Shoot-out | The 0-100km/h times of SA's fastest hatchbacks

The Toyota GR Corolla brought new excitement into Mzansi’s hot-hatch league when it was launched a few weeks ago, boasting a three-cylinder 1.6l turbo petrol engine with outputs of 221kW and 370Nm and transferred to the road via permanent all-wheel drive.

TimesLIVE got behind the wheel to see how it stacks up against fast rivals from Volkswagen, Hyundai and other hot hatches.

The GR Corolla differs from most of the opposition by having a manual gearbox, which generally makes for slower off-the-line sprints than automatic cars. Modern autos are hi-tech and many have launch control systems that make them easy to shoot off the line. In contrast, manuals require more driver skill.

To measure its 0-100km/h time we took the new GR Corolla to the Gerotek test centre near Pretoria, the same venue where we use a satellite-based Racelogic Performance Box to test all high-performance cars. Our tests provide a true measure of cars’ real-world acceleration at high altitude, compared to manufacturers’ tests which are done at sea level where the higher air pressure provides a performance advantage.

The GR Corolla acquitted itself well against the competition, posting a best 0-100km/h time of 5.5 seconds which was just 0.2 seconds slower than Toyota’s sea-level claim.

The Mercedes-AMG A45 S automatic remains the quickest hot hatch we’ve tested over the 0-100km/h sprint at 4.1 seconds.

Check out the full results below and let the braai banter begin.

HOT HATCHES PERFORMANCE COMPARISON CHART

MODEL:                                                     PRICE:            POWER:           0-100km/h

Mercedes-AMG A45 S auto                     R1,397,793       310kW              4.1 secs

Audi RS3 Sportback quattro auto:         R1,246,600      294kW              4.3 secs

VW Golf R auto:                                        R931,100         235kW              4.8 secs

Mercedes-AMG A35 auto:                       R1,247,453       235kW              5.1 secs

Audi S3 Sportback quattro auto:            R906,100        213kW               5.3 secs

Toyota GR Corolla manual:                     R902,400        221kW               5.5 secs

Renault Megane RS300 Trophy auto:    R949,999        221kW               5.9 secs

Hyundai i30N auto:                                  R811,900         206kW              6.1 secs

VW Golf 8 GTI auto:                                 R781,800         180kW              6.1 secs

BMW 128ti auto:                                        R789,260        180kW               6.2 secs

* Performance tests conducted by TimesLIVE at Gerotek with Racelogic Performance Box