What happened to the pocket rocket? PH Blog

There used to be a plethora of junior hot hatches and now there isn't - let the comeback commence!

Planet hot hatch is an exciting place to be at present. A new Ford Focus RS, Honda Civic Type R and Audi RS3 are all imminent, the Octavia vRS has just been improved and Peugeot has reclaimed some credibility. Heck, there are even rumours of buying and driving a Leon Cupra that did 7:58 round the 'ring...

Proves a point and it's hilarious - win!

But there's a common theme amongst all those. By varying margins, they are all over £20,000 and 200hp. Fine for their respective hot hatch class, but about the juniors?

Think about all the little c.1,000kg and 120hp crackers you used to be able to buy. Some were superb with even smaller numbers than that. Ford SportKa, Fiat Panda 100HP, VW Lupo GTI, Peugeot 106 GTI, Renaultsport Twingo and cars of that ilk. Where are the replacements for those? Granted, the Suzuki Swift Sport has taken on their mantle but there should be more choice. The MG 3 is better than you would give it credit for but its engine average at very best. I'm not holding out too much hope for the Adam Wham Bam Thank You Mam either (but I stand to be corrected).

The worst thing is that there's no excuse for lack of inspiration. Not only are there are a wealth of very good standard cars currently (the recently replaced C1/108/Aygo trio, the Up/Citigo/Mii and the Hyundai i10/Kia Picanto) but loads of good engines too. The Fiat TwinAir is crying out for a performance installation, and surely the 999cc Ford Ecoboost could be put to great use in a Ka. Volkswagen in fact made an Up GT prototype back in 2012 with 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine and 110hp. What's happened to that?

Here's a car that needs replacing...

Furthermore, if safety and efficiency concerns did kill off the old breed, then the new school easily addresses them. You wouldn't want to hit a Jenga tower in a Saxo for fear of injury but the current crop of city cars are eminently safe and the engines won't be outlawed next week. They're still light as well, which is a bonus.

There's more too. Think of how good the grown-up hatches from these manufacturers are. Nobody makes a duffer anymore. Peugeot was selling the 106 GTI at the same time as the rather average 206 GTI. Today even Kia makes a decent hot hatch in the Pro_cee'd GT and so the chances of them distilling the bigger cars into a few really good pocket rockets must be high.

... and this too!

So, car manufacturers of the world, here's what we need: 108 GTI, C1 VTS, Aygo T Sport, Up GT, Mii Cupra, Citigo vRS, i10 N, Picanto GT, another Renaultsport Twingo and whatever else I've forgotten. No more than 130hp is needed and as close to 1,000kg as possible. Turbocharged ones must have boost gauges. Manual with proper handbrakes please. Who wouldn't want one of those?

Perhaps there is a significant financial or political hurdle for not producing cars of this ilk anymore. But they always seemed fairly popular not so long ago and if VW can sanction an e-Up it can give the green light to an Up with 120hp. And a yellow SEAT version. Now feel free to reminisce about the past masters and let's get this thing off the ground!

Matt

[Source: Autocar]