The Great Hot Hatch Debate: Ford Fiesta vs Mazda3

In the world of hot hatches, there's one car that stands out from the rest - the Ford Fiesta. But is it the best? Can it truly compete with its rival, the Mazda3? We put both cars to the test to find out.

One of the main advantages of the Ford Fiesta is its sense of Purity and Perfection. It's a car that's designed to be used and abused, and it shows in its ruggedness and ability to take a beating. The Fiesta is like a workhorse, reliable and dependable, but it's also a bit rough around the edges. That's what makes it so charming - it's not trying to be something it's not.

On the other hand, the Mazda3 is more refined and sophisticated. It's a car that's designed for precision and agility, with a focus on handling and performance. But when you compare the two cars, especially in terms of fun factor, the Fiesta comes out on top. The Fiesta is like a wild child - it's unpredictable and exciting to drive, while the Mazda3 is more like a seasoned pro.

"I think the Fiesta is just about the greatest hot hatch out there at the moment," says our editor. "It's not perfect, but it doesn't care - it's a compromise, but that's what makes it brilliant." The key to the Fiesta's success is its ability to be used and abused, without being too refined or polished. It's a car that can handle anything you throw at it, from tight city streets to winding country roads.

But how does it compare to its rival, the Mazda3? "You know what, I think the Mazda3 is almost as fun," says our editor. "It's got some of the same qualities as the Fiesta - it's reliable and dependable - but it's also more refined and sophisticated." The Mazda3 has a reputation for being one of the best-handling cars on the market, and it lives up to that reputation.

One area where the Mazda3 trumps the Ford Fiesta is in terms of raw power. While the Fiesta may be more fun to drive, the Mazda3 has some serious horses under its bonnet. With an impressive 200 horsepower available, the Mazda3 is quick and responsive on the road. The Fiesta, on the other hand, maxes out at around 150 horsepower.

But when it comes down to it, the Ford Fiesta may be the more fun car - especially if you're looking for a car that can handle a variety of driving situations. The Fiesta is like a jack-of-all-trades, able to handle everything from tight city streets to long road trips with ease. It's also surprisingly good on fuel, making it a great choice for those who are looking for a reliable and affordable hot hatch.

In the end, it comes down to personal preference - do you want a car that's refined and sophisticated, or one that's rugged and unpredictable? The Ford Fiesta may not be perfect, but it's definitely one of the most fun cars on the market. And with its impressive list of features and amenities, it's a great choice for anyone looking for a reliable and affordable hot hatch.

But what about the price? The Ford Fiesta is available for just £22,000, while the Mazda3 starts at around £20,000. In terms of value for money, the Fiesta may be slightly ahead of its rival - but that's not to say that the Mazda3 doesn't offer great value. With a range of engine options and trim levels to choose from, there's something to suit every budget.

Ultimately, the decision comes down to which car you want to drive most often. If you're looking for a car that can handle everything you throw at it, and still manage to deliver a fun driving experience, the Ford Fiesta may be the better choice. But if you want a refined and sophisticated hot hatch with a reputation for being one of the best-handling cars on the market, the Mazda3 is worth considering.

So what's it going to be? Will you choose the rugged and unpredictable Ford Fiesta, or the refined and sophisticated Mazda3? Either way, you can't go wrong - both cars are sure to deliver an exciting driving experience.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhow much fun can you have 425,000 M Lots here's the deal then we're going to take our five favorite new cars that cost less than 25 Grand and Pitch them against each other on track and on the road to see which is the most fun the contenders are the Ford Fiesta st200 the fat 124 Spider the Mazda MX5 seen here in sport raro edition Renault Cleo RS 220 Trophy and the DS not citon DS3 performance who would have thought 10 years ago that Mazda would be making a version of its beloved MX5 for Fiat cuz that's what's happened and we're following it this is a 1.4 turbo fat 124 it's got about 40 brake quite a lot of talk though about 170 lb foot the car behind me is an MX5 and that has got 160 braake but it weighs a little bit less than this actually aspirated and that's on the fancy Bill Stein damper pack and stuff like that so should be looking at a more poised car he's got a bit more talk you know he might be slightly faster out of the slower Corners I should catch him up down the straight that sort of thing one thing certain they will both roll around and move around quite a lot because they're fairly softly sprung sports cars and I have to say I do like the idea of a nice Soft Mobile sports car always have cuz it's fun isn't it Rio mat you ready do your worst prior first of all I can tell you straight away there's quite a lot of dive under breing this engine revs out to nearly 7ish th000 but being a turbo and only having 12200 mil or so on it so far does feel a little bit wheey towards the top end I think it's a fundamentally well balanced car just got to be very smooth with all of the inputs so that it doesn't just end up rocking all over the place I'm actually giving him a bit of a head start but I don't think we need to worry too much about that cuz I'm catching up already hard on the brakes engine up front rear wheel drive yeah you can have a lot of fun in these cars that is for sure it's really um quite a loose drive it's quite a it's not a really Tau precise sort of car you've just got to ease it in I just kind of wait for it to do what it wants to do he doing very well old PRI we'll soon sort that out I think that we're both both clearly having a bit of a giggle but this is doing it with less finesse less Poise it's not without its fun but it just doesn't have that last degree of chassis sophistication that I think the Mazda does it just hasn't got the The Urge in a straight line and I suspect it doesn't have the Finesse in the corners either there is nowhere it's pulling out anything over the MX5 so in the end the 124 Spider posted a lap time of 11 19.6 2 and 1/2 seconds slower than the MX5 is 117.1 if you want to see a full stack comparison of the two cars then pause your video now but the MX5 didn't just beat the 124 in the numbers the long slides tighter engine response and handling balance also left a much bigger smile on the other Matthews face talking of Matthews we needed someone else to drive the third hot hatch who better and piston head's very own map bird and we want to know two things about these broadly similar cars behind us the first one is Maps which fastest and the second one is which is which is most let's find out right so sords is on it already in his DS3 can I oh look at it lift a wheel can I keep him in view in uh the fiesta which is there or thereabouts on Power and has a chassis as we know to die for a magnificent front-wheel drive chassis that you can just oh it's so tweakable and adjustable sers how much power do you have think this one's got 25 mate and of course apparently a slippy diff Okie doie and bird you've got you did as well I think and 220 round yeah 217 breake horsepower I wasn't sure about the diff I didn't think it did no is it one of those electronic ones instead uh given the amount of wheel spin I just got out of there yeah I would don't think it's a proper one he is slightly get away from me be a bit bansai under the brakes to keep him in in sight I'm getting a lot of ESP intrusion here I could do with switching that off if only I could find the the switch for it here it is I think doesn't seem to want to turn off certainly fast can you feel the diff working yeah I think you can just about it's not too aggressive a diff so you're not getting loads and loads of line tightening on a trailing throttle or loads and loads of grabbing at the front end so of when you stand back and have a think about the car's handling overall it's actually pretty good nice and balanced chable yeah I like it now although the Cleo's running around at the back of the group here it's really really close in terms of fun the 220 trophy has made the rather ordinary Cleo 200 into a much more exciting hot hatch it's more agile it makes better noise it's quite frankly a lot more fun than it was even if my face doesn't especially show it does put down the power well oh no he's open up the Gap this has a nice snicky sixspeed box oh Christ out Breakers makes a great noise doesn't it makes a proper fast forward fast small forward four-cylinder noise you know lots of exhaust and it does feel like it will do this for a long time it feels like it it'll lap for a long time without wearing out the bits that are on it not sure if I've got the grunt to leave the other two behind I seem to be keeping up all right and you can't just sort of nail the throttle as soon as you pass the Apex and not worry about the under steer cuz it it hasn't got quite that much lateral grip but I think I'd be having more fun if I could turn the ESP off now while some of the gear ratios didn't entirely suit Bon's layout I still don't appear to have a smile on my face the Cleo felt far more like a traditional Renault sport product on track and that is most definitely a good thing get into a rhythm with it and the paddles in particular give it a real Tor and car vibe in fact a a chall a little too much btcc driver in trying to K with the other two sorry Rena large slide from the Cleo behind who is who is fighting to keep up aha now I just got a slightly better l through there so I've clawed a bit as no you could really just have view these little cars you know drive right up to their limits and the DS is pulling away and the Cleo I am not making any inrs into at all but what a giggle what a proper proper giggle once again hit pause now if You' like a full stat comparison of the hot Hatchet in terms of lap time surprisingly it was the DS which is quickest followed by the Cleo followed by by the fiesta but that doesn't mean the fastest was the most fun does it matter no it doesn't matter M no I think we're all broadly agreed that the fiesta is probably the most fun car here followed by the DS not by as much as you think actually followed by the Cleo a fair margin behind the Cleo chass is brilliant isn't it it's just gearbox is such a barrier to the fun that overall it's not all that much fun is it no no and the Festa is fter wins right I think I am convinced that this is the best of the two roaster and I think we're both convinced out this is the nicest of the three hatchbacks I'm prepared to make a case that this is more fun than that but that's the wrong argument mate because this is more fun than that more of the time when it really matters okay well I'm prepared to have an argument about that let's do it so I put it to you sers that this is the best car cuz it doesn't have to do anything else it just has to be a sports car so it weighs only a ton we are quite snug but it's light it's agile it's correct wheel drive it's got a Revy engine that revs all the way through to nearly 7even it's got a great gearbox you've seen the way it handles you've experienced the way it handles you know and you can turn it in it's really Lively really agile you get back on the P got just enough power if you get it sliding that you can hold it for a while in a second why is this not the best car to drive under 25 Grand because we don't spend our life driving these cars on tracks like we did yesterday you know we we spend our lives driving them to the to the corner shop to buy a newspaper or to the supermarket or taking the kids to school and for that reason the fiesta is more exciting because you can use it more and because it does more on those occasions to bring a smile to your face with this you sort of have to really ring its neck to to make it feel like it's being exciting because it's got this sense of Purity and Perfection to it which is lovely but somehow it's kind of are you are you criticizing it for having a sense of Purity and Perfection absolutely absolutely the great thing about hot hatch is it that it isn't perfect but it sort of doesn't care you know it's it's there to be used and abused and ragged and it is a compromise but that's also what's brilliant about it and I think the fiesta is just about the greatest hot hatch out there at the moment to you're totally right of course you are but is this more fun is this more fun ultimately is this more fun if you view it on a one hit basis as in you know what is more fun in a perfect world on a perfect Drive in a perfect circumstances maybe if you counted up all the occasions you used it over a year and you averaged out how much it contributed to your fund factor and your entertainment over that year I think a f still would absolutely destroy it all right well let well I let's go and drive the Ford and find out I suppose and you can put the case to me from behind the wheel and I'll sit there marveling at its front-wheel drive nothingness you'll be surprised that's AIT I think you'll be very very pleasantly surprised all right right Mr Prime yeah welcome to the best car here clearly it's one a ride it's run wheel drive there are three seats in the back I mean it's it's a shopping C it's a hatchback it's a hatchback that's exactly the point because it's a proper car it's a usable car it's a real world car it gives you you know just as much fun if not more than than the Mazda on on more occasions well when would when would it give you more fun than the Mazda other than the fact that you're driving it and you might not be able to drive a master because you might have I don't know well that's exactly you use it more often so it may give you you know we can argue about how much how much your fun receptors are tickled by each of the particular cars but yeah you can sort of Chuck it about a bit and a wheel and yeah you know you can have you can have sort of liftoff fun in it that's almost almost as as as giggle worthy as as the sort of over steer that you might get in the Mazda and it's also you know all right this one's 22 Grand but this isn't the one you'd have is it we all know that you you'd spend you know you'd spend 18 Grand on one and you'd have a mountune kit and you'd end up with a 200 horsepower car that would be considerably faster than a Mazda on most give and take roads oh it is it faster than yeah easily I suppose it actually is on circuit as well is now I think actually um all right so you can take one of these cars away now but you've also got an old Ford Mondo wagon as backup which do you have you have the ma again don't you you might have the ma you can only have one car if you can only have one car and actually suppose at 20 grand there is a chance you probably one car on you you probably only having one actually I am going to agree with you I think it does win it is almost as much fun actually but it is but it does that within a package that also does quite a lot more and it's for Grand cheap I'm not sure I'm agreeing with you for quite the same reasons but you know the amount of fun you can have a car is directly related to often you can use it and you can just use one more often than you can of sports car that's why they've enjoyed like they have yeah all right fair enough granted agreed rubber stamp winner so there we are the wins it's the best hot hatch here by a factor of two or three huran and because it does more for you on every journey and because you can use it more often than than any sort of two- seat sports car really I think it is the most fun you can have a 25 Grand yeah I mean not even reluctantly even though I was going to Champion the Mazda uh I agree with you there is no more fun available in any other car for less than £25,000 than in a Ford Fiesta SD for more videos like this hit subscribe and to read the full feature head over to autocar.co.ukhow much fun can you have 425,000 M Lots here's the deal then we're going to take our five favorite new cars that cost less than 25 Grand and Pitch them against each other on track and on the road to see which is the most fun the contenders are the Ford Fiesta st200 the fat 124 Spider the Mazda MX5 seen here in sport raro edition Renault Cleo RS 220 Trophy and the DS not citon DS3 performance who would have thought 10 years ago that Mazda would be making a version of its beloved MX5 for Fiat cuz that's what's happened and we're following it this is a 1.4 turbo fat 124 it's got about 40 brake quite a lot of talk though about 170 lb foot the car behind me is an MX5 and that has got 160 braake but it weighs a little bit less than this actually aspirated and that's on the fancy Bill Stein damper pack and stuff like that so should be looking at a more poised car he's got a bit more talk you know he might be slightly faster out of the slower Corners I should catch him up down the straight that sort of thing one thing certain they will both roll around and move around quite a lot because they're fairly softly sprung sports cars and I have to say I do like the idea of a nice Soft Mobile sports car always have cuz it's fun isn't it Rio mat you ready do your worst prior first of all I can tell you straight away there's quite a lot of dive under breing this engine revs out to nearly 7ish th000 but being a turbo and only having 12200 mil or so on it so far does feel a little bit wheey towards the top end I think it's a fundamentally well balanced car just got to be very smooth with all of the inputs so that it doesn't just end up rocking all over the place I'm actually giving him a bit of a head start but I don't think we need to worry too much about that cuz I'm catching up already hard on the brakes engine up front rear wheel drive yeah you can have a lot of fun in these cars that is for sure it's really um quite a loose drive it's quite a it's not a really Tau precise sort of car you've just got to ease it in I just kind of wait for it to do what it wants to do he doing very well old PRI we'll soon sort that out I think that we're both both clearly having a bit of a giggle but this is doing it with less finesse less Poise it's not without its fun but it just doesn't have that last degree of chassis sophistication that I think the Mazda does it just hasn't got the The Urge in a straight line and I suspect it doesn't have the Finesse in the corners either there is nowhere it's pulling out anything over the MX5 so in the end the 124 Spider posted a lap time of 11 19.6 2 and 1/2 seconds slower than the MX5 is 117.1 if you want to see a full stack comparison of the two cars then pause your video now but the MX5 didn't just beat the 124 in the numbers the long slides tighter engine response and handling balance also left a much bigger smile on the other Matthews face talking of Matthews we needed someone else to drive the third hot hatch who better and piston head's very own map bird and we want to know two things about these broadly similar cars behind us the first one is Maps which fastest and the second one is which is which is most let's find out right so sords is on it already in his DS3 can I oh look at it lift a wheel can I keep him in view in uh the fiesta which is there or thereabouts on Power and has a chassis as we know to die for a magnificent front-wheel drive chassis that you can just oh it's so tweakable and adjustable sers how much power do you have think this one's got 25 mate and of course apparently a slippy diff Okie doie and bird you've got you did as well I think and 220 round yeah 217 breake horsepower I wasn't sure about the diff I didn't think it did no is it one of those electronic ones instead uh given the amount of wheel spin I just got out of there yeah I would don't think it's a proper one he is slightly get away from me be a bit bansai under the brakes to keep him in in sight I'm getting a lot of ESP intrusion here I could do with switching that off if only I could find the the switch for it here it is I think doesn't seem to want to turn off certainly fast can you feel the diff working yeah I think you can just about it's not too aggressive a diff so you're not getting loads and loads of line tightening on a trailing throttle or loads and loads of grabbing at the front end so of when you stand back and have a think about the car's handling overall it's actually pretty good nice and balanced chable yeah I like it now although the Cleo's running around at the back of the group here it's really really close in terms of fun the 220 trophy has made the rather ordinary Cleo 200 into a much more exciting hot hatch it's more agile it makes better noise it's quite frankly a lot more fun than it was even if my face doesn't especially show it does put down the power well oh no he's open up the Gap this has a nice snicky sixspeed box oh Christ out Breakers makes a great noise doesn't it makes a proper fast forward fast small forward four-cylinder noise you know lots of exhaust and it does feel like it will do this for a long time it feels like it it'll lap for a long time without wearing out the bits that are on it not sure if I've got the grunt to leave the other two behind I seem to be keeping up all right and you can't just sort of nail the throttle as soon as you pass the Apex and not worry about the under steer cuz it it hasn't got quite that much lateral grip but I think I'd be having more fun if I could turn the ESP off now while some of the gear ratios didn't entirely suit Bon's layout I still don't appear to have a smile on my face the Cleo felt far more like a traditional Renault sport product on track and that is most definitely a good thing get into a rhythm with it and the paddles in particular give it a real Tor and car vibe in fact a a chall a little too much btcc driver in trying to K with the other two sorry Rena large slide from the Cleo behind who is who is fighting to keep up aha now I just got a slightly better l through there so I've clawed a bit as no you could really just have view these little cars you know drive right up to their limits and the DS is pulling away and the Cleo I am not making any inrs into at all but what a giggle what a proper proper giggle once again hit pause now if You' like a full stat comparison of the hot Hatchet in terms of lap time surprisingly it was the DS which is quickest followed by the Cleo followed by by the fiesta but that doesn't mean the fastest was the most fun does it matter no it doesn't matter M no I think we're all broadly agreed that the fiesta is probably the most fun car here followed by the DS not by as much as you think actually followed by the Cleo a fair margin behind the Cleo chass is brilliant isn't it it's just gearbox is such a barrier to the fun that overall it's not all that much fun is it no no and the Festa is fter wins right I think I am convinced that this is the best of the two roaster and I think we're both convinced out this is the nicest of the three hatchbacks I'm prepared to make a case that this is more fun than that but that's the wrong argument mate because this is more fun than that more of the time when it really matters okay well I'm prepared to have an argument about that let's do it so I put it to you sers that this is the best car cuz it doesn't have to do anything else it just has to be a sports car so it weighs only a ton we are quite snug but it's light it's agile it's correct wheel drive it's got a Revy engine that revs all the way through to nearly 7even it's got a great gearbox you've seen the way it handles you've experienced the way it handles you know and you can turn it in it's really Lively really agile you get back on the P got just enough power if you get it sliding that you can hold it for a while in a second why is this not the best car to drive under 25 Grand because we don't spend our life driving these cars on tracks like we did yesterday you know we we spend our lives driving them to the to the corner shop to buy a newspaper or to the supermarket or taking the kids to school and for that reason the fiesta is more exciting because you can use it more and because it does more on those occasions to bring a smile to your face with this you sort of have to really ring its neck to to make it feel like it's being exciting because it's got this sense of Purity and Perfection to it which is lovely but somehow it's kind of are you are you criticizing it for having a sense of Purity and Perfection absolutely absolutely the great thing about hot hatch is it that it isn't perfect but it sort of doesn't care you know it's it's there to be used and abused and ragged and it is a compromise but that's also what's brilliant about it and I think the fiesta is just about the greatest hot hatch out there at the moment to you're totally right of course you are but is this more fun is this more fun ultimately is this more fun if you view it on a one hit basis as in you know what is more fun in a perfect world on a perfect Drive in a perfect circumstances maybe if you counted up all the occasions you used it over a year and you averaged out how much it contributed to your fund factor and your entertainment over that year I think a f still would absolutely destroy it all right well let well I let's go and drive the Ford and find out I suppose and you can put the case to me from behind the wheel and I'll sit there marveling at its front-wheel drive nothingness you'll be surprised that's AIT I think you'll be very very pleasantly surprised all right right Mr Prime yeah welcome to the best car here clearly it's one a ride it's run wheel drive there are three seats in the back I mean it's it's a shopping C it's a hatchback it's a hatchback that's exactly the point because it's a proper car it's a usable car it's a real world car it gives you you know just as much fun if not more than than the Mazda on on more occasions well when would when would it give you more fun than the Mazda other than the fact that you're driving it and you might not be able to drive a master because you might have I don't know well that's exactly you use it more often so it may give you you know we can argue about how much how much your fun receptors are tickled by each of the particular cars but yeah you can sort of Chuck it about a bit and a wheel and yeah you know you can have you can have sort of liftoff fun in it that's almost almost as as as giggle worthy as as the sort of over steer that you might get in the Mazda and it's also you know all right this one's 22 Grand but this isn't the one you'd have is it we all know that you you'd spend you know you'd spend 18 Grand on one and you'd have a mountune kit and you'd end up with a 200 horsepower car that would be considerably faster than a Mazda on most give and take roads oh it is it faster than yeah easily I suppose it actually is on circuit as well is now I think actually um all right so you can take one of these cars away now but you've also got an old Ford Mondo wagon as backup which do you have you have the ma again don't you you might have the ma you can only have one car if you can only have one car and actually suppose at 20 grand there is a chance you probably one car on you you probably only having one actually I am going to agree with you I think it does win it is almost as much fun actually but it is but it does that within a package that also does quite a lot more and it's for Grand cheap I'm not sure I'm agreeing with you for quite the same reasons but you know the amount of fun you can have a car is directly related to often you can use it and you can just use one more often than you can of sports car that's why they've enjoyed like they have yeah all right fair enough granted agreed rubber stamp winner so there we are the wins it's the best hot hatch here by a factor of two or three huran and because it does more for you on every journey and because you can use it more often than than any sort of two- seat sports car really I think it is the most fun you can have a 25 Grand yeah I mean not even reluctantly even though I was going to Champion the Mazda uh I agree with you there is no more fun available in any other car for less than £25,000 than in a Ford Fiesta SD for more videos like this hit subscribe and to read the full feature head over to autocar.co.uk\n"