The competition for hot hatches in Europe is getting intense, and some compete with sports cars. For a while, the VW Golf Gti was the king, but now the Honda Civic Type Rcompetes head-on.

Now along comes the latest version of the MINI with over 200 bhp! Also, there is Ford’s Focus RS, with 300 bhp, the most powerful front-drive hatchback out there. The question is whether the car will get that power onto the |road. Ford is counting on a Quaife torque-sensing differential, and the ESP set up to give plenty of fun-proving oversteer. Should out-perform the Honda Civic Type R hot hatch

Four-wheel drive was obviously a better solution but Ford did not want to spend that much money – they want the kudos without that much cost and trouble – not surprising Ford’s financial plight.

Maybe the days of sports cars and less well-known supercars is over for a time as people – even well-heeled people – find it necessary to spend less. Therefore, the future of the hot hatch looks bright.

MINI John Cooper Works to compete with the Honda Civic Type R

The MINI John Cooper Works might be more fun than the Focus RS, because it is that much smaller – and it is almost as quick. With 211 bhp, the hot new MINI really raises the bar for small high-performance hatches. Fiat-Abarth does produce a really small hot hatch as well, but it will have to go some to catch this fireball, which can reach 60 mph in 6.5 seconds.

Even the MINI Cooper S hot hatch is pretty quick, the MINI John Cooper Works get a bigger turbocharger, revised intake system, a free-flow exhaust and improved engine internals.

Like most new BMW engines, this one has plenty of low-speed torque, pushing out 191 lb ft (260Nm) at just 1,850rpm. There is an over-boost function which briefly extends this further to 206 lb ft (280Nm) for overtaking. This is a lot of torque for such a small engine. No doubt this will be very quick – and still a good town car.

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