Hot Hatches are for a different segment. It's for people that want to have a real backseat as well as being to haul **** from Costco or Lowes. I came from a VW GTI and I'll be honest, I love that car - it was a go-kart on roids; and when tuned, they are a beast. Not to say the 370z isn't faster but when compared to a tuned Golf-R or I will say the Focus RS; these cars offer alot of fun for the price. (GRANTED, $42k is a bit much; I think we all agree that if it was $37, it would be interesting); hell the Golf-R can be had for $38k and I think I would rather have that instead.
As for history, correct me if I'm wrong but the RS has history; just not in the US
