Five hot not-hatches

Monday, 30 March 2020

Like the idea of the power and size of a hot hatch, but don't really want a hatch? Well, you odd person you, here are five alternatives in the 'small car with 200kW plus' club that are all based on same platform as a hot hatch, but aren't hatches.

Mini Clubman JCW

Okay, we're going to bend our own rules first up with this one - while it shares its looks from the b-pillar forward with the Mini JCW hatch, the Clubman actually sits on the larger version of the hatch's BMW UKL1 platform, the UKL2. But it's essentially the same thing, so let's just go with it.

The Clubman JCW is a 225kW/450Nm AWD small station wagon. And if the idea of that doesn't brighten your soul, then you probably don't have one.

An absolute bundle of fun on a winding road, with its blistering little engine and fantastic AWD system, it also brings the bonus practicality of the wagon body shape, albeit a small one.

Mercedes-AMG A 35 sedan/CLA 35

Mercedes-Benz split the difference between its mildly warm standard A-Classes and the 310kW/500Nm fire-breathing lunacy of the A 45 with the new 225kW/400Nm A 35 to produce a perfectly competent and fun hot hatch to sit under the hyper hatch A 45. Yeah, that's what they're calling them.

And if you didn't want that hatch shape, then it is also available in new A-Class sedan form as well. But wait, as they say on the TV, there's more, because Mercedes also offers the 35 powertrain in CLA four door 'coupe' form. What's the difference? Umm… one four door sedan is slightly curvier than the other?

Either way, it's nice to have choice, we suppose…

Hyundai i30 N Fastback

Hyundai's brilliantly balanced and seriously quick i30 N hatch is one of our firm favourites, with its beautifuly sorted chassis, slick six-speed manual transmission and seriously characterful and grunty 202kW/353Nm 2.0-litre turbo engine.

But if you would rather have your Korean hot hatch with a slightly bigger boot and slightly less rear headroom, then the i30 N Fastback is for you!

The Fastback is every bit as feral and niche as the hatch (it's only available with the six-speed manual as well), but it brings a bit of Euro-flair to the i30, with more than a few nods to the styling of the Mercedes-Benz CLA. At least Hyundai don't try to pretend it's a coupe…

BMW M235i Gran Coupe

BMW, on the other hand, have muddied the water even further by calling what is obviously a sedan a 'Gran Coupe', whatever that actually is. Even more confusingly, it is aimed directly (pricing-wise, at least) at the A-Class Sedan, as opposed to the CLA 'coupe'…

Either way, the M235i is a formidable piece of equipment with its 225kW/450Nm AWD powertrain (wonder how they settled on that particular output?) and wonderfully compliant chassis.

The AWD layout brings benefits to offset the fact it isn't RWD anymore, and the M235i is a barrel of fun on a winding road. We would argue even slightly better than the M135i hatch too…

BMW X2 M35i

Okay, enough of these sedan version of hot hatches - how about an SUV version?

Okay, so the X2 already stretches the 'SUV' marketing line to the extreme, so a hot version that takes it beyond breaking point is fine. After all, if you like the idea of a small hot hatch/SUV crossover, then you don't really care about market positioning and segmentation anyway.

The X2 M35i brings all the M235i's feral goodness in a taller, more practical body shape. But while it may be more practical, it isn't as good a steer as the lower M235i, for obvious reasons.

Still a baby SUV packing 225kW and 450Nm is always good for a laugh.