Love of hatches!

After the recent track day, I'd had the chance to drive a few hatchbacks on track. Namely the Proton Satria and Proton Satria Neo, and I'd utterly fell in love with them.

I'm not sure if it's their captivating and compact looks, it's lightweight and nimble build, or its short overhangs. Now I can't seem to stop thinking about hatches! A whole new level of respect has instilled in me for these lovely little cars.

In the picture above, I'm driving the grey Satria which was, with a loose rear, fun to drive on this track due to a tendency to oversteer! I also had the opportunity to take a few laps in the orange Satria Neo which was in a word... sublime!

Even though it was only running on stock suspension and down-graded to 15" wheels, The Neo was still a very much point-and-shoot sort of drive. The Neo was very nicely balanced and, although laggy at first, is a real bruiser after 4000RPM. Seeing that I'm an NA nut, it was quite fun trying to maintain the high RPM threshold. The only conclusion I could come up with for the Neo's inexplicably good handling is that its structure is much more rigid than the original Satria.

Much thanks to Han and Patrick for the drive. I hope to see you guys again soon ya. Kudos to hatches!