Our comprehensive list reveals the very best hot superminis and compact hatchbacks you can buy today
This may not be a hot hatchback, nor really anything like one - but no discussion of the affordable driver's car firmament ought to omit one of the true and enduring champions of having fun on a budget: the Caterham Seven.
Representing the entry-point to Seven ownership, the 170 is the lightest that the company has ever built. Using the latest version of the 660cc three-cylinder Suzuki petrol engine that the company first adopted for the Seven 160, the car's model-nomenclature-defining power-to-weight ratio rises to '170' by dint of the fact that the car itself weighs just 440kg, and also conforms to Japan's 'kei' car class criteria.
This Caterham has a character all of its own, with an unassuming but likable power delivery and engine note. The live rear axle and modest power outputs make for a less naughty, throttle-steerable dynamic character than some Sevens have. With just 86lb ft on tap, there isn't enough torque here to move the driven rear axle around easily with power, and there's more fun to be had in simply carrying speed rather than deploying grunt through the contact patches.
While this might not be the very best Caterham, it's still be more fun than most other new cars you might get into for the same outlay and - depreciation considered - considerably cheaper to own overall too. It's clearly not as usable as a hot hatchback nor as quick, but would more rewarding when the occasion to drive it did come along.
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