Finding the Best Brand New Hot Hatch for Less than 20,000 Pounds

Welcome back to Fifth Gear! Today, we're on the hunt for the best brand new hot hatch for less than 20,000 pounds. We've discovered that the Peugeot 208 GTI is the quickest in a straight line challenge, and now it's time to find out which of our three cars - the Renault Clio, Peugeot 208, and Ford Fiesta - best combines sports car performance with shopping cart convenience.

To put these cars to the test, we'll be running an auto test like no other. We'll start outside the car, just like you do in the mall run across jump in, and complete the test to see which one of our three cars will come out on top. This test will test for ease of access, good acceleration, and nifty handling. We've even enlisted a little help from a child who will have to get into the back seat and strap himself in while I take the car for a spin.

To make things even more interesting, we'll be completely disabling each car's traction control before our test drive. This is what most owners will do before a fun drive, and it will penalize cars with fiddly electronics first. With that said, let's get started! The Ford Fiesta ST sends the following numbers: five, six, three, two, one. Ah, get it? Get you? Get it? Mind your legs, man, your legs come on... One, two, three, four, five, psp, obviously. Five seconds, oh, oh, I've worn myself out doing all that. One minute and six seconds, zero, zero one, six point zero zero, one minute six seconds, point zero zero. It's like we're hanging on for dear life here! How's your headroom? Good headroom, nice chase, it's not bad... These headrests are getting in the way, wait, when I'm pulling G, quite good, quite nice, light steering, maneuverable. So, the Fiesta is easy to get into, and easy to deactivate traction control is reasonably spacious, with excellent handling.

Now, let's take a look at the Peugeot 208 GTI. With its ignition lit, the engine starts up, fantastic! It's like a clunk-click sound, it spins up the front wheel pretty easily... Oh, it's feeling good, can we not be crazy? And jump! One minute six point naught to beat the Fiesta. The Peugeot leaves the blocks three seconds quicker than the Fiesta and holds this advantage all the way around the course. This is impressive stuff.

Now, let's talk about our only five-door car in this lineup - the Renault Clio. With its complicated on-board electronics, we're not sure if it will come out on top. We'll put the Clio into sport mode for 18, 19 seconds... and then press the manual button again. Then, I need to take the handbrake off, put it back in, and engage launch mode by pulling up these two buttons. It's not saying anything, but we're in. Wait a minute, what's going on? The double-clutch gearbox isn't giving me the gear I need... Oh no! What did I do wrong? There's a lot happening in there, it's like... impart come on gear, be a puppy, give me an idea... No, you've broken it. Check ESCs are flashing up. We're going again... Wait, what was that? Nothing is happening... It just went full throttle because I had to pull well. Time to see if it beat the minute six second mark and the Peugeot's one-minute thirty-five. Ah... I've got a spanner, odd, got check ESCs up... Oh dear, just give us a gear lever please. The Clio lost its new-fangled electronics that Renault have added, which is a shame because we thought it would provide more basic driving thrills.

As you can see, the Peugeot 208 GTI was the clear winner in this test, but each car has its unique strengths and weaknesses. Whether or not you prefer sports car performance or shopping cart convenience depends on your priorities!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome back to fifth gear let's get back to finding out which one of these incredible value hot hatches is the best we're finding the best brand new hot hatch for less than 20 000 pounds and have discovered that the peugeot 208 gti is quickest in a straight line challenge 2 will see one of the cars eliminated before the final round and it's a test of performance and practicality the whole point of a hot hatch is that it should combine sports car performance with shopping cart convenience so we're going to find out which of our three cars the renault clio peugeot 208 or ford fiesta best combines these attributes and we're going to do that with an auto test but one with a difference we're going to start outside the car just like you do in the mall run across jump in and complete the auto test this will test for ease of access good acceleration and nifty handling the child will have to get in and strap himself in the back i'll do the driving child did you say before driving off we'll completely disable each car's traction control because we reckon that's what most owners will do before a fun drive it'll penalize cars with fiddly electronics first the fiesta st sends five six three two one go ah get it get you get it get it get it mind your legs man your legs come on one two three four five psp obviously five seconds oh oh i've worn myself out doing all that one minute and six seconds what zero zero one six point zero zero one minute six seconds point zero zero i think about you i'm tired as well from hanging on how's your headroom good headroom nice chase it's not bad these headrests get in there get in the way wait when he pulling g quite good quite nice light steering maneuverable so the fiesta is easy to get into as an easy to deactivate traction control is reasonably spacious and has excellent handling the peugeot 208 gti has one minute six seconds to beat seven six five four three two one flick a key a key that goes in ignition that starts an engine fantastic i mean clunk click it spins up its front wheel pretty easily oh it's feeling good can we not crazy and jump one minute six point naught to beat the fiesta one minute three point eighty eight three point oh it's looking strong the peugeot's even simpler to get into and drive off and leaves the blocks three seconds quicker than the fiesta it holds this advantage all the way around the course ready finally the renault go as the only five-door car here it should have a massive advantage well this is the key but i like that but renault have fitted unbelievably complicated on-board electronics i'm going to go to sport mode 18 19 seconds and then i'm going to put it into manual then press and hold the sport button again then i've got to take the handbrake then i've got to put it into launch mode by pulling these two up so it says launch mode it's not saying anything this is rebuilt fast no no we're in the clio is in serious trouble and now the double clutch gearbox isn't giving me the gear i need i've got i've changed gear what i didn't mean to oh what's happening in there what's happening there there's a lot it's a lot it's not going to impart come on gear to be a puppy give me an idea no you've broken it check esc oh we're going again we're going again there we i did nothing and it suddenly started going again it just hasn't it had no throttle and then it went full throttle because i had to pull well it's time to see is it one minute and six to beat and this is a one minute 35 oh i've got a spanner odd i've got check esc's come up oh dear just give us a gear lever please the clio loses the new fangled electronics that renault have added get in the way of the back to basics driving thrills we reckon hot hatches should provide give me an idea youwelcome back to fifth gear let's get back to finding out which one of these incredible value hot hatches is the best we're finding the best brand new hot hatch for less than 20 000 pounds and have discovered that the peugeot 208 gti is quickest in a straight line challenge 2 will see one of the cars eliminated before the final round and it's a test of performance and practicality the whole point of a hot hatch is that it should combine sports car performance with shopping cart convenience so we're going to find out which of our three cars the renault clio peugeot 208 or ford fiesta best combines these attributes and we're going to do that with an auto test but one with a difference we're going to start outside the car just like you do in the mall run across jump in and complete the auto test this will test for ease of access good acceleration and nifty handling the child will have to get in and strap himself in the back i'll do the driving child did you say before driving off we'll completely disable each car's traction control because we reckon that's what most owners will do before a fun drive it'll penalize cars with fiddly electronics first the fiesta st sends five six three two one go ah get it get you get it get it get it mind your legs man your legs come on one two three four five psp obviously five seconds oh oh i've worn myself out doing all that one minute and six seconds what zero zero one six point zero zero one minute six seconds point zero zero i think about you i'm tired as well from hanging on how's your headroom good headroom nice chase it's not bad these headrests get in there get in the way wait when he pulling g quite good quite nice light steering maneuverable so the fiesta is easy to get into as an easy to deactivate traction control is reasonably spacious and has excellent handling the peugeot 208 gti has one minute six seconds to beat seven six five four three two one flick a key a key that goes in ignition that starts an engine fantastic i mean clunk click it spins up its front wheel pretty easily oh it's feeling good can we not crazy and jump one minute six point naught to beat the fiesta one minute three point eighty eight three point oh it's looking strong the peugeot's even simpler to get into and drive off and leaves the blocks three seconds quicker than the fiesta it holds this advantage all the way around the course ready finally the renault go as the only five-door car here it should have a massive advantage well this is the key but i like that but renault have fitted unbelievably complicated on-board electronics i'm going to go to sport mode 18 19 seconds and then i'm going to put it into manual then press and hold the sport button again then i've got to take the handbrake then i've got to put it into launch mode by pulling these two up so it says launch mode it's not saying anything this is rebuilt fast no no we're in the clio is in serious trouble and now the double clutch gearbox isn't giving me the gear i need i've got i've changed gear what i didn't mean to oh what's happening in there what's happening there there's a lot it's a lot it's not going to impart come on gear to be a puppy give me an idea no you've broken it check esc oh we're going again we're going again there we i did nothing and it suddenly started going again it just hasn't it had no throttle and then it went full throttle because i had to pull well it's time to see is it one minute and six to beat and this is a one minute 35 oh i've got a spanner odd i've got check esc's come up oh dear just give us a gear lever please the clio loses the new fangled electronics that renault have added get in the way of the back to basics driving thrills we reckon hot hatches should provide give me an idea you\n"