On the track in small hot hatches

The Ford Fiesta ST200 goes up against the Renault Clio RS 220 Trophy and Citroen DS3 Performance.
Graham Scott|Autocar6 October 2016

Hot hatches are very much a feature of our roads and cities, everywhere from the overtaking lanes of motorways to the suburban roads of any built-up area. Testing them on a vast racetrack would be fun for the drivers but wouldn’t be terribly helpful at seeing what they’d be like for heading into town on a Friday night.

So we took them to a racetrack, a small one called Blyton Park in Lincolnshire, which at least in part simulates what a road is like without distractions like blue flashing lights in the mirror and a Stinger on the road ahead.

Three manufacturers, and about 600bhp spread evenly between them. Given that both Renault and Ford have serious heritage and success in making cars fast for the track, we weren’t necessarily expecting too much from the other French car. So it was quite a surprise to discover that the DS3 Performance was actually the quickest car round the track.

It’s not only fast, it’s also a lot of fun. You can chuck it about with abandon, lifting a rear wheel here, pushing the fronts hard there. There’s a lot of traction and, crucially, a lot of communication too, a delightful combination that meant a lap time just a tenth of a second faster than the Renault.

The Clio has a touch more horsepower but wasn’t quite as adept at getting it to the ground. The chassis is tremendous, taut and responsive but, with that little bit less communication and feedback, that extra power couldn’t be used to the last degree.

Which leaves the less powerful Ford Fiesta ST200 trailing in third. Another half a second off the Clio, the Ford ought to be written off as a loser here. And if you start chuntering on about how it sounds the best and is so agile and is the most fun, then maybe you sound like you’re grasping at straws.

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