Thursday 15th September 2016

3-door hot hatches are dead: Tell Me I'm Wrong

Get over it people, hot hatches of the future will have rear doors too

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Human nature and all that but there are a whole load of things that seem to excite people I just don't get. TV shows about baking cakes, hair-gelled millionaires having a kickabout and, in a PH-relevant context, getting worked up about new hot hatches launching without a three-door option.

Out with the old...

Given the threats on all sides to things we hold dear in our fast cars - be that steering feel, throttle response, naturally-aspirated engines, manual gearboxes, proper exhaust noise - this seems a curious thing to get worked up about. But people do. Very much.

Criticisms of the current Clio 200 when it launched were wide-ranging and, in the case of the dual-clutch only transmission and removal of dynamically important tech like the PerfoHub front suspension struts, entirely valid. Yet for many commentators the ultimate betrayal for the Clio 4 was its switch from a three- to a five-door platform, the very clear point being that no hot hatch worthy of the name could possibly have another set of doors. We've seen the same outpourings after photos of the next-gen Megane Renault Sport emerged, this car too apparently following the Clio's lead and switching from the coupe-like profile of the outgoing car and to a more generic five-door shape. See also the Civic Type R and Focus RS; both cars with passionate fanbases, a significant proportion of which cite extra doors as symbolic of plots being lost. Don't forget as well the reaction to spy shots of the next-gen Fiesta ST showing a five-door format.  

I admire the purist streak. God knows I've wittered on about such things here myself, be it PDK-only GT3s, horrible variable-ratio steering on supercars or the over-complication of gimmicky driver modes. I love a hot hatch too, my personal rite of passage in this being ownership of a rather lovely Clio 172 Cup a few years back. Yes, a three-door hot hatch. But I just can't find myself getting worked up about the world going five-door.

... and in with the new. But is it a good thing?

I think it may be my age. There's a clear divide in the PH office on this, Matt, Ben and the other youngsters clearly subscribing to the view a proper hot hatch is one with its flanks unadorned by superfluous doors. I get it too. The styling tends to be more resolved, they're lighter (a five-door Golf GTI is 30kg more than a three-door) and - I'm assuming here - a stiffer platform on which to build a performance shopping trolley. I also get the fact it broadcasts a clear message that you care more about your driving than you do about practicality, flicking the vees to the rest of the world and its fixation on mpg, ISOFIX, boot space and general school-run friendliness.

Trouble is folk like James and I are now of an age and 'life stage' where such things DO matter and our age group is the one the manufacturers are more eager to please. Ergo when it comes to the product planning and budgeting stage of developing a new hatchback from which our hot versions are developed, it's little wonder a three-door version is considered expendable. From tooling to testing, a three-door shell is an expensive indulgence to cater for a proportionally tiny selection of the potential buyers. No wonder few are bothering.

Some still are though, VW among them. The MQB platform that underpins a huge range of vehicles across all its brands includes a three-door option for its C-segment hatchbacks and provides for this traditional layout on the Golf GTI (and R), SEAT Leon Cupra and Audi S3. In the junior hot hatch realm the Fiesta ST is three-door only and the option remains for the Polo GTI, SEAT Ibiza Cupra, Audi S1, Suzuki Swift Sport, Mini, Fiat 500 and others.

VW still catering to the purists - who'd have thought?

The MQB platform is still relatively fresh in terms of its product cycle too, so it's safe to assume VW and its brands will be able to offer three-door cars for some time yet. If there's demand. Is there though? I asked VW and SEAT for the respective splits on hot versions of the Golf and Leon. For the Golf GTI a third of buyers still go three-door but on the R - where there's an estate option too - it's 50 per cent five-door and an even split of the remainder between three-door and estate. It's a similar story for the Leon too, 55 per cent going five-door, 27 per cent SC three-door and the remainder going for the ST estate I enjoyed so much recently. But then I would, because I'm a 40-something with kids.

It's interesting that neither brand restricts its extreme versions - respectively GTI Clubsport Edition 40 and Sub8 Performance Pack Leon Cupra - to three-door versions only, one way you might think they might cater to the purists and set them apart from the all-rounders. Selfishly I'm glad about that!

What does this prove? If not an overwhelming case for Renault and others canning a three-door option then it's at least an indication of the market's direction of travel. And, if you were projecting ahead for an all-new generation of hot hatches and identifying significant cost savings, one area you might look at. That WRC cars are based on five-door shells only underlines that shift too.

Hang on, looks like another three-door ST...

I'm fine with this, I have to say. And if it frees up some cash to keep a manual in the new Megane range then doubly so. Put simply, if the three-door hot hatch is something we consign to history then I won't be wearing a black armband.

Besides, there is hope. In one of those curious flukes of timing as I sat down to write this missive an email landed from our spy photo agency. The subject? A new batch of Fiesta ST testing photos showing, beyond doubt, Ford is working on a three-door variant too. Tell me I'm wrong? Looks like Ford might have spared you the job! 

 

[framerateuk]

No problem with 5 doors here.

Bought a 5 door Clio Trophy after having a Megane 250 for years. The extra practicality is useful (and no, I don't have kids) and aside from the car maybe not look as sleep from the side profile, I can't see any downsides. It's a hot hatch afterall, it's meant to be fast and practical. If I only wanted two doors I'd buy a coupe.