What Car? Car of the Year 2006 - Best hot hatch

Skoda Octavia vRS 5dr
Price: £17,500
Target Price: tbc

You have to admire the way Skoda does business. First, it talks parent company VW into handing over the blueprints to the Golf GTI, then it uses said designs as the basis for the Octavia vRS. Finally, it kicks VW where it hurts by pitching the vRS on to forecourts for just £17,500, £3000 less than the five-door Golf.

However, don't think the Skoda has won here simply by offering value for money. For a start, the vRS is Skoda's fastest-ever production car, and that performance comes courtesy of a sparkling 197bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged engine.

Strong, linear pull is available from the word go and power is developed progressively all the way to the redline, which makes the Octavia as simple to drive smoothly as it is right up to the limit. All of this power would be useless if the vRS was just an unruly firebrand, but no, the chassis harnesses all of the performance with a blend of comfort and control.

Drive the Skoda hard on B-roads and it's incisive; hit the motorway and it comes over all civilised – it's a truly multi-faceted performance. The vRS fulfills its brief as a hot hatch for grown-ups by providing loads of interior space and a boot which can swallow, well, loads.

Along with these talents, what we also love about the vRS is its solid construction and attention to detail. Its interior is screwed together with all the precision we've come to expect from Skoda.

Of course, the vRS's exterior may be too understated for some. Deep front and rear bumpers, a boot-mounted spoiler and 17-inch alloys are among the few indicators to the Octavia's pace. Even so, discerning owners will gain a glow of satisfaction from the knowledge that their unassuming Skoda can wallop many more brash rivals.

Highly recommended
Ford Focus ST
Price: £17,495
Target Price: £16,632

Mini Cooper S 1.6 16v
Price: £15,495
Target Price: £15,495

Volkswagen Golf GTI 3dr
Price: £19,995
Target Price: £19,995