Revhead Ramblings: Exceedingly Hot Hatchbacks

More than ever, our cars are controlled by legislation. Jumping through European emission hoops and safety standards is the number one priority for manufacturers.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, we’ve now got greener cars with more horsepower. It’s changed the face of our hot hatchbacks however, so much so that we’ve now got a new market; the super hatch.

Original Hot Hatches

The MK1 Golf GTI and Peugeot 205 GTI are without doubt two of the best known hot hatches ever. Despite their low horsepower output, chuckable dynamics and lightweight design made them the cars to have in the eighties. 100bhp from a 1.8 litre naturally aspirated engine was standard then, the addition of a turbocharger added a small increase in horsepower but the cars the sports versions were built on were getting heavier; rendering the performance benefits minimal.

Four-Wheel Drive

Our modern hatches now need four driven wheels if they’re to compete with the best; the Civic Type R being a pleasant exception. Four-wheel drive isn’t just a marketing tactic though, these cars genuinely need the extra grip to put all of their power down. To produce 400bhp from a 2.0 litre engine takes incredible engineering and it makes you question how strained these engines really are. The likes of the A45 AMG do display signs of turbo lag at lower revs and their uprated brakes are grabby around town.

Socially Acceptable

The best thing about these modern super hatches is that they are socially acceptable. The 80’s hot hatches were frowned upon by ‘decent’ society and stolen by so many proto-chavs that insurance premiums rose to such levels no-one could afford to run one. And because their power units have been developed at least partially as a result of increased efficiency they return +30mpg.

Overview

We live in an age where power is easier to access than at any time before. A normal family can have a 300bhp, 1400kg, sensible and reasonably priced hatchback in the drive and they won’t be outed as scum by society!

And it won’t cost a great deal to tax, fuel and insure. Many of our super hatches can only be recognised from the rear thanks to their head-sized exhausts. The rich can have their supercars, with a few simple modifications I can have their power from an Audi RS3 and still take the kids to school in comfort!

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