If any of you guys really are into cars then you will surely share my hatred of stupid modern diesels tarted up to look like hot hatch performance cars! I mean look at it with its 19 inch wheels and R badges slapped onto a 140bhp diesel.
They should be reserved for the real performance cars like the 310bhp Golf R.
I get where you're coming from, but why should you or I have the authority on what manufacturers can or cannot do?
The first car that I had when I was younger (not happy about writing that, now feel old at 33) and actually liked was an A3 "sport". If i could possibly have bought one with the same engine, that looked like an S3 I would have had it in a heartbeat. I would have been happy, the insurance man would have been happy and the seller would have been happy. Manufacturers have clearly caught on to this and seen an opportunity to make some cash.
If you spend much time in Europe you'll notice it's also pretty much an exclusively UK thing - the rest either want basic, cheap motoring or care far more about spec than bling.
If anything I prefer it when you need to know what you're actually looking at to tell if something has a little bit of power. When you're in the mood it can lead to some rather confused faces from other interested parties.......