Best Small Hot Hatches

Think small cars and you’d be forgiven for conjuring images of nippy runarounds, compact city slickers or affordable models… then again, you’d also be forgiven for thinking of hot hatches.

The art of wedging a powerful engine into a light, pint-size body has been a fascination for car enthusiasts for decades now, ever since feathery heavyweights like the original Volkswagen Golf GTi and Peugeot 205 GTi were laying down rubber.

With punchy performance, nimble handling and uprated features, hot hatches that dialled the fun factor to 11 have earned a cult following ever since with numerous legends of the discipline emerging over the years.

Today, the hot hatch scene is quite a different landscape with electric models – with their instantaneous throttle response and rapid linear acceleration – re-writing the hot hatch rulebook.

That’s not the say there aren’t more traditional options out there too though, as our Best Small Hot Hatches at Vertu ranking show…

MINI John Cooper Works

The original MINI very famously punched above its weight. Literally…

It might not have been the quickest car out there, but it’s low weight and pin-sharp handling made it riotously more fun to drive than other cars of its time that were more powerful, but also comparatively heavy and cumbersome.

Fast-forward to now and the modern-day MINI has not only harnessed the same go-kart-like driving thrills as the original, but it’s now mated to a powerful engine that gets the very best from it.

The result is the scorching 254bhp MINI John Cooper Works, which accelerates to 62mph in just 5.9secs and handles on a pivot. And that is just the petrol version…

For even more power, go electric to get the full 296bhp experience, complete with 5.4secs 0-62mph sprint and still 243-miles of range.

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Toyota GR Yaris

Such is Toyota’s ubiquitousness across the automotive industry that as well as developing models that are reliable, good quality and can cross deserts without breaking a sweat, it is also known for its performance models.

Indeed, its Gazoo Racing motorsport arm has been a successful fixture in series’ as diverse as the World Endurance Championship – including multiple Le Mans 24 Hours wins – the Dakar Rally and NASCAR in recent years.

However, it is its immense success in the World Rally Championship – six drivers’ titles in the past seven years – that inspires its raciest UK model, the Toyota GR Yaris.

Generating 280bhp from its turbocharged 1.6-litre three-cylinder engine, the GR Yaris hot hatch has been meticulously tuned to be considered one of the finest handling cars ever produced.

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Volkswagen Polo GTI

Ford RS, Renaultsport, Vauxhall VXR, Hyundai N, Toyota GR… there have been myriad famous names to denote a brand’s performance models, but arguably none come close to matching up to Volkswagen’s GTI.

Indeed, the GTI nameplate has graced some classic ‘VeeDubs’ over the decades, not least today’s VW Polo GTI, which is arguably the closest current descendent of its iconic ancestor in terms of size and power.

Equipped with a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, while the Polo GTI’s 207bhp output is ‘warm’ in this ‘hot’ company, as history has shown, you don’t need excessive power to have immense fun.

And besides, 0-62mph in 6.5secs is still rapid, while the 17-inch alloy wheels, sports bumpers, chrome exhausts and liberal GTI badging means you’ll definitely look great however fast you’re going.

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MG4 XPOWER

For a sure sign of what electric power can mean for hot hatches, just take one look at the MG4 XPOWER with its enormous 429bhp output.

Power comes from a 64kWh battery that propels one 201bhp motor on the front axle and a 228bhp motor on the rear axle. With instant electric torque, 62mph will pass by in less than four seconds.

Keeping things in check are larger, ventilated disc brakes front and rear, retuned steering and torque vectoring to handle stability under hard acceleration.

While the MG4 XPOWER doesn’t entirely shout about its immense performance potential on the surface, check out the telltale orange brake callipers showing through five-spoke alloy wheels for a subtle hint.

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CUPRA Born VZ

Much like the MG4, while the CUPRA Born majors as a practical, economical and tech-savvy electric hatchback in standard trim, upgrade to the CUPRA Born VZ and you’ll get an altogether different beast.

Indeed, as the sport-oriented spin-off of SEAT and the wider Volkswagen Group, it was perhaps inevitable the CUPRA Born would be getting a high-performance flagship to capitalise on its racy image.

Shorthand for ‘veloz’ – the Spanish word for fast – the VZ packs 322bhp from its 79kWh battery. It also eschews the temptation for dual-motors to make it all-wheel drive, the Born VZ instead thriving on the road as a nimble, rear-wheel drive hot hatch.

While the upgrades on the outside are subtle, the Born still has an appealingly understated sophistication about it. It is also a premium place to spend time when you step inside.

And don’t assume all that power means compromised range – the Born VZ will still go almost 370-miles on a single charge.

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Vauxhall Mokka GSE

And now for something a little different… the Vauxhall Mokka GSE, which is a hot hatch SUV. Trust us, it’s not as bizarre as it sounds.

While the moniker is plucked from Vauxhall’s rich back catalogue of performance models, today the GSE nameplate now stands for Grand Sport Electric, which is the first clue that this model challenges the convention of what makes a hot hatch.

Transforming the already striking Mokka into a meaner, more muscular creation with its 20-inch alloy wheels, 10mm lower ride height and yellow callipers, Vauxhall have followed through with a limited-slip differential, stiffer suspension and uprated brakes.

With its 54kWh battery generating 277bhp, the Mokka GSE might be an SUV but it still does an excellent impression as a hot hatch – just a day-to-day, more practical one.

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