Ford Fiesta ST: From $25,990 plus on-road costs. 1.6-litre 4cyl turbo petrol; 147kW and 290Nm; 6-sp manual; 6.2L/100km and 145g/km CO2. Renault Clio R.S 200 EDC Sport: From $28,790 plus on-road costs.

Were we to anthropomorphise these little hellraisers, I suspect the Fiesta ST would be spying this new Renault RS16 with mixed emotions. On one hand it would be a little bit concerned that its ...

Think of popular French cars over the last two decades and the chances are a hot hatch will spring to mind. The history of great Frenchhot hatches dates back to the original Peugeot 205 GTi and has ...

What makes a good hot hatchback - the power, the bang/buck ratio or the track records? The automotive industry has never been more divided on this subject than it is now. Just to give you an example, ...

earlier this year. But that was a few minutes of track hooning and drag races; excellent video fodder, but leaving the space open for a comparison out in The Real World. Ideally we would have had a ...

The Renaultsport Clio ruled the hot hatchback roost for years, but when the current car was released in 2013 it was met with a frosty reception. • Best hot hatchbacks In place of the naturally ...

A practical, fun, fast and usually affordable mode of transport that had its origin in the 1970s Volkswagen Golf GTI and Renault 5 Alpine, the hot hatch’s heyday was the 1980s. A staple niche among ...

Handbrakes. Thank the merciful Lord that all three of our contenders on this test have got proper old-school handbrakes. You know the score. Small, stubby little cars, lots of turbocharged grunt and ...

Elan is looking Elysian again the following morning as we head back to finish the photos. I hang back in the Nismo, which feels better when you let it find its own rhythm and don’t try to keep up and ...

The Fiesta ST is the hot hatch champ of 2018. How does it stand up to an all-time favourite? Hands up who's owned a hot hatch. No doubt many of us. Chances are you've at least had a close encounter ...

The mid-2000s were awash with some absolutely legendary hot hatch icons, and the Renault Sport Clio was one of them. If there’s one thing the French know how to do, it’s make a fast, fun hot hatch, ...