While luxury sports cars are the love of many motoring purists, many of them will choose a hot hatchback any day. These cars are popular among drivers of all ages as they provide the driving experience and performance of a sports car in a practical yet very affordable package. The modern enthusiast has a wide range of hot hatchbacks to choose from.
What’s more about hot hatches is that even as they increase in popularity, their running costs remain relatively low. That means you can drive a fast and sporty car without breaking into a bank. That said, let’s look at ten of the best hot hatches in 2021.
10 Ford Focus ST
Ford Focus ST can easily rank well among the best and the most affordable sporty daily drivers currently on sale. The car is quick and well-mannered. It features a sophisticated tuned suspension, excellent and quick steering, and a positive attitude that gives it its signature agility. All these make the Focus ST a superbly good car to use as a daily driver.
The Ford Focus ST remains one of the best hot hatches you can buy today, thanks to its top speed of 155 mph and the acceleration of 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds.
9 Renault Megane RS
Renault offers the Megane RS in different forms and specs, which translates to different price tags. The price ranges from around $30,000 to the highs of $70,000 for the Nürburgring record-holder 300 Trophy R, one of the awesome sports cars that featured carbon fiber wheels.
Even though this car doesn’t match its rivals in performance, the 1.8-liter turbocharged engine producing 276 horsepower should do you enough justice on the driving experience. The experience is further supplemented by the innovative chassis with 4-wheel steering designed to make your ride even more fun.
8 Mini John Cooper Works
If you love the Mini and want a fast one, the John Cooper Works is your perfect pick. The Cooper S is not as good as many think, and it’d be quite a hustle before you lay your hands on one of the limited edition JCW GPs. What’s left is the Mini John Cooper Works, which means a lot of fun in a small package.
The JCW is powered by a 2.0-liter inline-four turbo engine producing 231bhp and is capable of accelerating from 0 to 62mph in 6.3 seconds. Apart from the retro vibe present in the cabin, the aircraft-style toggle switches make the John Cooper Works feel quite exotic and cool.
7 Mercedes-AMG A 45 S
Not long ago, 200bhp seemed a lot of power for hot hatches. That was before Mercedes introduced the AMG A45 S with 376bhp. The current model is all new and on another level, in terms of power as it has 415bhp.
AMG could not tune the previous engine anymore to make it more powerful, so they started from scratch building this hot hatch – they boosted the power to supercar levels. With a four-wheel-drive drivetrain, the Mercedes-AMG A45 S accelerates from 0-62 mph in 3.9 seconds, giving you a hatchback that is faster off the line than the Mercedes-AMG GT sports car.
6 Hyundai i30N
With everything in consideration – performance, practicality, fun, handling, and value, the Hyundai i30N is definitely one of the top hot hatches you should buy without a second thought. With the former BMW M Division boss now in charge of the Hyundai N division, the i30N had to come out great.
Although the car was great at launch in 2018, no one expected it to continue shining bright a few years later, especially when put against rivals from more established companies. With a brutally tuned suspension, the i30N handles like a pro.
5 Mercedes-AMG A35
Many people will disregard the A35, maybe because it’s a junior AMG or because it is not powered by a mighty V8, but those people will be missing something great. Mercedes has worked exceptionally hard to turn the ordinary A-Class into a perfect AMG machine, and this hot hatch here, the AMG A35, is proof of that.
With a starting price of just around £35,500, the A35 might be the cheapest way to drive an AMG, but that price tag doesn’t make the AMG A35 a humdrum A-Class with a beautiful badge. As proved by the original AMG A45, when the company sticks its name into a hatchback, it comes out a properly honed machine with the DNA of the popular V8-powered AMG machines.
4 BMW M135i xDrive
The latest introduction to the BMW 1 Series is a front-wheel-drive, but if the idea of a BMW hatchback sending over 300 horsepower to the front wheels frightens you, fear not, because the BMW M135i xDrive is four-wheel-drive only. That means that the car has excellent traction and the 302hp and the 450Nm produced by the 2.0-liter turbo engine is not too much power for the M135i xDrive.
With this power and torque, the M135i xDrive accelerates to 62 mph from standstill in just 4.8 seconds and then goes on to hit a top speed of 155 mph.
3 Honda Civic Type R
The Civic Type R is probably one of the greatest and fun cars you can legally drive on the road. It is a bit expensive for many to afford, but its price tag is justified with the standard level of trim and equipment. To add to that, the car drives excellently well.
Older Type Rs were a little stiff and tiresome, but they were powerful enough to win you any argument you had with your buddies. The new models are way different. You can feel the level of agility when driving it, especially when cornering, and it comes with one of the best manual transmissions in the modern auto industry.
2 Toyota GR Yaris
The Toyota GR Yaris is the newest darling in the hot hatchback segment and the automobile industry. It is not the best all-wheel-drive hot hatch available, but its 267bhp turbocharged engine delivers quite a punch, making the GR Yaris a car you want to try.
The Toyota GR Yaris is not just an ordinary hot hatch. The car incorporates knowledge and technology from WRC to provide you with a true sports car driving experience every day. Unlike many cars on this list, the GR Yaris is not only designed to turn heads, but it is also designed to lift trophies.
1 VW Golf GTI
When it comes to performance and looks, Volkswagen perfectly put them in one package when building the VW Golf GTI. The car is as sporty as it is unique. With the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, the Golf GTI is not just a four-wheeled machine; it is a force powerful enough to bring up the heat.
And with the Autobahn-tuned sport suspension, this car handles like a pro. From maneuvering on straight lines to negotiating on the sharpest corners, the Golf GTI will obey your desires and stay the course to the end of the road.