All things to all men, hot-hatches are a great way to get into sports cars, offering real performance in a more practical body that you can safely leave parked anywhere.

The whole genre started with VW both adding a little more power and removing excess weight on the original Golf GTi. Looking back, the first hatches weren't really anything to get excited about. It would be another 20 years before serious power arrived, even then, 200 HP wasn't enough. Luckily, engine technology had caught up and tuners realized there was more power to be had with a few tweaks and upgrades

9 Volkswagen Golf GTi

VW Golf GTI
Via: VW Media

Volkswagen's Golf is possibly the most complete and precisely engineered hot-hatch of all time. It makes it hard for gearheads to accept that things could get any better, but they can, and they did. Volkswagen has been holding out on us, the Golf can deliver a lot more fun.

VW Golf GTI Aurora
Via Car Pixel

What we have here is the same 2019 spec car, only the German carmaker allowed its engineers to go a bit crazy, resulting in the one-off Aurora concept. From the outside, just another seventh-generation Golf, but lifting the hood reveals a bigger turbocharger and intercooler, the VWs engine gains a bit more poke bringing output up to 380 HP. We just hope at some point VW gives us mere mortals a chance to play with the ultimate factory GTi.

8 Toyota GR Yaris

Toyota GR Yaris
Via Toyota Media Site

Small and unassuming, in many ways the perfect city car for those that don't care about how fast or powerful it is, but taking a closer look at the Yaris reveals all is not as it might first seem. Wider arches and a deeper front air-intake should give a clue as to what's going on, Gazoo Racing has transformed Toyota's popular sub-compact into a 143 MPH pocket racer.

HKS Toyota GR Yaris
Via Pinterest

Ordinarily, 260hp should be enough to win any impromptu street drag race, but that hasn't stopped tuners from turning things up a few notches. Not wishing to be outdone, those clever people at HKS managed to eke even more power from Toyota's 3-cylinder engine, achieving 400 HP before calling it a day.

RELATED: Toyota Confirms 986 HP Gazoo Racing Super Sport Concept Will Hit Production

7 Ford Fiesta ST

Ford Fiest ST
Via Ford Media Center

When Ford launched the Fiesta in 1976 few would know that it would go from being a popular cheap hatchback to one of the most respected hot-hatches of all times. From the earliest XR2 models until the current ST range, the Fiesta has been about delivering affordable performance motoring, the latest and possibly last in the range packing turbocharged EcoBoost units producing 200 HP.

Puma Speed Fiesta ST
Via Puma Speed

It might be nearing the end of production, but UK-based Puma Speed believes there is a lot more fun yet to come, producing a range of bolt-on performance upgrades delivering crazy power hikes. Opting for the brand's Stage 4 EVO package complete with turbo, intercooler, and exhaust system doubles the output of the original car to 400 HP, all from a 1-liter capacity.

6 Renault Megane RS Trophy R

Renault RS Trophy R
Via Alpha Coders

Small french hot-hatches are some of the best we have ever seen, Renault who gave us the bonkers Renault 5 Turbo is back, this time with a more "mature" hot motor. Don't mistake mature for sensible or toned down, this is a full-blown Renault Sport update boasting a 296 HP 1.8-liter turbocharged motor capable of 158 MPH.

Dijon Auto Racing Megane RS500
Via Agenda Automobile

Those levels of power are up there with junior supercars, matching the likes of Porsches Boxster and Cayman, surely Trophy R owners couldn't find a use for more power? But someone clearly did, Dijon Auto Racing pushing the limits of Renault's engine to 500 HP, all in a front-wheel-drive car too.

5 Mercedes-AMG A45

Mercedes-AMG A45
Via: Daimler

How quickly the mighty have fallen, at launch Mercedes-AMG proudly proclaimed their A45 series hatch featured the most powerful 4-cylinder engine in the world with 416 HP. While Mercedes hasn't actually lost the power crown, someone has come along and stolen a little of their thunder.

RELATED: 10 Fastest German Cars Around The Nürburgring, Ranked

Poseidon RS 525
Via Twitter

Rather, Poseidon's efforts just serve to highlight just how AMG-designed engines are, boosting power output to 525 HP is quite an achievement and remains reliable. How does the extra power affect performance? A full three-tenths to 60 MPH quicker, recording a time of 3.4-seconds and just edging over the magic 200 MPH barrier.

4 Honda Civic Type-R

Honda Civic Type-R
Via Small Honda

The mighty Civic Type-R, former Nürburgring record holder and a favorite among gearheads with storming performance coming from a 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder motor producing 306 HP. As affordable performance monitoring goes, Honda nailed the balance between power, performance, and surprising practicality, a car for everyone then.

Honda Civic Type-R
Via Six Speed

It wasn't so long that Honda overlooked the US market with their hottest Civic models, but ironically, it made the current model even faster. Not content with 306 HP, California-based Hondata having been tuning Civics for years, their current plug-in-upgrade and revised fuel system unleashes 480 HP, more on racing gas should you fancy taking to the track.

3 Seat Leon Cupra R

Seat Leon Cupra R front quarter picture
Seat

For years, budget-conscious gearheads after some hot-hatch thrills without the cost headed toward their local Seat showroom, the Leon Cupra was after all a badge-engineered Golf GTi. In more recent times, Cupra has become a brand in its own right, diverging from mainstream VW models, separate but somehow still the same.

Siemoneit Racing Cupra
Via Siemoneit Racing

Not quite a Golf, but having more power than the current Golf GTi, the Cupra R poses a bit of a conundrum for gearheads, VW badge prestige, or the more powerful 306 HP offered by Seat? We'd rather take the Seat, especially if Siemoneit Racing has anything to do with it, thoroughly revised exhausts and larger turbos help to unlock 521 HP, surely that's good enough reason?

2 Ford Focus RS

Ford Focus RS
Via Ford Media Centre

The Focus RS might have its origins firmly planted in the mid-sized family hatch camp, but this is a proper sports car, equipped with a 2.3-liter version of Ford's excellent  EcoBoost engine delivering up 350 HP and a top speed of 165 MPH. These very same engines are the ones you'd find under the hood of a Mustang.

Mountune Focus RS
Via Mountune

The threat thing about Ford ownership is the huge number of aftermarket tuners waiting to bolt on a few upgrades for gearheads needing more power. Mountune currently tops the table for usable upgrades, their M520 kit delivering 520 HP should owners feel the need.

RELATED: These Are The Best Modifications For Your Ford Focus RS

1 Audi RS3 Sportback

Audi RS3 Sportback
Via Audi Media Center

Audi's slightly Teutonic way of building cars might seem cold and clinical to some, but there can be no such complaints against the RS models, if anything we think every Audi should be made this way. The proclaimed engine of the year, Audi's 2.5-liter turbo delivers 395 HP in the RS3, only marginally behind the mentally unhinged RS4 of yesteryear.

ABT Audi RS3 Sportback
Via YouTube

Little wonder then, RS3's are seriously quick of the line, all-wheel-drive making the best use of all the power available to hit 60 MPH in 4.1-seconds. You'd think that previous generation Lambo performance would be enough, but clearly, that memo didn't reach ABT. Under the hood armed with a little more than a revised ECU, ABT managed to extract 460 HP before upping the game again to 500 HP.

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