Sorting out the N from the boys

Which pocket rocket’s got the right stuff? Join us on the launch pad as we fire up the Hyundai i20 N and its Fiesta ST rival

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NEW

Hyundai i20 N 1.6 T-GDi 204

List price £24,995 Target Price £23,888

Hyundai’s first small hot hatch is here to test the mettle of the established ST, squaring up to it on power, performance and price

Ford Fiesta ST 1.5

Ecoboost 200 ST-3 3dr List price £24,580 Target Price £23,670 Our favourite value hot hatchback is a hoot to drive, thanks to its pokey 197bhp engine and agile handling

HYUNDAI DIDN’T really do ‘fast’ and ‘exciting’ until a few years ago. And that was just fine, because the world needed practical, well-equipped and dependable cars. It still does, for the record.

But not everyone wants ‘sensible’. Hyundai decided there was room for a little hedonism in its range and, in 2016, created Hyundai N, a subdivision tasked with adding motorsport-style zing to some of its models. First was the acclaimed i30 N hot hatchback that took on potent, family-sized rivals, such as the Ford Focus ST and Honda Civic Type R.

Now the i30 N has a smaller sibling, the Ford Fiesta ST-rivalling i20 N, which slips into the cheaper end of the hot hatch market. So, what better car to test it against than the ST itself? After all, earlier this year we named it our best hot hatchback for value.

Over and above the regular Fiesta and i20, these two add sports-tuned suspension, beefed-up brakes, a limited-slip differential, turbocharged power that peaks at around 200bhp, and racier styling inside and out. If you’re a fan of simplicity and purity, you’ll like that they both have old-school six-speed manual gearboxes too.