Best hot hatches – driven, rated and ranked

Best for: Daily driving

Volkswagen's highly regarded super-Golf, the four-wheel-drive R, has taken a big step forward in this latest form. As well as its 316bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, its arsenal is packed with performance-enhancing equipment. 

Pick up the pace and the suspension gets into its stride, offering confidence-inspiring control and a deftness of damping no matter how wicked the surface.

James Disdale, Special correspondent

Most Golf Rs get adaptive dampers, which can switch between B-road ironing and teeth-rattling modes at the touch of a screen. Meanwhile, the fully torque-vectored 4Motion system can juggle drive not just front to rear but also asymmetrically across its rear axle.

That rear differential gives it staggering agility and in the softest damper mode it rides remarkably well.

The Mk8 Golf R takes on quite a different character to the Mk7. It has lost some of the just-so compromise of suppleness, stability and pace that made the last version of the car so popular, while even greater body control and adhesion have come in to make up the balance - and greater driver involvement too.

For those who liked the 'one fast car for every journey' charm of the Mk7, the Mk8 may feel a little too serious and perhaps just a touch aloof at lower speeds. But there's no denying that the car's outright dynamic capabilities have expanded quite a way. 

Best for: Pure power

Let the following statement sink in: the Mercedes-AMG A45 S is a four-wheel-drive hot hatchback that costs more than £60,000 and has a 2.0-litre four-pot that makes 416bhp and 369lb ft.

If the Mercedes-AMG A45 S does go down as the most powerful combustion-engined hot hatch in history, it will be worthy of its fame.

Matt Saunders, Road test editor

Affalterbach's most rabid hot hatch has the most powerful series-production four-cylinder engine on the planet, with a higher specific engine output than that of the Ferrari 488 Pista. 

Straight-line performance is undoubtedly immense, but more of a surprise is how well-mannered its complex, steroidal driveline is when you're simply tooling about.

Body control and grip are outstanding, and the accuracy, weighting and textural feedback from its steering is sublime. 

The A45 S is undoubtedly a triumph – but it has wandered so far from the realms of affordability that crowning it the class champion would be a touch problematic.

Best for: Electric motoring

Make no mistake: the Cupra Born VZ makes this top 10 on merit rather than as a makeweight that has any positives suffixed with the phrase 'for an EV'.

It has the performance we expect of a proper hot hatchback and a simple, accessible rear-drive handling appeal.

Matt Saunders, Road test editor

Not only does this hottest Born look the hot hatch part, it drives it too. There's real talent here.

Based on the same platform as the Volkswagen ID 3, the regular Born gets a rear-mounted motor that delivers up to 227bhp and instant torque. The VZ then boosts performance to 322bhp and 402lb ft. 

It feels genuinely quick up to 60mph, and while accelerative force diminishes beyond this point, few fast car fans will be disappointed. It steers keenly, with quick turn-in and poised, low-roll handling that allows it to scoot through a series of corners quickly and accurately. 

Elsewhere, it does the other hot hatch things well, with a spacious and versatile interior plus decent everyday comfort and refinement.

Better still, with its larger 77kWh battery, the Born VZ promises a very respectable 372 miles on a charge.

Best for: Luxury

Is the idea of an Audi A3 that’s capable of 180mph more or less absurd than one that might cost you as much as £65,000 after options? 

This would seem to be the best and most roundly impressive RS3 that Audi has ever built.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

There is something extraordinary about even the very proposition of the latest generation of Audi's ultra-hot hatchback.

For a start, it has a cracking, characterful five-pot engine fit to grace dedicated sports coupés (as it did in the TT RS). Then there's the new torque-vectoring back axle, which operates in a similar way to that of the AMG A45 S and can, in certain conditions, result in a longitudinally engined hatchback that can be genuinely steering on the throttle.

The RS3 combines these elements with a chassis that is controlled but far from brittle, and perhaps that's the real magic of this recipe. It's fundamentally usable day-to-day, despite the wild performance on offer and a very punchy exterior aesthetic.

That said, the AMG edges it in our estimations, owing to its warmer cabin and more feelsome driving experience.

Best for: Go-kart dynamics

The Mini Cooper S has always been a solid hot hatch option, and it's a similar story with the model's latest iteration. 

What makes the lack of control over the engine and gearbox all the more frustrating is that the chassis of this new Cooper is hugely entertaining.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

Powered by an eager 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, the Cooper S gets 201bhp and 221lb ft of torque. That makes it one of the least powerful models on this list, but it will still hit 0-62mph in 6.3sec, and it's still highly capable and enjoyable to drive.

It sports sharp handling, which is matched by its capable chassis. While Cooper S models of old felt overly firm for most drivers, the new car feels much more livable – and much more pliant than the Cooper JCW. 

And unlike with any of the other cars on this list, there's a convertible version.

Best for: Electric performance

There was plenty of clamour surrounding the A290 such was the wide-reaching success of the Renault 5 on which it's based, but we needn’t have worried: the A290 was developed by the same Dieppe-based team that gave us the sublime A110 sports car.

As a daily driver I have a lot of time for the Alpine, but drive it hard and the steering does start to talk.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

Find a meandering B-road and it's easy to find a rhythm in the A290, with its low centre of gravity, sharp steering and ample performance combining for a truly engaging drive. 

It hasn’t redefined the class, but has instead shown that compact electric sportsers can thrill and entertain just as much as their ICE rivals. 

Prices were a bit hefty from launch, but now that it qualifies for the maximum £3750 Electric Car Grant, this French fancy is now more accessible than ever.

It's a fine choice – just as long as you can live with its fleeting electric range.

Best for: Rolling refinement

Similar to the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the Cupra Leon adds a dose of performance to the regular Seat Leon hatchback. 

Viewed as an all-round proposition, its practicality and comfort keep the Cupra Leon competitive with the rest in its class, and the offering of a manual gearbox on basic versions is a nice addition.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

There are no fewer than seven trim levels for this hot Leon, but the headline powertrains are a brand new 329bhp engine and a 268bhp plug-in hybrid powertrain, both of which offer stonking performance to challenge its German cousin.

We like the Leon and think it offers great styling, rapid outright pace and a balanced and comfortable chassis. It's not quite the bespoke Cupra it's claimed to be, but it's still practical and well-designed, with terrific rolling refinement. 

It's not all perfect. It is slightly let down by its aversion to buttons and its interior quality isn't up there with the class's best. Its steering is also slightly dull, disappointingly. But it's a great all-round proposition and well worth considering if you're after a refined hot hatch. 

Best for: Fuel economy

Previous versions of Volkswagen's long-lived Golf GTI have featured prominently in this line-up of the greatest affordable performance cars, but this one is a slightly different kettle of fish.

This Mk8 Golf GTI is more expensive but less comfortable, economical and involving. That doesn’t stop it from being enjoyable in its own right, though.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

Volkswagen went in search of greater handling response and driver appeal with the eighth generation of its hot Golf but had only questionable success in finding it.

Meanwhile, it adversely affected the sweet-riding, easy-to-use temperament that the GTI has traded on for so long, introducing an unwelcome firmness to its ride.

Don't get us wrong: the GTI is still a good, enjoyable everyday driver. Its 242bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine remains a little short on power compared with the rest of the cars here, but it makes for strong and responsive thrust, which the chassis allows you to deploy pretty freely.

The car's new firmer springing makes it work better on smoother surfaces than typical UK country B-roads, but adaptive dampers do allow for some adjustment of the ride.

The steering is nicely pacey but still a little light and numb, undemanding in everyday use but not as absorbing as it might be.

In Clubsport trim, the GTI's key vitals rise to 296bhp and 295lb ft, its final drive ratio is reduced and its suspension is firmed up. It becomes a more grippy, direct and incisive-handling car without losing much by way of everyday cruising habitability – but still not the best-balanced or the most exciting or involving driver's car in this list.