The big test: small hot hatches

We might owe Hyundai a thank you here, for halting the small hot hatch implosion. A bitesize history recap: when the last Fiesta ST arrived in 2014, it went to war against the new Peugeot 208 GTI and a rethought Clio RS, among other established talent. The latest version has had life easy thanks to its dad killing off all foreign claims to the kingdom.

Neither the quick Clio or 208 have been replaced. The French – who have owned this scene since the Eighties – shrug and mumble about maybe doing an electronique one at some point soon. Meanwhile Citroen hasn’t even bothered producing a hot hatch for a decade. Vauxhall – the company that was once upon a time busily applying VXR badges to Corsas, MPVs and the office sandwich trolley – has left the building entirely.

Oh, it gets worse. Seat’s erected an entire Cupra sub-brand but stubbornly populates the showroom with SUVs instead of a lairy Ibiza. Remember the interesting days