Best hot hatches - votes and nominations please
Discussion
VW Golf MkI
First available hot hatch - introduced the concept to car buyers.
Renault 5 Turbo
First proper implementation of a hatch made hotter - mid engined, RWD, 160PS & rallye cred
BMW M135i
Brings back the original idea from the Golf. With a straight six and RWD. Affordable performance motoring with day-to-day capabilities; think Cayman S with four seats or capable of transporting a washing machine.
Edited by Bodo on Monday 30th July 21:06
These are my personal favourites....
1. integrale (Pref Evo model for me but biased)
2. Golf GTi Mk 2 16V big bumper model please (I had one of these in the day and it was superb)
3. Pug 205 GTi 1.9 (Owned both a 1.6 and a 1.9 in the late 80's and I loved the torque of the bigger engine)
4. Renault Clio Williams
5. Alfasud 1.5 ti (Would love one now!)
(Just missed Sunbeam Lotus)
1. integrale (Pref Evo model for me but biased)
2. Golf GTi Mk 2 16V big bumper model please (I had one of these in the day and it was superb)
3. Pug 205 GTi 1.9 (Owned both a 1.6 and a 1.9 in the late 80's and I loved the torque of the bigger engine)
4. Renault Clio Williams
5. Alfasud 1.5 ti (Would love one now!)
(Just missed Sunbeam Lotus)
The difficulty with this is that most of the hot hatches that I would like to own, I have not driven, so of the ones I have driven:
205 GTi 1.6
MkV Golf GTI
EP3 Civic Type-R
Focus ST
BMW 130i
Ones that I would most like to drive/own:
205 GTi 1.9 - rawest
mk2 Golf GTi 16v - best all-rounder?
Lancia Delta Integrale Evo - most desirable
mkIV Golf R32 - best noise
mk2 Focus RS - that engine (although I would prefer a Sierra RS Cosworth if you would let me as it is so iconic and then I have a mixture of FWD, AWD and RWD hot hatches).
OP, I can understand why an Integra/Corrado would not be classified as a hot hatch but a Sierra RS Cosworth is on a par with the latest hot hatches in terms of power and no bigger/slopier than an Escort RS or Focus ST/RS. By those criteria, some may also say that a Delta Integrale is not a hot hatch either, in which case I would nominate the Abarth 500 Essesse simply because I'm glad that it exists!
However OP, your thread, your rules, so I will respectfully follow them!
205 GTi 1.6
MkV Golf GTI
EP3 Civic Type-R
Focus ST
BMW 130i
Ones that I would most like to drive/own:
205 GTi 1.9 - rawest
mk2 Golf GTi 16v - best all-rounder?
Lancia Delta Integrale Evo - most desirable
mkIV Golf R32 - best noise
mk2 Focus RS - that engine (although I would prefer a Sierra RS Cosworth if you would let me as it is so iconic and then I have a mixture of FWD, AWD and RWD hot hatches).
OP, I can understand why an Integra/Corrado would not be classified as a hot hatch but a Sierra RS Cosworth is on a par with the latest hot hatches in terms of power and no bigger/slopier than an Escort RS or Focus ST/RS. By those criteria, some may also say that a Delta Integrale is not a hot hatch either, in which case I would nominate the Abarth 500 Essesse simply because I'm glad that it exists!
However OP, your thread, your rules, so I will respectfully follow them!
Edited by white_goodman on Wednesday 1st August 12:43
Owned or driven 90 % of the cars mentioned so far, I have owned an evo integrale for many years now and wont be changing it for anything else, ever. It's top of my list, if anyone dont know why, go drive one ;-)
My Hot hatch choice top to bottom -
1> Lancia Delta integrale (any, but evo best)
2> Ford Escort Cosworth (early big turbo model)
3> Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI (clearly the best FWD, 309 gti also cool)
4> Fiat Uno ie turbo (love these)
5> VW Golf Mk2 16v (great car, bit understated looks but isn't that the point !)
My Hot hatch choice top to bottom -
1> Lancia Delta integrale (any, but evo best)
2> Ford Escort Cosworth (early big turbo model)
3> Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI (clearly the best FWD, 309 gti also cool)
4> Fiat Uno ie turbo (love these)
5> VW Golf Mk2 16v (great car, bit understated looks but isn't that the point !)
I love hot hatches.
Only driven and owned three of my top five. The other two cars are based on the opinions of my eyes, ears and the motoring media.
1) Renaultsport Clio 182 Trophy - Best car i've ever owned, just so much fun.
2) Peugeot 106 GTi - Felt much quicker than the figures suggested, again so easy to enjoy driving, i'd love another some day to enjoy when the mood took me.
3) Renaultsport Megane 265 Cup - I haven't had the pleasure of driving one yet, but I haven't read a single bad review and can't wait for the opportunity.
4) MK5 Volkswagen GTI - My current steed, the definitive all rounder. It can just as easily be a load lugging cruiser as it can let you enjoy driving on a great road, which perhaps was always the point of a hot hatch, and certainly the originals selling point (I've had one of those too, and it was god awful, but that was my choice of car not the model). I'm a big fan of the mk5, it's not raw by any means like some of the others here but i'm a big fan of the steering and the confidence the power delivery allows. The first proper GTI since the MK2 and better looking than the MK6 in my humble opinion too.
5) Alfa Romeo 147 GTA - A proper Alfa V6 in a splendid looking Italian hatch, sounds amazing even if the torque steer reports are enough to terrify all but the most hardcore Alfa enthusiast. A beast.
Only driven and owned three of my top five. The other two cars are based on the opinions of my eyes, ears and the motoring media.
1) Renaultsport Clio 182 Trophy - Best car i've ever owned, just so much fun.
2) Peugeot 106 GTi - Felt much quicker than the figures suggested, again so easy to enjoy driving, i'd love another some day to enjoy when the mood took me.
3) Renaultsport Megane 265 Cup - I haven't had the pleasure of driving one yet, but I haven't read a single bad review and can't wait for the opportunity.
4) MK5 Volkswagen GTI - My current steed, the definitive all rounder. It can just as easily be a load lugging cruiser as it can let you enjoy driving on a great road, which perhaps was always the point of a hot hatch, and certainly the originals selling point (I've had one of those too, and it was god awful, but that was my choice of car not the model). I'm a big fan of the mk5, it's not raw by any means like some of the others here but i'm a big fan of the steering and the confidence the power delivery allows. The first proper GTI since the MK2 and better looking than the MK6 in my humble opinion too.
5) Alfa Romeo 147 GTA - A proper Alfa V6 in a splendid looking Italian hatch, sounds amazing even if the torque steer reports are enough to terrify all but the most hardcore Alfa enthusiast. A beast.
From purely a drivers car point of view during their era, my 5 are:
Pug 205 Gti 1.9
Clio Williams
Pug 306 (GTi-6) Rallye
Clio Trophy
Megane R26.R
Golf Gti mk1 1.8 was fantastic but bettered by the pug, awesome meg f1 R26 was again bettered by the less practical .R version, in fact the R26.R has to be the best drivers hatch ever just for renaults no compromise commitment to selling such a road racer, the gt3 rs of hatches.
I've yet to drive the new meg 250 and 265 so can't nominate them yet, and Clio 200 cup I've still not driven either but it still gets rave reviews.
On another note I have a soft spot for the pulsar/sunny GTi-R,but don't really think 4wd counts as a true hot hatch so won't nominate it. Most still don't know what they are, oh and things can brake.....but raw, damn quick, chuckable and imo have tried all 3 they drive better, less laggy and faster than the integrale and escort cossie of its time even if both are now seriously well sort after due to their heritage. 0-60 in 5.4sec (some tested 5.2) and quarter in 13.9 stock is still impressive today, let alone 22 years ago and before you modify them.
Pug 205 Gti 1.9
Clio Williams
Pug 306 (GTi-6) Rallye
Clio Trophy
Megane R26.R
Golf Gti mk1 1.8 was fantastic but bettered by the pug, awesome meg f1 R26 was again bettered by the less practical .R version, in fact the R26.R has to be the best drivers hatch ever just for renaults no compromise commitment to selling such a road racer, the gt3 rs of hatches.
I've yet to drive the new meg 250 and 265 so can't nominate them yet, and Clio 200 cup I've still not driven either but it still gets rave reviews.
On another note I have a soft spot for the pulsar/sunny GTi-R,but don't really think 4wd counts as a true hot hatch so won't nominate it. Most still don't know what they are, oh and things can brake.....but raw, damn quick, chuckable and imo have tried all 3 they drive better, less laggy and faster than the integrale and escort cossie of its time even if both are now seriously well sort after due to their heritage. 0-60 in 5.4sec (some tested 5.2) and quarter in 13.9 stock is still impressive today, let alone 22 years ago and before you modify them.
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