I've owned plenty mild and hot hatches and I've driven frikken tons of them, including the 130i and the old S3. The 130i's saving grace is its engine, beyond that it's turned out to be the hyper hatch disappointment of the moment, it gets a carrot from the less powerful and heavier R32 around just about any circuit, doesn't feel nearly as classy inside and its five door configuration gains it no practicality advantages over a 3 doored opponent from Ingolstadt or Wolfsburg, so poor is the packaging. Overall, a flawed product to all but the most loyal of fanboys.

An S3 is every bit the better car because Audi have had more experience in this arena. But hey, thanks for bringing up the 1er in a thread dedicated to the appreciation (or lack thereof) of the new S3.

Edit: Ah wait, you didn't, Yannis the pesky Audi touting crazy air traffic controller did. Shame on him...