What Is A Hot Hatch?

A hot hatch is a small compact car with a hatch back, literally. A hatch is defined by wikipedia as "Hatchback is a term designating an automobile design, containing a passenger cabin with an integrated cargo space, accessed from behind the vehicle by a single, top-hinged tailgate or large flip-up window." In my opinion a hot hatch is a hatchback that is not only capable of storing large items and being spacious enough for at least four passengers but does it all with a more than enjoyable ride and speed to be reckoned with. These types of cars all started out being quite affordable to most but with time the more extreme they got the more expensive they turned out to be. For example the Subaru Impreza WRX STI is a great hot hatch, it is spacious accommodating and is an amazing handler around the track and on the street with blistering speed, however this car is now in a not so affordable price range. A brand new model of the STI will cost in prices upwards of $35,000, this is opposed to the GTI which keeps its affordableness in the around $20,000 price range for a brand new version. Price not being considered, a few great examples of a hot hatch are the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, Ford Focus RS, Volkswagen GTI, Honda Civic Hatch, and Fiat 500 Abarth. These are only a few examples of hot hatches but they definitely do the job perfectly. These cars are known notoriously in the tuner world because of their ability to beat super cars when tuned and upgraded the right way. The hot hatch is not going anywhere, despite its goofy looks and lack of sportiness over coupes from the factory, I have the feeling that they aren't going anywhere for a very long time.