What is a hot hatch?

A hot hatch starts life as an ordinary, practical small hatchback — the kind bought for shopping runs and school pickups — and gets a proper performance makeover: a bigger or more highly tuned engine, firmer suspension, sharper brakes, and usually some visual cues to match. The result is a car that still does the boring five-door-family-car job during the week and turns properly quick on a good road at the weekend.

The category took off through the late 1970s and 1980s as manufacturers realised buyers wanted both, and it's stuck around ever since as one of the most beloved shapes in car culture. It sits alongside things like the supercar as a car "type" people argue about the exact definition of. Know someone who'd argue that point for an hour? Car gifts is the section built for them.

Written by Craig Fearn, Petrol & Ink.