MANY people consider the humble hot hatch to be a jack of all trades. Something that can do the school run or hop to the shops, before transforming into a scintillating sports car the moment the road

ESSENTIALS Volkswagen Golf R32 Price (new): £22,340 Powertrain: 3.2-litre V6, 238bhp 0-62mph: 6.6 seconds Top speed: 153mph Fuel Consumption: 24.4mpg Annual VED: £430 Alfa Romeo 147 GTA Price (new): £

Speed, we often point out, is a commodity less freely available to drivers on British roads than it used to be. On safety grounds that’s probably okay, given the growing population of cars and the fai

By Russell Hayes, £38, quarto.com , ISBN 978 ...

£254,200 OTR/£282,000 as tested/£5,077 pcm WHY IT’S HERE: What has a hybrid makeover – and Mulliner buffing – added to the world’s best grand tourer? DRIVER: Ollie Kew IT’S 5AM, AND YOU JOIN ME AT hom

It has been a hectic season for the Stovebolt Special: 11 hillclimb weekends, two hillclimb schools, and 3000 rapid road miles getting to and from them. And one serious breakage. That was sorted in ti