Compact sports cars keep evolving, but how far will they go?

Many changes have taken place in the automotive world since its earliest days and across all types of vehicles. However, there is one particular segment that keeps growing, evolving and entering different stages: compact sports cars. These cars have been with us since the end of the last century, presenting themselves as a very attractive option for customers who want sporting performance without having to spend an outrageous amount of money, but how far do the hot hatchbacks plan to go?

We must go back to the early 1980s, a moment in history when bell-bottom trousers and shoulder-padded jackets were in fashion and compact sports cars were born. The Volkswagen Golf GTi was one of the forerunners of this segment and, since then, they have only grown in every sense. Today, few brands lack one of these vehicles among their models, put we do not know which path they intend to take with them.

In 2018 it is hard for today’s manufacturers not to meet our needs, since they offer a wide range of different segments. This also affects the more hardcore customers, since the GTi models offer a perfect balance between sportiness and versatility, a combination that has become more pronounced over time and with the growth of these models.

If we pause to analyse the performance of these vehicles, we find that many of them exceed the 300 CV range. The Volkswagen Golf R, Ford Focus RS and Honda Civic Type R are good examples of this. These are figures that in the past were reserved for high-flying supercars, yet today it seems hard to conceive that a hot hatchback would offer less than 250 CV, something that has been left to vehicles of a lower segment, such as the Volkswagen Polo GTi and the Renault Clio RS, among others.

Considering that the figures of the first compact sports cars did not exceed 110 CV of power, we wonder what the powertrains of these models will look like in the not-too-distant future. Surely – just as with vehicles in higher segments – in a few years we will see hybridisation taking charge of bringing this segment to life and considerably increasing its power.

This also leads us to think that prices will rise progressively, so exclusivity will surround the “playful” compacts even more overtaking vehicles that currently sit above them. Without doubt, this will force manufacturers to continue with the progressive growth of sports cars and, therefore, supercars. This is the only alternative that seems feasible, besides stalling a rung of the automotive chain, something that does not seem to be an option.