Hatch muscled up

I admit: I love muscle cars.

From the GTO through the Charger, the Demon to the Fairlane Thunderbolt I love them all. Unfortunately I live in the part of the world where gas has always been priced high (which is good in the long run), where the roads are tight and curvy (again, good) and where even taxes are taxed, too (not good at all).

So, we are restricted to the EU flagship 'affordable performance cars'. Whereas it is the muscle car in the US, on the other end of the ocean it is the hot hatch.

A souped up smaller (here: midsized) family car. Eventhough  they are really hard to compare, they share the same philosophy.

Let's take the Ford Mustang and the Ford Focus RS. The Focus RS has a straight-5 in good Audi and Volvo tradition whereas the Mustang has good ole V8 horses under the hood. Note, if you have more than 4 cylinders in Europe that counts something extraordinary, in the USA V6s are something okay.

Of course, if you have a V8 in an American car, you have to talk about turbocharging in a European one. For a whole decade, picky customers were eager for SOME turbocharging at least after the 90s naturally aspirated craze, they got it clean and clear.

Unfortunately there is no real compromise to RWD at a reasonable  price. Common rule that a performance car is RWD at least. Fact, that FWDs cannot be capable for such performance.

That's why we have front differential, great handling, slightly btter mileage and all the flashy exterior stuff.

Europe is eager for some muscle, America for some quality hatch. Besides, it's not only petrol/gas a hatch runs on, recently there are keen diesels being made. I read somewhere that the latest Golf GTI existed only to make the path for the GTD. Don't know, never tried it. But it would be foolish to underestimate diesels.

Here's the deal. Since Ford is global, Chrysler has just been bought by Fiat and GM owns Opel and Vauxhall in Europe, why can't we make a compromise?

A midsize, sedan or five door RWD with at least 6 cylinders and a diesel option.

Well, I think there is the BMW 1 series and the Mercedes C-class that matches the criteria.

Problem is, thy are not cheap enough.

Any further idea?