These Are The Best Hot Hatches Of All Time
If you want to drive like a hooligan look at some of these hatchbacks
Is there a better car segment than the hot hatchback? There's plenty of reasons to gravitate toward a little city street-gobbling pocket rocket. For one thing, they're big enough for a moderately-sized family to drive everyday without being too gigantic to fit in your garage, or too thirsty for your fuel budget. The true ideal automobile shape is a two-box with too much power. We love a hot hatch, don't we folks?
Earlier this week we asked you all to name the best hot hatch of all time, and you all delivered an A+ assignment. Everything on this list genuinely deserves to be there. Perhaps more so than any other Answer of the Day we've ever posted. Excellent work, crew. Pat yourselves on the back.
GRolla
No one is going to say it so I will... The GR Corolla should be included in this conversation. Yes I know it's new and therefore evil. But the GR Corolla remains one of the most entertaining new cars I've driven in recent memory.
Italian Box
Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2
Use The FoRS
Ok, I hate when people do this and suggest the car they own (biased anyone?) but I am going to be a self hater and do that now.
The mark 3 Focus RS.
It was a dream car of mine when it came out in 2016 and I was lucky enough to buy one in 2019.
I know they were riddled with issues (serious head gasket issues) but once fixed, It does the things a hot hatch needs to do oh so well. It looks mean, handles like a dream and hauls my entire family around, has AWD for the snow, is a riot on back roads and on the track, and beats just about any stock car off the line.
Mine is getting up there in miles now and I can't find a car I'd rather have, so I might just buy another.
The N Stands For New
The Ioniq 5 N, and it's not really even close. The ideal of a Hot Hatch is a car that is able to handle families and dogs well, that is also super fun to drive, reasonably frugal, and occasionally surprise much more expensive sports cars on the road. This can do all of those things but instead of just surprising sports cars, it will embarrass all but the fastest supercars.
Turbo?
Renault 5 Turbo II (1980-84)
Concepts Count
The GTI W12-650. Hottest of hot.
641 hp Bentley Continental W12 Engine. Mounted in the back.Transaxle out of a Gallardo.Phaeton gearbox.RS4 front brakes.100% absurd and I love it.
Tuners Count
Sbarro Super 12 – 1,700lb of madness powered by a V12 made from Kawasaki motorcycle engines.
Oh, Kei
Hear me out – The Mitsubishi Dangan ZZ-4. This is a kei car, but it's soundly one of the fastest, best handling keis ever made. 4WD, turbo-charged, 70HP at 1500lbs... First commercial engine with five valves per cylinder. Truly a bullet.
Vee Six
Clio V6
The mid-engine hot-hatches were always the craziest (yes the twin-engine were more mental but those were one offs) and while the Metro 6R4 is Group B homologation mentalness it is a little too brutal, also £200,000 is cheap for one now. Where as the the Clio was still mental but doesn't punch your kidneys out through your lungs.
A Different GTI
A MK7 GTI was the peak, IMHO. Though I suppose if I could have ANYTHING as a toy, it would be a 1.9L Peugeot 205 GTI. Drove one in Hungary years ago – huge, huge fun. But not nearly as suited to being a daily driver in the US of A as a GTI. One of my greatest automotive regrets is succumbing to the insane amount of money Carvana offered me for my '17 GTI Sport. I should have held onto that car with the strength of a mother lifting a car off her kid.
I had MK1 and MK2 GLIs, AKA the GTI with a trunk. Lovely cars in their day, but that day was a HELL of a long time ago. I'd have another one as a toy, but not as a daily driver today. IMHO, the 1.8L 16V GTI/GLI was better than the 2.0L 16V in the MK2s. A bit less power, but it delivered it in a much more entertaining manner. I had a '90 2.0L, a friend had an '89 1.8L, I much preferred his car to mine, despite being nearly identical otherwise.
Monster Mini
The original Austin Mini Cooper S was the OG of hot hatches.
SHO ‘nuff
Ford Shogun. Take a tiny hatch and cram in a 220bhp Yamaha racing motor. Give it an absurd '80s body kit and wheels. Be awesome.
Goes Like Hell, S’more
The Omni GLHS. Rowdy and fun in an old Dodge shitbox. Gotta love it!
Ride The Slide
BMW M135i. Pure RWD hot hatch fun. Eat it, GTI.
Gee Tux
Maybe not the best, but there's one little oddball that's always had a place in my heart — the Mazda 323 GTX AWD Turbo. So over-achieving for its time (1989) but also so understated. I've only ever saw one once in the wild; it was zipping up a mountain road in Colorado.