These hot hatches are the Bruce
Wayne, Peter Parker and Tony Stark of the car world. But who will win out of
Batman, Spiderman and Iron Man?
A good hot hatch is much like a comic-book
superhero. Underneath the capes and exo-pants, they’re normal people with
places to be and things to do. Sure, they spend their weekends deploying secret
powers and flying around all over the place, but pop round on a Tuesday morning
and they’ll be boiling an egg or shampooing the dog. It’s all part of the act.
Because under the wings and beefy bodywork, a hot hatch leads a normal life
like all the other runabouts in the country. Yes, it could trouble a supercar along
a mucky lane, but it could also collect a few houseplants on the way home.
The
Golf R is rapid and faithful, even in wet conditions
This has always been their appeal, and –
for the carmakers – it’s an easy win. They’re already making the cars on which
the hot versions are based, so it’s not too hard to make them go a bit faster
and turn a bit harder. Which is far cheaper than developing a whole new car
from nothing. Those cost savings are then passed to us, so not only are hot
hatches relatively inexpensive to buy, but when you roll one into a cabbage
field, the replacement parts are easy to find and fairly cheap. Just look at
the Fiesta ST, which costs $48,055 in its basest form, yet corners more sweetly
than some cars costing three or four times as much. We’re looking at you,
Maserati Gran Turismo.
The
Audi S1 is rapid, engaging and fun in all weather conditions
It’s just one of the reasons why it’s our
real-world hot hatch of choice. Alright, so you could rightly argue that all
hot hatches exist in the real world, because that’s the whole point of them.
And while the rest of the groupings in this issue have a broad spread of
prices, hot hatches have a narrower price window from the top of the market to
the bottom. Just $25,035 or so, in the case of our chosen three: the ST, Audi
S1 and Golf R. But in the real world, and to most of us, that’s an awful lot of
money. Which is why the most affordable one matters very much.
Excellent
body control, well weighted steering and mobile rear end make the Fiesta ST a
great drive
But here’s the thing with the ST: you never
feel like you’re choosing the budget option. The cabin layout could do with a
refresh, but otherwise it’s nicely put together and feels reassuringly Fordy.
It also says a lot about the standard Fiesta that it can handle a healthy
increase in power without the need for a nuts ’n’ bolts overhaul. It retains
its torsion-beam rear suspension that lets it cock a wheel around hairpins.
Obviously it’s a touch harder to reduce body roll and increase grip, but having
a chassis that was magic to start with helped a lot. The 1.6-litre turbo is
hearty, giving you a good splash of power whenever you need it. The brakes are
strong, and allow you to brake deep into a corner while the back end happily
plays along. It’s an arrow to the sweet spot of hot hatchery, this thing, and
would make sense alongside any supercar in your dream garage.
