The Mazdaspeed3 And Volkswagen GTI 'Have Both Got A Score To Settle'

Winning, it is said in the classic film Death Race 2000, is the only standard of excellence left. Americans don't want to know what cars are great — they want to know what car is best. And that's why God invented the comparison test.

This 2010 MotorWeek test takes on one of the most hotly-contested segments in all of autodom: the hot hatch segment. We have the hot new kid on the block, the Mazdaspeed3, and the newly-refreshed progenitor of the genre, the Volkswagen GTI. Are any two cars more cross-shopped than these?

Both cars are great, but only one can win. I won't tell you which one the majority of the MotorWeek crew preferred, but no buyer is a loser for going for either of these great cars.

MotorWeek Theater is our showcase of some of our favorite classic reviews from public television's finest motoring program. How does this video only have 38,878 views on YouTube? It's hotter than the hottest of hot hatches!