Looking for a new hatchback that’s both nippy and fun, but you don’t have the budget to indulge on a hot hatch? Well you’re not necessarily out of options.
In today’s market there are several ‘warm’ hatchbacks available, both big and small, which can offer decent practicality and lots of driving entertainment. Here’s our rundown of the five best warm hatchbacks you can buy new today.
What is a ‘warm’ hatch?
The term ‘warm’ hatch is not an official term and is not as popularly used as the term ‘hot hatch’, which identifies high-performance derivatives of three or five-door hatchbacks.
So what do we actually mean when we call a car a warm hatch? Basically, the term can be used for a car which has sporty styling touches similar to a hot hatch and stands out compared to other, less powerful derivatives in the range.
Warm hatches do not have as much power output as a true hot hatch and are inevitably not as quick either, but they’ve still been given a performance boost to some extent. This, again, makes them stand out to next to the more ‘normal’ specifications.
Warm hatches also tend to have a driving set-up which won’t be as sharp or sporty as a hot hatch, but more comfortable in comparison and still more engaging than the more everyday hatches around.
Therefore, warm hatches fill in a gap between the regular models in a hatchback’s range and the range-topping hot hatch derivative (assuming at least one currently exists).
What’s great, therefore, about warm hatches is that they can serve a welcome compromise. They offer sporty and fun drives plus cool styling but the cost of purchase and insurance will be considerably less than full-blooded hot hatches. Below, we take a closer look at the best warm hatches money can buy right now.
Our top 5 warm hatches
Ford Fiesta Red/Black Edition
Ford has a great track record when it comes to making small and fun hatchbacks and the latest Fiesta range includes the highly-rated, hugely entertaining ST hot hatch with an 180bhp 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine.
It’s easy to be allured by the prospect of owning a fast Ford hatch appeals many, but what if the Fiesta ST is beyond your budget? Well there is a good solution. Below the ST, the Fiesta range nowadays includes two special edition models – called the Fiesta Red Edition and the Fiesta Black Edition.
Priced from just below £17k, both are based on the Zetec S trim but they come in a unique paint scheme, with contrasting colours for the wing mirrors, grille surround and roof. There are also some neat sporty styling features such as side skirts, a black hexagonal grille mesh and rear roof spoiler. Like the ST, the Red and Black Editions look more aggressive than your everyday Fiesta and they’re more powerful too.
These special edition Fiestas use a 1.0-litre three-cylinder EcoBoost turbocharged petrol engine. It’s an incredibly small engine, and it can’t quite match the ST’s performance but Ford has nonetheless done a brilliant job of extracting 138bhp from this multi-award-winning engine.
With a 0-62mph sprint time of nine seconds, the Fiesta Red and Black have the speed to match their sporty style. Even better, the well-engineered turbocharger ensures smooth power delivery and the specially-tuned sports suspension and revised steering results in a precise and engaging drive that can easily put a smile on the driver’s face.
Read our launch report of the Ford Fiesta Red Edition
Find prices for the Ford Fiesta hatchback
Suzuki Swift Sport
The range-topping model in the Suzuki Swift supermini range, the Sport doesn’t quite have the power or speed to be widely recognised as a true hot hatch. However, the decent petrol engine and short gear shifts mean it still feels like a proper nippy experience when you drive it.
Under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre petrol engine with 134bhp, linked to a six-speed manual gearbox, leading to a 0-62mph sprint time of 8.7 seconds. The Swift Sport’s set-up welcomes an enthusiastic approach to driving. There’s vast amounts of grip through the corners and little body roll is noticeable too.
The steering feels nicely weighted and, while you can get some understeer, this in a way is a blessing as it’ll discourage you from pushing the Swift past its limit.
Available in three and five-door guises, the Suzuki Swift Sport starts from only about £14,000. There’s barely anything else in the hatchback market which can match this car’s level of sportiness for that sort of price.
Read our full review of the Suzuki Swift Sport
Find prices for the Suzuki Swift hatchback
Hyundai i30 Turbo
Available with three or five-doors and priced from just over £22,500, the i30 Turbo is a sizeable hatchback with all the appealing practicality of regular versions of the Hyundai.
Stylish updates like the 18-inch alloy wheels, sports bodykit and twin exhausts look good and there’s lots of standard luxury kit. The likes of touchscreen sat-nav, Bluetooth, dual zone climate control and a reversing parking camera are all included.
Moving the i30 Turbo along is a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine which previously featured in the now defunct Hyundai Veloster Turbo. It feels punchy, boasting 184bhp in total, and the six-speed manual gearbox is slick too.
Though it never feels hugely fast, the i30 turbo offers good grip levels that give you the confidence to carry speed through the corners. All in all the i30 Turbo does a decent job of delivering appealing performance without sacrificing comfort.
Read our full review of the Hyundai i30
Find prices for the Hyundai i30 hatchback
Ford Focus Red/Black Edition
The Ford Focus nowadays offers the appealing ST hot hatch, as well as the even hotter RS model.
Below that there’s mostly the more sensible Focus offerings which family motorists will be interested in. If a sporty Focus sounds good though, but you can only wish you had the money for a ST or RS, then take a look at the Red and Black special editions.
Similar to the Fiesta special editions mentioned above, theses Focus models offer a unique paint scheme and a cool-looking sporty body kit. Whether you go for the Red Edition or the Black, these special edition Focus cars really stand out and have their own unique look even when compared to the ST and RS.
There are two engines to pick, a 2.0-litre diesel with 148bhp and a 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrol with a tasty output of 180bhp. The EcoBoost version has the more eye-catching 0-62mph sprint time, which is set at 8.6 seconds.
The Focus Red and Black Editions are only slightly cheaper than the Focus ST-1, but they’re still worth keeping in mind if you want a sporty yet practical hatchback that also delivers appealing practicality and efficiency.
Find prices for the Ford Focus hatchback
Kia pro_cee’d GT
This three-door hatchback is the most potent in the pro_cee’d range. Though it doesn’t manage to reach the levels of hot hatch territory, the warm pro_cee’d GT still looks the part and it’s still both nippy and easy to drive.
Priced from just over £23,000, the Kia pro_cee’d GT is driven by a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine that delivers a decent output of 201bhp. Able to sprint from zero to 62mph in just over seven seconds, the pro_cee’d GT is no slouch and it grips well through the corners. There’s also a decent quality electric sound generator onboard which, using the onboard speakers, can make the car sound sportier than it would ordinarily.
The pro_cee’d GT is also generously equipped and reasonably spacious too, but if you want more practicality than consider the five-door Cee’d GT which is also available from just under £24k.