If you’re looking for fun and practicality in a small car body, then it’s impossible to ignore these two little brutes.
When we think about hot hatches most of us will likely conjure up an image of the Volkswagen Golf GTI, but what if you want something a little smaller than that? Well, you could go for something like the Hyundai Veloster, but if you’re after something slightly bonkers for beer money in a pocket-sized package you really can’t go past either the Ford Fiesta ST or the VW Polo GTI.
Both of these cars are their respective brand’s most powerful small cars ever. Tick. But, besides the power, the thing I like most about these two little nutters is that they are both very similar in size to the very first Golf GTI, which many consider to be the Godfather of the hot hatch movement, indeed their wheelbases are almost identical to that car’s 2400mm; Polo GTI measures 2472mm and the Fiesta ST measures 2489mm.
What I’m saying is that you can ignore these car’s bigger brothers if you want that ‘real’ hot hatch feel, because it’s the Polo GTI and Fiesta ST that are the true spiritual successors to those original hot hatches. Moving on.
Volkswagen Polo GTI
Compared to the rest of the Volkswagen Polo range (1.2L four-cylinder), the GTI runs a bigger 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 141kW between 141kW between 4300-6200rpm (in manual form) and 5400-6200rpm in DSG form. There’s 250Nm of torque on offer between 1250-5300rpm, while the manual offers more grunt with 320Nm between 1450-4200rpm. Fuel consumption is 6.1L/100km for the manual and 5.7L/100km for the DSG and the 0-100km/h times are identical.
The Polo GTI, in addition to the engine, has copped a raft of technical changes, including sports suspension which sees the thing sit 10mm lower at the front and 15mm lower at the back than the garden-variety Polo. The sports suspension is basically stiffer shocks and tweaked damper action. And compared with its limp-wristed predecessor, this current Polo GTI runs wider 7.5 inch wheels (the old model ran 7.0-inch wheels).
In all, these changes make the Polo GTI feel like a more competent performance vehicle and nothing like the tarted up Polo its predecessor was.
From a design point of view, the Polo GTI looks like a mini Golf GTI and while it doesn’t look quite as aggressive as the Fiesta ST, it certainly looks more premium. Climb inside and the Polo GTI gets the familiar Clark pattern tartan, body-hugging sports seats and a tweaked instrument cluster. In typical VW fashion, the dashboard design is clean and easy to use and the materials used and the fit and finish are first rate.
The back seats will hold adults comfortably for shorter journeys although you’ll be restricted to carrying just two of them as the middle back seat is a perch only. Child seats fit easily into the back, and the boot offers 204 litres of storage space with the back seats in place and 882 litres with them folded down.
The steering is good, offering the right blend of weight through the wheel with precision and it feels meaty in the hands, too. The brakes too are nice and solid, although the pedal takes some getting used to such is the on-off nature of the pedal.
Off the line the Polo GTI is quick but not explosively so like the Fiesta ST, but it does accumulate speed quickly and reel in the horizon when you keep your foot buried, indeed, there’s barely any let up in acceleration and the legal limit will flash up before this thing runs out of puff.
The Polo GTI feels more sure-footed more of the time than its competitors in the segment with a seemingly never ending supply of grip (you can’t turn traction control off, but don’t worry you’ll likely never even feel it intervene – there’s that much grip), and the more grunt on offer means this is a car with proper depth, and one that you’ll never tire of driving.
4 STARS
Ford Fiesta ST
The Fiesta ST runs a slightly smaller engine than the Polo GTI, but it line-balls it for grunt. The 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine produces 134kW and 240Nm of torque from 1600-5000rpm). Because the the torque curve from 1600 through to 5000rpm is flat, which means little in the way of turbo lag and no light switch-style jump when the turbo comes on boost.
The engine is excellent. It offers a nice and progressive pouring on of power from idle through to redline. Give the throttle a prod in a lower gear and it’ll gently push you back into the seat as it surges forwards.
The six-speeder is a nice slick unit with just a touch of baulk if you try and rush it through the ratios. The brakes are solid too and with a nice progressive feel. The steering is tight and direct but never nervous or fussy across broken surfaces, and there’s a reassuring meatiness to its straight ahead feel on the highway.
The Fiesta ST runs a firmer suspension set-up than the Polo GTI, but it’s not so hard that it’ll rattle out your contact lenses. This is a car that works with and flatters the driver, rather than being a cantekerous old-school hot hatch that’ll spit you into the trees should you lift your foot a touch when you should have kept it flat.
The Fiesta ST sits 15mm lower than the standard Fiesta and offers a clever torque vectoring system that’s designed to dial out both understeer and torque steer, and it works. The Fiesta ST also gets some cosmetic fripperies to help set it apart from its milder siblings, like the honeycomb style grille, the bodykit with extended chin and skirt, as well as a large rear-mounted spoiler.
Move inside and it’s a little harder to tell you’re in something special. Well, sort of. The dashboard is straight out of the regular Fiesta and, to be honest, it’s my least favourite part of the car. The double deck layout and the small, fiddly buttons are tricky to use on the move and far too confusing.
The Recaro seats literally squeeze you in place and you appreciate just how grippy they are the first time you turn into a corner carrying a little more speed than you might normally… your bum stays where it should allowing you to get on with the job of steering and changing gear without also having to keep your backside from sliding across the seat.
The back seats aren’t as roomy as the Polo GTI and so taller adults won’t be particularly comfortable because of a lack of legroom, which is mainly due to the size of the front seats.
3.5 STARS
Verdict
Both of these cars are in my top 10 of favourite cars and for different reasons… and that makes giving one the win over the other hard, because I love them both for different reasons, but one must win. And that winner is the Polo GTI.
The reason for that is that it’s a more complete package and, in this day and age I think that’s what the majority of people want. They want a performance car that can be a grin-inducing hoot when you want it to be, but serious enough that you don’t look like its stepped out of the pages of Hot 4s magazine.
But, if I was looking for something just for the weekend, then I would go for the Fiesta ST. It offers plenty of grunt, grip and go that will allow you to have fun within the legal speed limits.
