The big test: 400 horsepower hatches

Well, I was born too late. When I dreamed of refereeing an 800bhp face-off, I pictured a Ferrari 360 battling a Porsche 911 Turbo, or a BMW M5 defending honour against the most unhinged Mitsubishi Evo FQ MR-WTF.

Are these two rivals? An RS3 would be more heartland hyper-hatch, but it’s on hiatus for a couple of years while the A3 line-up is replaced. Audi’s current entry-level RS is this preposterously powerful posh Qashqai. Anyway, crossover-SUVs are busy monstering conventional hatches and devastating saloons. The landscape’s changing. Hot hatches and supersaloons don’t have the monopoly any more. Can the A45 defend it?

For your £50k – yes, these are £50,000 hatchbacks and that’s only a baseline – the Audi offers you more physical engine, but a smidge