Great review & I'm with Tiff... M140i, keeping things simple and classy :)

remember the days when a hot hatch had around 120 bhp, skinny tires and a price every one could afford?

To shame the Golf R’s interior is foolish. The Golf R is WAY nicer than its competitors (WRX STI, Focus RS, Veloster N, etc) obviously it’s not going to be nicer than the BMW or the Audi, but come on. Great sound system, nice leather, very classy. Not everyone wants red suede and and cheap items to make the car seem sportier. The Golf is done right.

In Canada for 2019: Golf R $45,000 Audi S3 $56,000 BMW 240 $61,000 Audi RS3 $71,000 Our trims and such don't line up with the UK...but since there is really nothing performance wise between the R and the S3 and the R is a hatch while the S3 is a sedan, I went with it. Getting a Stage 1+ added for less than $1,000 CAD and I will be performing at RS3 levels. That is the reason I went with the R ( AWD in the Canadian winters also was a factor). If I had the money though, the RS3 would be in the driveway as the I5 turbo is glorious...

Subscribed although I am still confused why an entry level Golf R (estate too) with no extras against a RS3 with all the extras ? Bit unfair ... surely a Golf R with the performance pack (hatchback) is a fairer test ? 🤔

Guess I'll just have to procrastinate for another 18 minutes....love this channel.

I think a lot of people are missing the idea of a hot hatch looking at these comments, the Golf is outclassed here, the Audi is typical Audi ridiculously overpriced( in fact by the time you spec it to perform like this one you are pushing BMW M4 money🤔), the M140 isn’t even in the same class as that Audi and yet when it comes to track driving it will likely be quicker, it’s also rear drive and unbelievably fun to drive, really why would you pick anything other than the Beemer, it’s the definition of hot hatch, reasonably priced, reasonably practical (if you worry about that sort of thing) and above all hugely quick and incredibly fun!

Absolutely epic especially given the weather! Great to have another honest review on 3 current, brilliant hot hatches. Can't wait for episode 2!

I've watched this to help me decide which of these cars to go buy, I've always leaned towards the M140i and think this will be my choice. I also love how this was filmed two minutes from where I'm from, the road from Ebbw Vale to Llangynidr is an epic road to drive, not so much in the wet or even worse in the snow, I wouldn't recommended that.......

Loved the racing driver excuses bit! 😂😂😂

'Unfortunately he enjoyed it so much he forgot.' 😂😂😂

Welcome back Team, Audi for me and look forward to part 2. 👍🇦🇺

You know your spoiled when a Golf R doesn't make you smile,...good God!

Should compare S3 against GTI and M140i, similar price range. RS3 is a lot more expensive than the other 2

Greetings from Canada!. I wish the M140i was available in my country because there are nice specs and upgrades you guys can do in the UK to this car. RS3 is way too expensive here and the one you showcased is loaded. My solution: I bought a Golf R 2018 mK7.5 and got an APR stage 1 ECU and TCU upgrade with high torque. RESULT: 370 hp and 383 ft-lbs of torque. less expensive and now it is a rocket! That is plenty for a small car and lots of fun! Cheers!

I have had the m140i since April and love it! Will be interesting to see how I'm feeling about that in the middle of winter though!

I think the R Estate in that guise is gorgeous. Performance wise, the BMW is better and the Audi is streets ahead. But with the Audi being almost £20k more, what would you expect? Good video though! P.s It’s always raining in God’s country!

I just got an M140I and let me tell you it is absolutely amazing to drive!

Love the channel boys.The Audi is obviously the one to have if you can afford it, but £50k is crazy money for a hot hatch!

Cracking vid guys. RS3 for me every day of the week and twice on Sunday !

Looking forward to part 2!

I've had my Golf R Estate Wolfsburg for about 3 weeks now. Best car I've had hands down. Sh!ts all over the ton of falcons, commodores, statesmans and hsv's I've had.

5:53 "Of course they're dependable [...]" ... excuse me? lmao

Kudos to the wet cameraman for the epic shots.

RS3 is the best car but at that price it has to compete with the M2. The RS3 is a rocket ship for the road, is more practical and an all around better road car while the M2 would be slightly more fun if you were a skilled enough to drive it proper fast and would be a lot more focused on track. Me being not a overall skilled driver I'd have the RS3 as it would make me feel like i'm amazing even though it's the car doing all the work.

Great video again. Should have got the hatchback golf r tho 😉😂

No 6cylinder M car will ever sound better then an offbeat 5cylinder. The RS3 sounds like a baby V10 at the top of the rev band, truly an exotic sound.

Tiff is old skl with super friendly energy, always heart warming to watch

I always liked Tiff 👍🏻

Where is the focus rs (this is also German incase you didn't know lol)

Should be the S3 vs the rest not a RS3, and certainly shouldn't be a golf R estate

Estate R doesn’t do it justice at all, back end of a Passat is so ugly compared to proper hatch. Also look at the price of the RS3. The Golf R is probably more a competitor for the S3. BMW and AUDI are now premium brands. The Golf R is not necessarily the fastest but it’s an incredible car. And you don’t get as much hassle from boyracers and you can turn up to work without looking like a poser because the untrained eye just sees golf. Got to live with one to fully appreciate. I smile every time I open the garage and get in. Love it.

Okay, let’s just put an rs3 right next to the golf R. Even though the S3 shares the same engine and everything as the golf R

Very unfair on Golf, I have R3door, on service they gave me R Estate...that 80kilos really blunts the performance and handling...they should drive hatch again

Why does tiff want a round steering wheel for? Does he still use the push and pull method 😂😂😂

Love Tiff. Grew up with his voice on my BTC game!

Great video. Audi RS3 for me!

When was this filmed? Hasn't rained in about 3mths

Is that even a question? This edition RS3 is absolutely a fking monster, no matter in track or drag race.

I'd probably take the BMW then the audi Audi.

Golf R ❤❤❤

Finally some track time! That's what we want to see! Nice.

The Audi RS3 stands head and shoulders above the other cars. Pure class.

Why the Estate? Standard Golf R is much better and faster

considering the m140i isn't available here in the states, i chose the RS3, though i seriously considered the M2. it's styling is definitely more eye catching than the Audi's, but when i drove the M2 I missed the raw power of the RS3, and its quatro AWD.

Please do the Audi RS7 whether It's the 2020 Model, or the 2017 model, I'd love to see your opinions on it.

Golf R wagon..for me....the other two are weekend toys

After recently watching random vlogs here,seeing Tiff regularly on them,suddenly reminded me of the ol 5th Gear,in a very good way! As i always had a thing for sports,hyper cars,with the Countach posters and what not,and being able to watch people share their thoughts about it on tv was just what i needed,but then when Tiff left,it wasn't the same,as it lacked that bond,specially with Vicky as well... so i then went onto TopGear,and the rest was history!

The golf all depends on where you are trading from, if you trade up the golf is a great car but if you’re trading down then you’re left disappointed

I have a 2-series coupe and I've never liked the 1-series. I just think it looks a bit crap looking at it head on at the front. All their other cars look great though, especially the coupes. The seats in the BMW are great too. They don't look flashy or anything but they really hug your sides.

Love my 2013 golf r 4 door with manual transmission. Might not do the quarter as quick as a dsg but it’s fun to drive

why didnt u include Merc? I wished you had replaced it with R

All is good cars. BMW M140i manual RWD if you want to have fun and use skills.

all the great weather we have had and you pick a day when its pissing down!

4, 5, 6 cylinders.

Why estate ?& why compare the rs3 to the golf R ?, more fair to do the S3 against It

Thanks men, great video.

All 3 are "Gran Turismo" GT Hot Hatches, no track tools. So among the Gran Turismos I take the RS3. 1. "Brute Force" 2. five cylinder and 3. AWD winter capable

Great video. Shame the weather was so bad as the 140i in the dry is a different car!

Please do a video on the bmw m2/m2 comp, a45 and the rs3 saloon

Sounds incredible, better than vast majority of v6’s and v8’s in my opinion!

who is the guy with the red coat? Has he taken too many Xanax?

In my hometown burry port 👍 was that Pembrey race track at the end?

All lovely cars, but why a golf R Sportcombi, instead of a regular golf r? Doesn't really make it fair.

Great video! Plus points for having the RS3 in my ideal spec!

Sunday evening and a new Lovecars notification....awesome, thank you

All great cars. But I would be expecting a good few of those Audi options as standard on an RS spec car. 10k more, come on!!!!!! Sometimes feel Audi,etc just rip the arse out of it.

Great soundtrack. Well done on the hard slog Capturing this footage for our viewing pleasure!

I think you should have compared the s3 instead of the rs3 or take the go!f to stage 2 for a couple of grand, get the hatch not the estate and then see which you prefer??

How do you guys have such great cinimerography??? Is this an actual tv show or something?

Picking up an M140i in a few days, compared it to the Audi S3 but enjoyed the M140i so much more!

I'd be interested to hear Tiff's opinion on the Audi vs BMW steering. BMW has always been the drivers car but my M140i's steering is very numb even though it is sharp and accurate you can't feel what's going on. My previous S1 had good steering feedback and feel. Has the RS3 got the better steering over the BM?

No idea whether I like the Golf R or not yet as I still haven't driven one. But to be fair it's the estate version of the R up against two hatchbacks. Hardly similar and hardly stands a chance against the RS3 and BMW 1 Series.

I am thinking about an RS3 but they are expensive with absolutely no toys the best price I can find is £433 when you put that next to the M2 competition with no toys I found for £407 a month is it really worth it the extra? also the insurance on the RS3 is mental £1500 I am 43!

The audi would make absolute mince meat of the others. Its in a different league. Legendary 2.5L straight 5, Quattro, agressive styling. Its honestly better in every way.

You guys mentioned about the sound (or lack of) in BMW. You guys need to try one with Akrapovic catback with the fake ASD noise off. It completes the car.

Probably my favorite channel from now. Never knew you existed. I would rate you better than Top Gear and yes the Grand Tour also

Another great video guys! 👍

This is the only honest review about the Golf MK 7!! I bought a brand new GTI Clubsport last July after driving an MK6 GTI for 6 years which was fantastic. My God was I disappointed with the built quality of the Clubsport! Road noise, wind noise, cheap interior materials, bits falling off and suspension ratlling and squeaking!! From a brand new VW! They have clearly cut corners to save costs!! Sold it and bought a BMW 140i...can't be happier :) the RS3 is nice but far too expensive!

One will go down as a classic. The other 2 will be completely forgotten

love it..! looking forward to part 2 guys..

How I have I never seen any of your vids before? Great channel. Insta-subscribed!

I've got the R Mk7.5 Estate. I guess though it rather depends what you want from the car. I came from an e61535d estate (brilliant but heavy) and needed an estate for practicality. So the R Estate made a lot of sense as there isn't a whole lot out there that compares. Maybe a 340xi or a S4. As a hatch I can understand why the 140 is better, as well as the RS3. I know that no S3 was available, but many say the R is the better car to drive. But in real life, this test and (esp) part 2 aren't really applicable. Most people who buy these cars don't care what they are like on a track. The racing around twisty A and B roads is more pertinent, but lets face it, we spend most of our time trundling along in traffic. There seem to be 2 "criticisms" of the R, both easily rectified. One was to do with the slowness of the throttle to react. This can be sorted with a PedalBox. The other was the lack of about 40bhp. A Stage 1 remap, while not ideal with warranty and leases, will up things to about 375bhp. But to be honest, I am happy enough with 310bhp.

A Golf R Estate, is not a Golf R Hatch, does it have the magnetic ride and vectoring?, plus $550 gives you a Unitronic Stage 1+ (375HP 350TQ) Keep your 10K extra RS3

Terrific Tiff😎

A bit one sided, the rs3 is a great car but is in a different league powerwise, but what would you expect with the huge price difference which has to be taken into account. These chumps are just given these cars to test, pass judgement on the performance, but if they had to put their own money down they might not be so keen on what they chose for best performance and practicality for the money. When you consider the acceleration numbers between these cars are within half a second of each other, big deal! In the end £10,000 difference is a hell of a lot of cash for half a second of show boating.

The Mercedes A45 AMG and Honda CIvic Type R are glaring omissions from this competition

The comparison should be between Audi RS3, Merc AMG A45 and BMW M2 for hyper hatches! Or if you wanted hot hatches then Golf R, Focus RS and Audi S3, that would make more sense. Good fun though and Tiff is just the best!!!

2 hot hatches and a wagon

Why isn't the S3 there instead of the RS3?

A bit pointless comparing the rs3 against the golf r. (Especially the estate). Different price points and performance.

Great work as usual lads thanks

I would get the rs3, nice video guys!

Who in their right mind doesn’t absolutely love the Audi virtual cockpit

Tiffy, the Anthony Bourdain of automotive