Debate arose on the latest episode of Zooming with DRIVEN when Sam questioned whether the upcoming Cupra Born was really a hot hatch or not.
Cupra says it is, and Damien and David agree. Sam threw around claims that his BYD Atto 3 was just as fast as the more expensive Born, which - therefore - meant the Cupra wasn't a proper hot hatch. But what really is a hot hatch? Aren't they more about sharp handling than outright performance?
The rear-wheel drive (yes, really) Born packs 170kW and will scamper to 100km/h in around 7 seconds, which has generally been the performance benchmark for hot hatches - a current-gen Volkswagen Golf GTi has 180kW and will hit the speed limit around a second quicker - and it has really only been the rise of the seriously high-performance hatches like the Golf R, Mercedes-AMG A45 and Audi RS3 that has exceeded that. But then these cars have loosely formed a new segment; that of "hyper hatch".
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But then Sam ruins his argument by falling into that old trap: comparing one EV to another EV simply because they are EVs, which, as David points out, is like comparing a Chevrolet Silverado to a Toyota Corolla just because they are both petrol vehicles...
The matter remains unsettled, so why don't you vote in our poll below and let us know what YOU think?