When hot hatches grow up

These sports SUVS promise all the fun of a hot hatch but with added practicality. They're fairly affordable, too - especially when you buy used

TRADITIONALLY, DRIVERS ON a modest budget looking for a bit more speed and fun would put a hot hatch at the top of their shopping list. The recipe was simple: you took a family hatchback, put a more powerful engine in it, stiffened up the suspension and sexed up the looks.

Times move on, though, and while hot hatches still work for some drivers, the SUV is now the plat de jour. The good news is that the same upgrades can be applied to cars like that too.

The only problem is that many of these sports SUVs cost an awful lot of money. However, a couple of exceptions to that rule are the Cupra Ateca and Volkswagen T-Roc R, both of which are not only moderately priced when new but also look conspicuously good value when bought at two years old.

Both come from brands within the VW Group, so it's no surprise that they use the same 296bhp turbocharged 2.0-litre engine, seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive system. Both retain the practicality of the regular SUVS on which they're based while offering up suitably impressive performance. But are there any notable differences between them that might influence your buying decision one way or the other?

DRIVING

Performance, ride, handling, refinement

Given that these two cars produce the same power, it's no surprise that their 0-60mph times are separated by the slimmest of margins, with the heavier Ateca falling just 0.1sec short of the T-Roc's impressive time of 4.7sec.

In practice, the difference isn't even noticeable. After a small pause while the turbocharger spins up, each SUV accelerates with the kind of ferocity that would put some sports cars to shame.