Superminis – What they are

If you’re a motoring enthusiast, there’s a good chance you’ll have come across the term supermini while browsing the web.

While the definition of a supermini can vary depending on who you ask, it generally refers to small hatchbacks that are affordable and easy to drive yet deliver decent performance relative to their asking price.

It’s a somewhat uncommon term in South Africa, and one that is more commonly used in places like Europe to better define the role of different small cars.

This is because, in places like the United Kingdom, hatchbacks are further broken down into hot hatches, superminis, and city cars.

Different types of hatchbacks

City cars refer to the smallest hatchbacks on the market, such as your Fiat Panda, Kia Picanto or Hyundai Atos, and are popular among individuals looking for a cheap form of personal transport to get to work in one of Europe’s heavily congested cities.

They are also viewed as their own sub-category because they tend to pay less road tax than other vehicles when taken into a major metropolitan area such as London.

Hot hatches, meanwhile, are something that most motoring enthusiasts will be familiar with, as it simply refers to small cars that offer impressive performance.

Hot hatches are in many cases actually based off an existing model, but have been extensively reworked to improve their track capabilities with more power and better handling.

One such example is the VW Golf GTI, arguably the most famous hot hatch of all time as it has been around for decades and is currently in its eighth generation.

Where the supermini fits in

Superminis effectively split the difference between your entry-level small car and your high-end hot hatches, offering reasonably good performance for their price while also maintaining a more practical element with decent boot space and frugal fuel consumption.

This can be illustrated in terms of pricing, as a typical city car such as the Kia Picanto can be had for around R200,000, while many of the more high-profile hot hatches like the Golf 8 GTI or Hyundai i30N will require a payment of over R700,000.

Superminis fall somewhere in the R300,000 to R500,000 bracket – a price range that includes the likes of the Abarth 595, Opel Corsa 96kW Elegance, Peugeot 208 GT, Hyundai i20 N Line, and the VW Polo GTI.

The least powerful of the bunch, the Hyundai, generates a respectable 90kW and 172Nm allowing for a 0-100km/h dash in 9.9 seconds.

On the other end of the spectrum, VW Polo GTI ranks as the most powerful model with 147kW and 320Nm on tap, bringing the 100km/h sprint down to 6.7 seconds.