New Renaultsport Clio promises hot hatch thrills

THROTTLE-happy hedonists will be delighted to learn that a new Renaultsport Clio has just been announced.

Closely based on the all new Clio range announced by Renault earlier this year, the new hot hatch swaps the old car's 2.0 litre engine for a 1.6 turbo unit, and while power remains roughly the same at 200bhp it's torquier and kinder to the environment than its predecessor.

Renaultsport MD Patrice Ratti had this to say about the new arrival: "New Clio Renaultsport 200 Turbo proclaims loud and clear the values of Renault Sport: beautiful and fast, it has everything that’s needed to make it the benchmark car in the high-performance sports hatchback class – just like its predecessors.

"The introduction of a very high performance turbocharged engine, with plenty of torque at low revs and coupled to the EDC dual clutch transmission (Efficient Double Clutch) developed by Renault Sport engineers, results in a car that raises the performance driving experience to a new level. The expertise of Renault Sport Technologies is reinforced by long-term programmes in the most demanding types of motorsport, including racing and rallying.

"It is this experience which makes us so passionate about handling feedback, and you can feel this the moment you drive any of the Renault performance derivatives we have developed. We’re also proud to be producing the Renaultsport in Dieppe, home of Alpine, and delighted to be using the EDC gearbox in a Renaultsport version for the first time."

Perhaps more importantly, keen drivers will be offered two different chassis settings with the new model - a Sport chassis, which is aimed at providing driving kicks with a dash of everyday comfort, and the harder Cup chassis, which has been designed with trackday fans in mind. There's also a fun button for go-faster drivers to press, called the R. S. Drive, which sharpens up the throttle and gearbox responses when it's pressed.

If that's not enough, there's also an accoustic gadget called R-Sound Effect, which replicates engine noises through the speakers, meaning you can literally make the new Renaultsport Clio sound better than it actually is!

Expect to find the new Renaultsport Clio lining up at a trackday near you from early next year.

Can the Peugeot 208 GTi really be as good as the 205 GTi?

AN Eighties hot hatch icon is back!

Well, sort of, if Peugeot's claims about the new 208 GTi are anything to go by. I was going to spare them the trouble of having their latest souped-up supermini compared with what enthusiasts rank as one of the greatest drivers' cars of all time, but the French firm have compared the new arrival to its iconic ancestor by saying it "regenerates the values of the iconic 205 GTi".

Question is: will it?

Until someone's driven it hard on a bumpy, windy British B-road the jury's out but the signs are good - not only does its 1.6 litre petrol engine deliver a 200bhp punch, but it comes with more rigidity and sportier suspension than the hatchback it's based on, which means on paper at least it's making all the right noises to hot hatch fans (i.e people like me). It's also, at less than 1,200kg, lighter than the car it replaces and equipped

More encouraging still however is the precedent set by models which don't come with those three little letters on the bootlid - if efforts like the 508 are anything to go by, Peugeot is back on form when it comes to making motors that steer and handle properly. In particularly, the agonisingly pretty RCZ coupe I drove two years ago is a cracker to drive - perhaps not as polished as, say, a VW Scirocco, but it's still a car in which you look forward to a tight corner.

Will the GTi stack up to the almost impossibly tall order as being as good as the 205 GTi? Fingers crossed I'll get a go, because I'd love to let you know...

Fire up the... new Suzuki Swift Sport

AT THE bottom of my garden lives a particularly persistent spider.

Each and every morning, without fail, it spins a web right above my back gate, and every other morning I'll forget it's there and get a faceful of silk and flies.

It's annoying, but I wouldn't exactly move house out of arachnid-induced frustration. It was much the same story with the outgoing version of Suzuki's Swift Sport, which had a couple of annoying niggles. In particular, the boot lip's always been a bit too high, which meant lifting bags or suitcases into the back was harder than it should've been. Yet I could forgive it that - and just about everything else - because of the way it went.

The old Swift Sport is still one of the best handling hatchbacks I've ever got my hands on. All of which makes this new version the difficult second album from Suzuki Swift - given how brilliant the original was, surely the larger, lardier replacement can only be a bit worse?

The Swift Sport's not a numbers sort of car but given that's where most of the improvements have been made I'll hit you with some anyway; the 1.6 engine now knocks out 136bhp, making it punchier than its predecessor's, but with carbon emissions now at 147g/km it's cleaner too, and you'll get 44mpg on a good run, 10% more than before. It's also a little larger inside and out, a little quicker and - naturally - a fraction pricer than the old one. It's also something you can't stack up with statistics - to my mind, it's better looking too.

So has it strayed from the winning formula? It's not the reassuring story the minor irritations tell you; that rev-happy engine's still a tiny bit thrashy around town, the interior's still a bit gloomy on longer trips and yes, the boot lip's still too high. It's probably not the best supermini if you're 117 years old, but if you're 17 and value thrills over frills here's the good news.

The new Swift Sport is brilliant.

Because it's a smoother drive the steering doesn't talk to quite as animatedly any more but in every other respect the new one's a belter - if you value handling over grip and power which is better being used on the road than bragged about at the bar, then you'll love the Sport.

It isn't perfect and it's a car of few superlatives, but only because there's no accurate way to measure how much fun it is.

MINI John Cooper Works GP II promises to be a hot hatch hit

POWER. According to the Spiderman movies, having lots of it comes with great responsibility.

So it's a shame then that BMW's being tight-lipped about just how much responsibility the latest hot MINI will need to be entrusted with, because at the time of writing exact horsepower figures for the Cooper Works GP II are a little hard to come by. However, they are promising it'll be at least as hardcore as its illustrious predecessor from 2006, so chances are it'll be rather a lot.

The company proudly claims of its mightiest MINI yet: "Only once has there been anything like it, but even that wasn’t as quick. With the MINI John Cooper Works GP, the British premium brand has come up with another car of exceptional talent designed to deliver extreme performance on both the race track and the road.

"The sportiest road-registered MINI ever made will go on sale later this year in a limited run of 2,000 cars. It is currently completing a programme of testing in preparation for series production, part of which has involved setting an impressive fastest lap of the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit."

So while there's no word on power it will have a limited production run, no back seats at all, beefed-up brakes and suspension and a scrabbly turbo engine based on the one you get in the normal Cooper S.

Oh, and a pricetag expected to be at least £25,000. Chances are though it'll be at least as collectable as the original from six years ago, though!

The Rover 100 that'll give a Porsche Boxster S a run for its money

THERE are a great many new motors on the way later this year. Most of which, a mechanic mate of mine reckons, he can easily outrun. In a Metro.

Yes, you read that right; in a garage out in the flatlands of West Lancashire work is underway on turning what was a knackered Rover 100, the Metro's final fling before poor crash test results killed it off, into a bit of a supercar in minature. I know you're probably smirking now, but I'm looking forward to seeing it as much as I am the new 3-Series or the Toyota GT-86. Because it promises, for less than you'd think, to give ‘em both a bit of a run for their money.

The recipe's a surprisingly simple one; take a Metro, making sure it's one of the later ones, remove the Rover K-Series you'll find under its square-rigged bonnet, and then beef up the brakes and suspension. What you then do is fill the hole you've created with the much meatier VVC powerplant from an MGF or a Lotus Elise, which - because it's still a K-Series engine - will slot in perfectly. All you need to do then is finish it all off by fitting a roll cage and decorating it with a nifty paint job of your choice.

The end result might sound faintly ridiculous but consider this; the finished Metro will offer up somewhere in the region of 180bhp in something that weighs about the same as a packet of crisps. That means the final product will offer up a better power to weight ratio than a Porsche Boxster S, which in turn means it should be seriously quick.

Easily rapid enough, I reckon, to lose the pub bet with said car's owner to find something that'll offer the same sort of punch for anything like the same sort of money. I've honestly racked my brains to find a secondhand performance car bargain that'd outrun the modified Metro, and I can't think of anything.

A secondhand hot hatch wouldn't offer the same sort of pace, while you'd struggle to get a slingshot sports car, like a Caterham, without it costing three or four times what the Metro cost. As much as I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to modifying cars, I honestly can't think of anything that'd match the muscular Metro. If, however, you can think of one, by all means let me know. Only serious petrolheads need apply!

I look forward to reporting later this year whether a Rover 100 that's more Brands Hatch than hot hatch is as bonkers as it sounds. Watch this space...

The Life On Cars Valentine's Day Spectacular

I HOPE my girlfriend isn't reading. With it being Valentine's Day it's probably appropriate to get it over with. I love my cars.

Or rather, I love a lot things about cars, and motoring, and the people and the culture and the good times I associate with them.

For instance, I love the feeling of the wind in my hair when I'm bumbling along in a small, properly sorted sports car. I love the rumble my MG makes when it first starts up on a cold morning. I love the timeless lines of the Jaguar E-Type, and the perfect proportions of the Austin Healey 100. I love the the ripples in the Peugeot RCZ's roof and the Tardis-like packaging of the Toyota IQ.

I love the fact that Britain's luxury car companies are coming up with their best offerings in years and that - thanks largely to the Chinese market - they can't build them fast enough. I love the feeling of being awestruck and apprehensive in equal measure whenever I'm tackling the Buttertubs Pass in North Yorkshire. I love knowing why Suzuki's Swift Sport is one of the best hot hatches created in the last decade. I love the sublimely quick and precise steering you only seem to get in an original Mini. I also love - for reasons I completely failed to get across in a Champion column last week - old, rugged, off-roaders.

I love, for reasons I've never been entirely sure of, the Triumph Stag. I love the feeling of having a day to yourself and a wonderful set of wheels to drive. I love the winding B-roads of North Wales and the Lake District. I love the way the Saab 9-5 is perfect for the motorway, and I love the way the Lotus Elise emphatically isn't.

I love taking classic cars I probably can't afford to pubs in the West Lancashire countryside, to have rambling conversations with other people who also own classic cars they can't afford. I love going to shows across the north west and telling interested passers-by why I've brought what I've brought. I love telling anally pedantic, wannabe concours judges who come over to point out a bit of bodywork I've missed polishing exactly where to go. I love looking at old cars, finding out about their place in history, and learning more about them.

Most of all, I love writing about them and I love sharing your stories from the world of motoring. Glad to be of service...

Fire up the... Volkswagen Polo GTI

DEAR AUDI, I'm sorry that I didn't like the A1 which got given the Life On Cars roadtest treatment recently. It's a smartly styled car, don't get me wrong, but I just didn't enjoy the ride.

It's not even as though I don't enjoy the engineering that's gone into it, because I've also driven Volkswagen's Polo GTI, which takes the same basic technology and takes a different approach to making it sporty and fun to drive. At £18,275 for the three-door version I tried, it's also roughly the same price as the A1.

The Audi badge is always going to offer you a more polished air of prestige than the familiar Volkswagen logo, but the GTI name's got a special appeal all of its own, and when you clock the most potent of the Polo range you're in no doubt it's a bit of a treat to look at. With the five-spoke alloys and the subtle red rim around the radiator grille, matched up to the trendy tartan trim (no, seriously) on the inside, it's a car that's sporty in a subtle away, gently implying what it can do rather than shouting about it.

It's also a traditional hot hatch in the way it goes; thanks to the 1.4 TFSI engine up front being mated to a supercharger, it knocks out 180bhp, so it's got more than enough straight line speed to keep you entertained. More tellingly it also takes you through the corners smoothly and sweetly, and while it's not as manic as some of its rivals - particularly MINI's Cooper S and Citroen's DS3 - it's also smoother and more reassuring when the going gets tricky.

The great thing is that once you've stopping having fun the Polo GTI stops being a GTI and becomes a Polo, which last year impressed the motoring scribes enough to be crowned European Car of the Year. It might not be Earth-shatteringly innovative, but it's a polished, practical supermini that's tough enough to take whatever challenges you throw its way. It's just that this version's a lot faster than the others.

Should you buy one? That depends on how raw you like your hot hatches to be, because I reckon some of its rivals give you more smiles per mile by losing the Polo's smooth edges. None of them though have the same quietly menacing style or sense of impeccable quality as the Polo, which will still impress you on the right road.

It is as impressive as the fundamentally very similar A1 wasn't.

You're nicked!

THE latest in a long line of fast Fords has been given a starring role in a remake of a classic Seventies cop show destined for the big screen next year.

Ford confirmed last week that its new Focus ST will be appearing alongside Ray Winstone and Plan B in a feature-length remake of The Sweeney, the classic police procedural starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman. The company said its new model, which goes on sale next year and musters up 250bhp from a 2.0 litre turbocharged engine, will be powerful enough to ensure the film's crooks “will always struggle to make a clean getaway”.

The original version of The Sweeney has enjoyed a longstanding association with Ford, after its main characters used a variety of Consuls, Cortinas and Granadas to reel in London's villains.

The film version of The Sweeney is due to arrive in cinemas next September but real life Regans and Carters will be able to enjoy the car earlier, when the Focus ST screeches into the showrooms next summer.

Fire up the... Renaultsport Twingo Silverstone GP Edition

GILLIAN McKeith, I reckon, would be a big fan of this sporty little number from Renault.

This latest version of the Twingo, you see, has been on a bit of a crash diet, in a bid to get rid of any uneccessary blubber and get into great hot hatch shape. In fact, the only place its piled on the pounds is in the price; this run-out Silverstone GP edition weighs in at £14,995 - more than two grand more than the standard model.

But don't think this is all limited edition badges and no trousers - this run-out version comes with a host of options chosen to appeal to the keen driver, including a stainless steel exhaust system and a performance monitoring system which lets you record your favourite boy racer stats, including your lap times and the amount of time it takes to shoot from nought to sixty. Tip for anyone thinking of thrashing one; 8.7 seconds is your target time.

Despite all the options and the wonderfully cossetting bucket seats, however, this is definitely a hatchback designed for thrills rather than frills, something you can't fail to notice with the rather cheap-feeling interior. Spartan on equipment and clad in tacky grey plastics, it's not a car you buy if you enjoy being pampered in your spare time.

Where this car really shines is not on the motorway - where it's just too noisy to be a comfortable companion - but on the B roads, where it's clear that all the crash dieting and the company's Cup chassis really come good as you dart from corner to corner. It is a fanatically fit streetfighter of a car, and always feels far more frantic than its 133bhp 1.6 litre engine initially suggests.

While it's a bit too raucous for my tastes - for my money I'd still go for the slightly more polished Suzuki Swift Sport tested earlier this year for Life On Cars - it is undoubtedly a true hot hatch in the old school sense, and more than capable of giving weightier rivals a run for their money.

Just don't load it up with too much luggage, otherwise you'll undo all of Renault's hard work!

Lexus hots up its hybrid hatchback

LEXUS, it seems, are way ahead of me.

When I test drove the CT-200h earlier this year I walked away impressed but slightly frustrated; it was a hugely impressive hybrid hatchback, but "it isn't the last word in excitement". It was, I wrongly concluded, business as usual when it came to Japan's 1-Series bater. Even Kylie Minogue struggled to make the standard version look exciting.

But now the Japanese luxury car master's just spiced up the smallest of its models, meaning you can now enjoy a sports version of its hybrid hatchback.

The CT-200h Sport comes with the same eco-friendly powerplant as the normal version but it's been blessed with a tasty set of 17-inch alloy wheels, a new rear spoiler, flared sideskirts and a racy mesh grille among other cosmetic updates, meaning that while it doesn't have any extra go it offers plenty more show.

The company is, however, promising sportier handling, and said it's tuned the CT 200h F-Sport’s suspension for a more engaging drive, and fitted a lateral damping system as standard.

Yet for all the aggressive styling it's still an automotive eco activist thanks to its clever petrol/electric technology, meaning that it'll still return 68mpg and - thanks to its low emissions - cost nothing at all to tax.

In a stroke Lexus has just eliminated my main criticism of the CT-200h; that, for all its clever features, it was a bit boring. It's now just a little more Fast and Furious and a little less Friends of the Earth, and that's all I'd ask of it.

The CT-200h is available to order from Lexus showrooms now and costs £27,850.

Fire up the... Citroen DS3 Racing

THE chap from Citroen's press department, it turns out, was right. Step from a Citroen DS3 into this and you realise it's a completely different beast.

Not that this is necessarily a good thing. Last year I drove two different versions of the company's then new luxury hatch - the petrol and the diesel - and concluded it was a corker. Good looking, fun to drive and frugal to boot, the DS3 was one of the best drives of 2010, feeling like a true hot hatch without the added engineering weaponry. Of the all the cars I clambered into last year, this was one of my favourites.

Making something markedly different, like this range-topping DS3 Racing, runs the risk of diluting the original's appeal in the pursuit of going faster, harder and noiser than before. It is, without doubt, much lairier in the styling department, with plenty in the way of yoof-pleasing go faster stripes and multispoke alloy wheels. Then again, this is the spiritual successor to hot hatch icons like the AX GT and the Saxo VTS.

But where they were all about keeping things lightweight and the simple, the Racing's a much more luxurious affair. You'll love the leather bucket seats, for instance, which not only look the part but also keep you comfortable whether you're cruising along the motorway or - more likely - coursing down the country lanes. The quality of the materials and switchgear, apart from the “RACING” motifs, is also good news for drivers of the normal DS3, because the cabin's a refreshing and solid sort of place to be.

Not that you'll spend much time looking at it, because out on the road the £23,000 Racing's revvy 1.6 turbo engine is forever recommending you give it the beans. Plant your foot down and its whiff of torque steer will catch out the unwary driver, but learn how well it goes and handles and you quickly appreciate it for what it is; a very, very quick and capable car.

Loud, lairy and a little bit scary, the DS3 Racing might be better trimmed than some of its ancestors but it shows Citroen can still come up with a cracking hot hatch when they want to. It might not be to everyone's taste but it's seriously good fun.

So the Citroen DS3 Racing is completely different from its slower siblings, but it's also better.

Video: Suzuki Swift Sport

David Simister puts Suzuki's Swift Sport through its paces in the Yorkshire Dales, home to some of the most demanding roads in Britain:

To read the original road test click here.

It's all in the name

COOL car, the Citroen DS3. A typically trendy magazine crowned it the world's coolest car last year, and I complained loudly that I wasn't cool enough to understand why. Then I drove it and discovered it was brilliant, so it got my vote as well. The Citroen DS3 is cool, even when it's being driven by someone who isn't.

Here's the rub though, it is a cool Citroen and - despite the company's drive to make the DS label a sort of brand within a brand - that's the label it's going to live with. There's nothing wrong with that; I've always thought of Citroen as a cool company, because it's behind everything from the beautiful, Maserati-engined SM, through a succession of CXs, XMs and Xantias, to the wonderful floating steering wheel on the old C4. Get quizzed by your mates down the local, however, and you can't tell them you drive a DS. You drive a Citroen.

My point is that I don't think there's ever been a brand-within-a-brand that's ever worked, because most people are badge snobs and just look at the keyfob. BMW's M cars, for instance, are legendary for being giant-slaying stealth saloons, but tell anyone other than a hardened car enthusiast and they'll only be impressed because you drive a BMW. This is the reason, I reckon, for the Honda NSX being a flop over here. For all its Ferrari-bating performance, fine handling and handsome looks, it was still a Honda.

Remember the Xedos 6 and Xedos 9? Don't worry if you can't, because Mazda couldn't master it either. Despite lots of publicity at the time, the two are now considered just two other cars in the company's back catalogue. It didn't - in this country at least - give the MX-5 a fancy badge, but people flocked to it because it was the right product for the right time. Proof that the car itself matters more than the badge it's wearing.

I can think of just one exception to the rule, which comes from all you Range Rover owners out there. It might be built, designed and sold by Land Rover, but for dinnertable bragging purposes it is always emphatically a Range Rover.

Then again, Citroen could well prove me wrong. If the DS4 and DS5 are anywhere near as good as the DS3, we've got a couple of crackers on the way.

Fire up the... Suzuki Swift Sport

Ever wanted to own your very own sports car but never could because you'd struggle to get the kids, the shopping and your suitcase in the back?

Well anyone familiar with the letters G, T and I will already know you can, because ever since the hot hatch was invented in the late Seventies it's been showing the family man the sort of full-throttle thrills he'd normally miss out on. Whether it's the Golf GTi of the Seventies, the Peugeot 205 GTi of the Eighties, or the Renault Clio Williams of the Nineties, chances are there's a go-faster shopping car from your generation that proved you can pack both a big punch and a big boot.

Fast forward to 2011 and Suzuki's Swift Sport, yours for a smidgen under thirteen grand, brings the familiar formula bang up to date. Although it's based on the outgoing model rather than the new range brought in last year, it mixes funky styling with sporty touches like a rear spoiler, alloys all round and bucket seats on the inside, and definitely looks the part if you're a keen driver.

With the same practical touches and easy-revving nature as its slower siblings in the Swift range, it's a doddle to drive around town. It's a shame the boot doesn't offer the room of larger rivals like the Fiesta or Corsa, but it's very easy to get comfortable inside, with plenty of space front and rear. But you can do all that with a normal hatchback, which is why to see the Sport in its element you have to get off the housing estates and onto the hills, like the Yorkshire Dales.

Take it to somewhere like the Buttertubs Pass, one of Britain's toughest driving roads, and you'll see exactly where the Sport shines. Out here, its handling is as impressive as much more expensive sports cars like Mazda's MX-5, and the 126bhp engine eggs you on into every corner, giving you all the confidence you could ever ask for.

After tackling the Buttertubs I could have pulled over, but I carried on, heading right through the Dales and across the whole of Cumbria, simply because it's a car you never get tired of driving. It's never anything less than a giggle from behind the wheel, and when you do decide you've had enough fun for the day the price and practicality prove plenty to smile about.

Forget your posey, pricey sports cars - get yourself one of these and get into the countryside. This is one of the best hot hatches you can buy today.

As published in The Champion on February 16, 2011

Fire up the... Abarth Punto

WHAT'S red and white and travels around Britain at breakneck speed? Nope, it's not Father Christmas, but Abarth's go-faster treatment of one of Fiat's best sellers.

This pimped-out Punto isn't, the marketing men insist, a Fiat at all, but an exciting and sporty hot hatch from Abarth, who if you reach for the history books have actually notched up quite a bit of motorsport heritage. It's just a shame that Fiat, who took over the motorsport outfit, then squandered its significance by using the name for sad cosmetic kits for Seicentos and Stilos, but since then it's made a bit of a comeback with the near-universally praised Abarth 500.

The question for this racy-looking road rocket, then, is really rather simple; is it the perfect Christmas present for the hot hatch fan, or is it an Abarth in name only?

The good news starts even before you step inside; like the little 500, it has one of the best bodykits I've seen on any of today's sportier superminis, having go-faster stripes where you'd want them, black alloy wheels, and nothing at all in the way of silly spoilers or big wings. There's something very Seventies about the big ABARTH logos running down the side, and the company's famed Scorpion badge will allow at least some bragging rights in the pub car park.

But even that doesn't get you past this car's biggest problem; whichever way you look at it the Fiat Punto, which the Abarth's based on, it's a car that's showing its age. Sure, it's still stylish, roomy and practical, but you get the sense, particularly when you're inside, that it's lost the edge to newer rivals.

It's also something you sense behind the wheel, because while the Abarth has a delightful scrabbly feel off the line, you always get the suspicion that its 180bhp isn't quite enough in a hot hatch market obsessed with horsepower. I'd buy it over the Abarth offerings of old, but over a Citroen DS3 or Renaultsport Clio? Sadly, I suspect I probably wouldn't.

And anyway; Abarth already makes a hatchback that really is worth every penny. The Abarth 500.

As published in The Champion on December 22, 2010

Audi's RS badge is back!

THE badge reserved for Audi's most fearsome models is back - but this time it's on one of the smallest cars the company sells.

Following in the footsteps of the RS4 and RS6 saloons and RS5 and TT RS comes the blistering RS3, which is based on the normal Audi A3 hatchback but packs a 340bhp punch to help it take on ever more powerful rivals from the likes of Ford and BMW.

Audi says that by taking the same five-cylinder engine and four-wheel-drive system as the TT RS the new arrival makes plenty of nods to the iconic Quattro of the 1980s, and should get from nought to sixty in a shotgun 4.6 seconds.

The RS3 arrives in showrooms next spring with a £39,000 pricetag, although you can order it from next month.

No word yet on whether they're planning an RS1 though.

Skoda's second generation vRS is sporty but spacious

HUNTING for a hot hatch with a difference? Worry not, because Skoda may have just the motor for you in its newly-launched Fabia vRS.

The Czech car company has just unveiled its second generation of the sporty supermini, which it reckons offers both tremendous value and the option of a speedy estate for keen drivers looking for an involving drive.

"The new vRS is the fastest production Fabia ever built, and builds on its predecessor’s reputation for high performance, low running costs and remarkable value for money," a Skoda spokesperson said of the company's latest product.

"Overall, the vRS offers fantastic value for money, particularly when compared to the competition. Where else can you find a 180bhp engine with DSG, paddles, LED lights and loads of standard kit for £15,700 for the hatch and £16,495 for the estate version?"

Unlike the previous Fabia vRS the new arrival ditches diesel in favour of getting its power from a revvy petrol engine, and - unlike rival hot hatches from Renault, Peugeot and Volkswagen - also comes as an estate for those wanting space as well as pace.

Thanks to its 180bhp powerplant acceleration from 0-62mph takes just 7.3 secs, with a top speed of 139mph (140mph for the estate). For more information on the fastest of the Fabias, visit Skoda's website at www.skoda.co.uk.