Megane, Mazda and Mito top hot hatch roll out

Thankfully, we'll always have hot hatches... We WILL always have hot hatches won't we?

If there's anything better than getting the automotive media's mind off the doom and gloom pervading the car industry, it's a good hot hatch. Cars that generate publicity and passion, but thanks to their humble roots also profit -- and there was a bevy of them at the 2009 Salon International de l'Automobile Geneve.

Three fought for top honours: the new RenaultSport Megane three-door coupe, Alfa Romeo's potential giant-killer, the Mito GTA, and the long-awaited second-generation Mazda 3MPS. Sure there were others, but these were the ones that count for us Down Under.

All will be on sale in Australia eventually. The Mazda arrives this year; the other two might stretch into 2010 -- but take it from us they are on their way.

However, it's the Megane that gets the top honours from us -- if not for the fact the current car is a cracker, then for the stunning looks of the hottest Renault not in F1.

Boasting a revised 184kW/340Nm version of the proven RenaultSport 2.0-litre turbo four, the latest Mégane Renault Sport offers the choice of two chassis -- Sport and Cup, the latter with LSD.  Almost 15kW and 40Nm up on the 'old' Mégane R26.R, the new RS features a twin-scroll turbo and a flatter torque curve which delivers 80 per cent of maximum torque available from just 1900rpm.

The suspension and six-speed manual gearbox are largely carried over from the last generation RS, though the electric power steering has been tweaked (again!).

What isn't carryover are the looks. The new generation Megane is an aggressive character anyway, but in the RS, the volume and bass have been turned up to 11. The front bumper incorporates LED daytime running lights and there's a low splitter "reminiscient", says RenaultSport, of "the low-slung nose of the R28 Formula 1 Car".

At the rear there's a central trapezoidal exhaust outlet and a full track-spec diffuser. No word on whether this works as is the case with the Clio III RS, but who cares -- it looks the business!

Inside there's ING yellow seatbelts, sports seats with aggressive bolstering and, as well as the normal go fast stuff like alloy pedals, a "visual and audible" gearshift indicator. Flash, beep, whack that's second!

And while rear three-quarter vision's not going to be good, there's more than enough room for four. Remember, like all the best hot hatches, this car is built on the same platform as the 'parctical' Megane variants.

The Mito GTA (Gran Turismo Alleggerito) takes the fight up to the Megane RS but might struggle matching the 220kW-plus Ford Focus RS (also on display in final production form at Geneva), as well as Geneva no-show, the new Golf VI GTI.

We featured the GTA's specs recently (more here) so we won't go over old ground. Suffice to say, this is still a serious piece of work -- with the go (180kW) and whoa to match its pocket rocket looks.

Also serious kit, despite its smiling happy car looks is the new Mazda 3 MPS. We'll publish a full rundown of the car, which was displayed in Melbourne to coincide with the Geneva reveal, separately but here's a quick rundown on the vital stats -- 191kW/380Nm, 0-100km/h in 6.1sec, torque-sensing super limited-slip differential, 18-inch wheels... The last one was fast but thanks to torque steer a little unruly. Mazda claims it has fixed the histrionics and now it's full speed ahead in MPS land...

Finally, we couldn't leave our Geneva hot hatch coverage without giving an honourable mention to the Fiat 500 Abarth 'Trofeo' showcar... Not strictly a road car, the 140kW 1.4-litre turbocharged Abarth 'Assetto Corse' racer looks too good to be true.

You know what you have to do Fiat (and Abarth)... Forget about this showcar palaver. Build it, and we'll come...