About 1 month ago I started looking for a new car, it had to be some thing fast, stylish and with in budget. I had looked at a few, Audi A1, Polo GTI, Alfa MiTo, Clio RS and so on. 

After looking at each car, comparing insurance quotes, servicing and day to day driving the three that stood out for me was the Abarth 500, VW Polo GTI and the Renult Clio Sport.

Now in South Africa the Polo GTI comes in at a high spec and the performance is great how ever on top of the cost there is a shortage so trying to find one was a problem and to ad to that it will soon become a very common car. The 1.4 turbo and supercharged motor is all fine and well, but a small motor that is heavy labored may not last very long coupled to this is the DSG (formula 1 style gear box) that works great, but if things go wrong they going to go wrong in a big way and the 3 year warranty does not cover it. And lastly the car does not come with any motor plan and for a car over R250 000 I would expect that. 

The Clio Sport is a cool little hatch and goes like a rocket, I was looking at one a few years ago. How ever maintenance and spares in South Africa are expensive and trying to insure the car is another thing all together, some quotes were as much as the repayment and lastly the 2.0l motor does not perform as well as the other Turbo cars at high altitude, that's just chemistry.