Mini Cooper S: a sporty experience in a small, feisty package

Remember when hot hatches burst onto the scene in the 70s and 80s? We couldn’t get enough of them and most mainstream manufacturers produced one, or more. Famous examples were the Golf GTi, the Astra GTE, the Peugeot 205 GTI and Ford Focus RS. All good fun, all with rip-roaring acceleration, sharpened handling, firm suspension and, of course, a hatch.

With manufacturers carefully curating their overall ‘fleet’ emissions by moving towards electric vehicles, however, they are becoming less common, although still available from the likes of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and VW, with the Golf R.