25 hot hatches with a wild side

We like it hot

Call us old-fashioned, but we believe a true hot hatchback should be front-wheel drive, powered by a four-cylinder engine, based on a humble shopping car and have a glass tailgate at the rear.

Others clearly disagree.

Some of the hot hatches featured in this gallery are pretty conventional, while others bend the rules just a little. Take a look at the hot-hatch rule-breakers…

Aston Martin Cygnet V8

Unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Toyota… sorry, Aston Martin Cygnet V8 boasts a power-to-weight ratio of 371hp per tonne and will hit 60mph in 4.2 seconds. Whether you’d feel safe taking the supermini formerly known as the iQ to its 170mph top speed is up for debate, but you have to admire this crazy one-off.

Renault 5 Turbo

If a V8-powered Toyota iQ with a posh badge stretches the definition of a hot hatch, things aren’t going to improve with the Renault 5 Turbo. It had very little in common with the regular Renault 5 parked on the high street, with its unique parts making it extremely expensive to build. This meant it was also expensive to buy, which is why Renault launched a cheaper Turbo 2.

MG Metro 6R4

The MG Metro 6R4: Austin Rover’s supercar and the most bonkers Metro you’ll ever meet. It’s amazing to think that you could buy the 6R4 rally car off-the-shelf for £40,000. Even more amazing was the fact that this mighty Metro sounded like an F1 car, performed like a Ferrari and was talented enough to do battle with any contemporary rally car.

Peugeot 205 T16

It took Jean Todt and his team at Peugeot-Talbot Sport just two years to produce a mid-engined, four-wheel-drive rally car. Yet despite the haste, the 205 T16 proved to be a formidable machine on the rally circuit. The competition car and its road-going equivalent were light years away from the regular 205, but the T16 offered showroom appeal by the lorry-load. In its day, the T16 cost £26,999 – the equivalent of £89,000 today.

Volkswagen Golf W12-650

Probably the most outlandish Golf ever made, the ‘650’ in the Golf W12-650 referred to the car’s power output: 650hp. This was sent to the rear wheels – so not an authentic hot hatch, then – via a six-speed Tiptronic gearbox. It wasn’t just the power that was pumped up to the max: the bodywork is such that it looks almost cartoon-like: too wild to be a reality. Which, of course, it wasn’t. The W12 remains a concept, which is probably good news for the world’s driving licences.

Audi A1 Quattro

For the ultimate Audi A1, forget the 231hp S1 launched in 2015, what you really need is the 256hp A1 Quattro of 2012. Only 333 were built, each one commanding £41,020 when new, so it’s hardly surprising that only 19 were sold in the UK, especially when you consider that it wasn’t available in right-hand drive. Essentially, the A1 Quattro is an S3 in a supermini suit, which means it’s super-quick: 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 152mph.

Renaultsport Clio V6

Not content with building the world’s finest hot hatches, Renault decided it could extract even more from its humble supermini. The Clio V6 was the kind of crazy idea that rarely sees the light of day, yet somehow Renault really did remove the rear seats and stick a 3.0-litre V6 into the back of a supermini. The original Clio V6 developed a reputation for being a little lairy, but the Mk2 was more refined, thanks to a little help from Porsche.

Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport S

Volkswagen has a habit of building special editions to mark important milestones in the history of the Golf GTI, and the Clubsport S was its 40th anniversary present. That it broke the official Nurburgring record for a front-wheel-drive car is largely irrelevant, but the fact that this thing pumped out a whopping 310hp certainly isn’t. Sure, it’s not as wild as the W12, but the Clubsport S had no rear seats and, more importantly, it made production.

Renaultsport Megane 275 Trophy-R

The Megane 275 Trophy-R was another hot hatch with a Nurburgring lap record to its name and is, as the spiritual successor to the R26.R, one of the most hardcore Meganes you could buy. Renaultsport left no stone unturned in pursuit of weight-saving, removing everything from the rear wiper to the back seats. In return, it added Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres, Speedline alloys, Recaro bucket seats, Ohlins adjustable dampers, composite front springs and an Akrapovic titanium exhaust. The subsequent 2019 Trophy-R added carbon fibre wheels, too.

Dodge Shelby Omni GLHS

Who else but Carroll Shelby would build something as bonkers as the Omni GLHS? Powered by a 2,213cc engine mated to a Garrett turbocharger, the 175hp Dodge could hit 60mph in a sports-car-taming 6.7 seconds. Mr Shelby added Koni shocks, 15-inch ‘Centurion’ alloys and Goodyear performance tyres to the mix to create an all-American take on the hot hatch formula. The car pictured was owned by Carroll Shelby himself.

Mazda 323 GT-R

Built for Group A homologation purposes, the Japan-only Mazda 323 GTR was based on the GTX and packed a 210hp punch, stiffer suspension, all-wheel drive, larger brakes and obligatory body enhancements.

Nissan March Super Turbo

In the case of the March Super Turbo, Nissan isn’t guilty of adding unnecessary superlatives to a car’s name. You see, the 930cc Nissan March – or Micra – featured a supercharger and a turbocharger to create a SUPER TURBO. A lowly 110hp might not seem like a lot, but the twin-charged March weighed less than a bag of sugar, helping it to hit 62mph in 7.7 seconds. Not to be confused with the familiar ex-driving school Micra.

Mercedes-AMG A45 S

The Mercedes-AMG A45 S is the most powerful production hot hatch of the modern era. Four hundred and twenty one horsepower. Think about that for a moment – it’s a staggering figure for what is essentially a five-door family hatchback. Our review said: ‘With instant all-wheel traction, fierce power and super-quick upshifts via the paddles, it squeezes your internal organs so hard you forget to breathe’.

AMC Gremlin 401-XR

Only 21 examples of the 6.6-litre AMG Gremlin 401-XR were ever built, with Denwerks Vintage Car Shop creating car number 22 four years ago. In true American style, it was more at home on the quarter-mile than it would be on a B-road, but you’ve gotta love the Stateside take on the hot hatch recipe.

Mazda 3 MPS Extreme

Even in their standard guise, the Mazda 3 and 6 MPS models are spoken about in hushed tones, famed for their no-holds-barred attitude to horsepower. Unveiled in 2007, the 3 MPS Extreme was, ahem… even more extreme, with Mazda squeezing an additional 27hp from the 2.3-litre turbocharged engine. The 282hp Extreme also featured Cootes suspension lowered by 25mm, 19-inch BBS alloys and cosmetic upgrades.

Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme

Back in 2014, when the Vauxhall Astra VXR Extreme broke cover at the Geneva Motor Show, a 300hp front-wheel-drive hot hatch was a big deal. How times have changed. The Extreme also featured extensive use of carbon fibre, aluminium front wings, six-pot Brembo brakes, Hankook tyres, Recaro bucket seats, six-point harnesses and an Alcantara-clad steering wheel. In Renaultsport style, Vauxhall ditched the rear seats for a safety roll bar.

Volkswagen Golf GTI 16S

Many of the cars featured here need to be viewed in the context of the era in which they were built. This is certainly true of the Golf GTI 16S, which is arguably the factory high-performance version Volkswagen should have built. Some 1,600 were made for the French and Swiss markets, with tuning company Oettinger swapping the original eight-valve engine for a light alloy 16-valver. The result was a 0-62mph time of 7.6 seconds and a top speed of 121mph.

Sbarro Super Twelve

The Sbarro Super Twelve – an 80s supercar the size of a Mini. This thing was powered by two six-cylinder 1300cc Kawasaki engines, each with its own five-speed gearbox. With 240hp on tap in a car weighing just 800kg, the performance figures are rather terrifying. A 0-60mph time of 5.0 seconds and a power-to-weight ratio to rival a Lamborghini Countach. What a thing!

Volkswagen Polo R WRC Street by BB

There have been many wild Volkswagen creations over the years – we could have filled the entire gallery with Wörthersee special editions or aftermarket creations. The Polo R WRC Street by BB cost a staggering €41,850, but the performance figures are as astonishing as the price. Total output of 362hp and 376lb ft – more powerful than the Polo WRC rally car! – provided a top speed of 168mph and a 0-62mph time of 5.2 seconds.

Audi RS3

Remember when hot hatches were slightly unhinged, lightweight and relatively affordable? The new Audi RS3 Sportback is light years away from these roots, with a £50,900 price tag, 400hp and a 0-62mph time of 3.8 seconds. It also has daytime running lights that resemble a chequered flag, with the one on the right showing R-S-3 lettering when you unlock the car.

Peugeot 308 R Hybrid

Peugeot unveiled the 308 R Hybrid at the Shanghai Motor Show in 2015, and while a production version wasn’t released, it predicted the hot hatch of the future. By pairing a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine with a couple of electric motors, Peugeot created a 500hp monster, good enough to hit 62mph in 4.0 seconds. Green credentials are provided by CO2 emissions of just 70g/km.

Renault Twin’Run V6

Renault built the 5 Turbo and Clio V6, so why did it stop short of putting the Twin’Run V6 into production? Powered by a 3.5-litre V6 developing 320hp, the Twin’Run paid homage to the Renault 5 courtesy of its headlights and side decals, while the four LEDs are a nod to the light racks used on night specials.

MINI JCW Challenge

Developed in secret at the Mini Plant in Oxford, the JCW Challenge was approved by BMW, but the Germans acted merely as facilitators, letting the Brits run wild. The result was a race-bred Mini featuring Nitron shocks, Mintex brakes, a Quaife limited-slip differential and Team Dynamics wheels. The 2.0-litre turbocharged engine was unchanged, with Mini saying: “It’s not about ultimate speed, but how much fun you have between [the corners].” Only 100 were built, each one costing £32,000.

Nissan Micra 350SR

What, another Nissan Micra? Again, the 350SR is a world away from the Micra driven by your gran, with a 350hp Nismo-fettled 3.5-litre V6 powering the rear wheels, along with a host of upgrades under the bonnet. The project took two years to complete and cost around a quarter of a million pounds to build.

Toyota Aygo Crazy

We conclude with a car that’s Crazy by name and crazy by nature: the Toyota Aygo Crazy. Powered by a mid-mounted and turbocharged MR2-sourced 1.8-litre engine, the Aygo Crazy developed 200hp and cost Toyota a rumoured £100,000 to produce. The GR Yaris is arguably the Aygo’s spiritual successor.