The 5 Best Hot Hatches Make Every Road a Track

Ford finally brought the Focus RS (base MSRP $35,900) to the U.S. instead of strictly selling it overseas and it’s a seriously good car. The Focus RS is packed with technology, almost all of which adjusts how the car drives, sounds and rides. Beneath the hood is a 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine that puts out 350 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque to all-four wheels via a snappy 6-speed manual transmission. Flip on the drift mode and you can do your best impersonation of Ken Block. Otherwise, you can let the car spit and snarl in sport or track mode or cruise along inconspicuously in normal mode.

Ford isn’t the only company making an all-wheel drive hot hatch. VW has been producing the Golf R (base MSRP $39,375) for several years now and the car just keeps getting better. It’s equally at home shooting down the interstate or whipping around a curvy road. The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine pumps out 292 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque. That’s more than enough power for this hatchback to be fun on the road or the track.

MINI is known for sporty, fun-to-drive cars and with the Cooper Works models, the brand ups the ante. The MINI Cooper Works Hardtop 2 Door (base MSRP $30,900) is perhaps its most fun offering, boasting improved performance over the base MINI Hardtop 2 Door thanks to suspension upgrades and a boost in power. The Cooper Works version of the car gets a 2.0-liter twin-turbocharged four-cylinder engine that pushes out 228 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque. The car also receives some minor aesthetic upgrades to tone down MINI’s cuteness for a more performance-minded look.

Need a little Italian excitement in your life? You don’t need to go to Italy to get it, just get a Fiat 500 Abarth (base MSRP $22,575). The 500 Abarth delivers all the excitement you need in a compact easy-to-drive, easy-to-love package. With an angrily sonorous exhaust note and a peppy 1.4-liter turbocharged engine that produces 160 hp and 170 lb-ft of torque, you’ll simply never get bored with this car. Available in either coupe or cabrio forms, the 500 Abarth makes it easy to enjoy yourself no matter what road you’re driving on.

Ford took its boring littlest hatchback and made it riotously fun by stuffing a turbocharged engine under the hood and equipping it with sport-tuned suspension. The Fiesta ST's (base MSRP $20,970) 1.6-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder isn’t as impressive as the Focus RS’s mill, but it still manages to put out 197 hp and 202 lb-ft of torque. That amount of power paired with the torque vectoring system that kicks in during the turns makes Ford’s littlest hot hatch better in the twisties than basically all other cars at its price point.