2022 hot hatchback battle: the final

Right now, this puts Hyundai’s i30 N in an unlikely position. We’d take it over any of the cars in its own group, of that there’s no doubt. And having driven them all extensively, I’d easily have it over a new Golf R and pocket the change. The VW is sterile; the Hyundai is a warm character, engaged, unapologetic in being a hot hatch, yet able to do the day-to-day as well. Over an A45? Yes, I’d take it over that too. Driver involvement always trumps outright pace in my book, and while many might laugh, I’d rather the N’s wholesome motorsport-bred image than the AMG’s bad boy slickness. So if I needed a decently sized hot hatch, not a minnow, right now, and whether this victory is by default or otherwise, the winner appears to be the Hyundai i30 N.

You may still be a Ford person and rightly so, or you may only have eyes for the Toyota GR Yaris and love everything it encapsulates about a manufacturer that refused to adopt the tired excuses of other car companies, made a car through passion, and has been reaping the benefit of sales and brand kudos ever since. But what can’t be denied is the presence of that peculiar shade of pale blue at the top of our 2021 hot hatch contest, because this is the year that Hyundai’s N brand truly has come of age.

> 2022 hot hatchback battle: the middleweights

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Keywaylock
08/05/2022
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