Automotive YouTube channels have veered a little toward the entertainment side, and we probably only have ourselves to blame. Well, we say "a little", it's actually a lot.
We can't say where it all started, but it was clearly the Top Gear show that made this approach to - let's call it car journalism - so popular. They figured out that you can mix having fun with reviewing cars and not only that the public won't mind, but they'll actually come back for more.
That explains why carwow's YouTube channel first started to feature more and more drag races, and now has the host's mother and girlfriend as guest drivers in said drag races. And you know what? We really don't mind. Actually, hearing the raw opinions of a non-professional makes for a welcome change from all that talk about torque and wheel spin and hundredths of a second.
It also feels a bit like a reality TV show. We get a glimpse of Mat's family dynamics, which is not something we should care about, and yet we seem to find it strangely captivating. We guess that's the definition of any reality show, except this one also has cars in it, which makes it better.
Alright, with that little disclaimer out of the way, what do we have here? In short, three hatchbacks that have no place in a drag race. If we were to expand a little, we'd have to go over each of the three competitors. Starting in alphabetical order, we have the Honda Civic with its fabulous three-cylinder 1.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine developing 129 hp and some amount of torque. It doesn't really matter, does it? Alright, it's 148 lb-ft (200 Nm).
Next up is the Toyota Corolla Hybrid with its 1.8-liter naturally aspirated engine and electric motor managing to put out a whopping 122 hp and 105 lb-ft (142 Nm) of torque. If that doesn't get you off your seat, we don't know what will.
Finally, we have the Volkswagen Golf. The German hatchback missed the memo about the white paint and showed up in a mustardy yellow color. Show off. Unfortunately for the other two, it also has the performance to back it up. It gets a 1.5-liter three-cylinder turbo, and as if that weren't enough, it also has a tiny electric motor on top of that. In total, the mild hybrid setup produces 150 hp and 184 lb-ft (250 Nm), which is more than enough to make it the favorite.
Find out all the answers in the clip below, together with what Mat's mum used to do as well as the reason Mat himself didn't learn sign language. That sounds like one hell of a teaser, right?
That explains why carwow's YouTube channel first started to feature more and more drag races, and now has the host's mother and girlfriend as guest drivers in said drag races. And you know what? We really don't mind. Actually, hearing the raw opinions of a non-professional makes for a welcome change from all that talk about torque and wheel spin and hundredths of a second.
It also feels a bit like a reality TV show. We get a glimpse of Mat's family dynamics, which is not something we should care about, and yet we seem to find it strangely captivating. We guess that's the definition of any reality show, except this one also has cars in it, which makes it better.
Alright, with that little disclaimer out of the way, what do we have here? In short, three hatchbacks that have no place in a drag race. If we were to expand a little, we'd have to go over each of the three competitors. Starting in alphabetical order, we have the Honda Civic with its fabulous three-cylinder 1.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine developing 129 hp and some amount of torque. It doesn't really matter, does it? Alright, it's 148 lb-ft (200 Nm).
Next up is the Toyota Corolla Hybrid with its 1.8-liter naturally aspirated engine and electric motor managing to put out a whopping 122 hp and 105 lb-ft (142 Nm) of torque. If that doesn't get you off your seat, we don't know what will.
Finally, we have the Volkswagen Golf. The German hatchback missed the memo about the white paint and showed up in a mustardy yellow color. Show off. Unfortunately for the other two, it also has the performance to back it up. It gets a 1.5-liter three-cylinder turbo, and as if that weren't enough, it also has a tiny electric motor on top of that. In total, the mild hybrid setup produces 150 hp and 184 lb-ft (250 Nm), which is more than enough to make it the favorite.
Find out all the answers in the clip below, together with what Mat's mum used to do as well as the reason Mat himself didn't learn sign language. That sounds like one hell of a teaser, right?