Not all that long ago, a hot hatch was exactly that - a fiery little car with two or four doors, plus a hatchback. The hot hatch was based on that '80s and '90s phenomenon of a spacious little car far easier to use, more practical and user friendly than the then conventional sedan.

Today, the hatchback is the more conventional car, but it too has been subjected to immense change. The arrival of the mini-MPV had a direct spin-off on the hatch, which grew into a sort of maxi hatch so to speak, and then came the in-between cars so popular overseas, like Golf Plus in the middle of that now larger normal hatch and the mini-MPV

Now that middle of the road niche has seen some interesting, all-new models arrive: among them, we have the BMW 1-series, the Audi A3 Sportback, and two even newer pretenders - the Mercedes-Benz B class and the Seat Leon. Lets call them the space hatches.

But like in the beginning with the hot hatch, there has to be a hot version of anything that moves, and as we sit here heading towards the last quarter of the first decade of the new millennium, out of nowhere have come these new hot space hatches...

They represent a slightly bigger solution to the hot hatch as we know it, and they seem to be aimed at the guy or doll - or, guy and doll - who have grown out of their GTI or RSI and now have kids into primary school, and you guessed it - they need the extra space. But no, they will never give up on their perceived funky style, and hell no, they still want that GTI performance...

So here we have four new cars that will undoubtedly fit the bill for that waspy mum and dad who will not give up on their pose or their power, but have been compromised into opting for the extra room by, well, necessity...

These are the school parking lot specials of the future - the cars offering the kind of performance, space and style a big sedan will at perhaps a fraction of the price - they evolved out of a marriage of niching and necessity - and, believe it or not, they make a damn compelling argument...

Starting with the Car of the Year Audi, rather than just bolting an extra couple of doors into the old 3-door A3, Ingolstadt almost went as far as making an avant out of it. Stylish and practical, the Sportback is a three-quarter station wagon rather than just a hatch to provide that room the young family needs. And the sporty bit was easy - it simply meant slipping VW's fine turbocharged direct petrol injection four into the engine bay, which A3 shares with GTI anyway.

The 150kW 280Nm Audi is good for a 7-second claimed 0-100 (we matched that exactly on the Reef with a 15.6 quarter-mile at 155km/h) and 236km/h with a frugal 8.8l/100km combined cycle fuel consumption. The Audi is one of the better riding front drivers, offering composed and reassuring road holding.

Next up (alphabetically) is BMW's 1 series, which was aimed at teaching the front driven masses how to build a hot hatch. Clearly, far more practical than its 3-series sedan sibling, a cramped rear cabin compromises that rear driven advantage for anyone beyond a grade 10 kid, so if the kids are young or you only have girls, it'll probably do. But once your lightie is headed to first team rugby, he or any adults will be compromised over any real distance.

But with BMW's glorious 3-litre six up front driving those rear wheels, perhaps that compromise is worth it. Handling and road holding wise, this thing is in a class alone. Pity it's so ugly, too. BMW promises it will manage a 6.9-second 0-100 at the coast. We managed that at the reef - with a 15.4 quarter-mile at 15.1 seconds. 130i is limited to a 250km/h top end, and BMW claims an average 8.5l/100.

It wasn't until I took my first ride in the Mercedes-Benz B-class that I took the car seriously. I always considered it rather bland looking - a bit of a blown-up A class, but on driving it, I immediately found the B quite impressive.

It's almost GTI-like - our test kit coughed out a most respectable 8.3 second 0-100 (versus a claimed 7.8) and a 16.3 quarter-mile at 149km/h - not quite up to the rest here, but still quite impressive. Merc says the 142kW 280Nm B200 Turbo does 225km/h and uses a rather thirsty 9.4l/100km.

But looked at in terms of practicality, B is the most spacious, and perhaps rational, of this lot. Its bigger cabin also boasts the kind of finishes you'd expect from a Merc, and if you need to lug around a bunch of high school kids with togs and schoolbags while still trying to maintain that pose in the parking lot, and still have an enjoyable drive on the road, the Merc comes with kudos aplenty.

Trouble is it's a bit dynamically compromised compared to its rivals here - it isn't as refined in handling, ride and road holding, but versus the compromise to gain that extra space and practicality, then perhaps that give-and-take evens out around the swings and roundabouts...

Last but not least, we have perhaps the joker in the pack - the Seat Leon. Seat only arrived in South Africa last month, but its latest range more or less typifies the triple-purpose space-speed-style aspect for which we've called these cars together. Without shadow of doubt the best looking car here, Leon is also currently the most exclusive, and that in itself adds to the school parking snob value for which most folk will buy any of these cars in the first place...

Under the skin Leon is pretty much the same car as the Audi and it also shares that 150kW 280Nm T FSI mill, and much of the mechanicals although the petrol version does not have the option of that brilliant DSG twin-clutch box.

Seat claims Leon 2.0 FR can run a 7.2second 0-100km/h dash but we managed a stonking 6.6 in Jo'burg, albeit at just eight degrees winter ambient with the 1/4-mile hammered down in 15.1 at 158km/h to come in a clear winner in this performance test. Leon tops 240km/h and manages a ballpark average fuel consumption of 8.1 litres/100km. The Seat handles and rides best of the front drivers here and even gives that 130i a damn good run, Leon's underpinnings also return a somewhat more characterful and sporty drive.

So here we have four pretenders to another new motoring throne, that of the sporty funky spacy racy car. Three are more on the sporty funky racy side, while the Merc seems to chase a more spacy funky racy solution. The Merc is clearly the winner in terms of practicality, as it best addresses the room issue, while the BMW is furthest from that mark. The Audi and the Seat play a bit of a middle of the road game here, addressing both worlds well.

But the Spanish newcomer with its chic styling, adequate space and performance to kick its rivals into touch, is without doubt not only the most interesting of the lot, but it's also the rarest and most intriguing. And if it's that parking lot pick up pose that's going to be the clincher, the Seat's novelty wins hands down...