Since the 1970s, the hot hatch has been one of the most beloved archetypes of car. Light, powerful engines, and surprisingly cutting edge technology have made these cars a staple for enthusiasts around the world. And unlike actual sports cars its not too difficult to justify buying a hot hatch, as being built from an economy car chassis means that these cars often share the impressive storage and fuel economy that normal people love. But this article isn’t about those cars, this is about the cars that do all the same things but do not get nearly the love. The sporty and practical sedans that do all the same work but don’t get to claim their heritage.
10. Nissan Sentra SE-R
The history of the Sentra SE-R is about as strange as the car itself. Created in response to the Toyota AE86 of all things, Nissan shoved their trusty SR20DE into their FWD Sentra economy car and gave it a limited slip differential. This first generation, the B13, is sought after mostly just for its engine. Nissan kept using the SR20DE in the SE-R for the next generation (the B14) be we don’t talk about that generation. With the B15 version introduced in 2000, Nissan moved away from the SR20DE, opting to only use that in some “luxury” models. The B15 SE-Rs would get the 2.5L QR25DE from the Altima, and the suspension from a minivan. The B15 generation also introduced the Spec-V trim (pictured), inspired by the V-Spec package on old Skyline GTRs. This package could only be purchased with a 6 speed manual transmission and 17in wheels and gave the car an extra 10hp along with a bunch of other performance enhancing bits. The B16 was the last generation of SE-R, with the only updates being slight changes to the engine that Nissan still uses to this day.
9. Mazda Mazdaspeed 6
The Mazdaspeed 3 is a beloved hot hatch. It has a powerful engine shoved into a Mazda3 hatchback, and like most hot hatches it gets the best of both. But before the Mazdaspeed 3 (surprisingly) there was the Mazdaspeed 6. The 2.3L turbocharged inline 4 of the Mazdaspeed 3 was actually introduced in the Mazdaspeed 6, but with the addition of all wheel drive. Created as Mazda’s answer to the WRX, the Mazdaspeed 6 was a well loved sleeper in its day, and remains this mythical beast today.
8. Toyota Celica
For most of its life, the Celica was very much a sports car. Hell the first four generations of Supra were derived from the Celica, it wasn’t until 1986 that the Supra officially became its own model rather than the top trim of the Celica. The rest of the 4th generation for the car was pretty quiet, but Toyota changed things in 1989. The Supra had taken the RWD sports car nature in the divorce, and left the Celica as a plain coupe, slightly sporty but not enough to challenge the might of the Supra. But in 1989 Toyota Introduced the Celica GT-Four. Still very much a coupe the Celica became a Group-A rally machine. in the early 90s, 200 hp was quite a bit, and he GT-Four ST185 had more than that. This was only improved upon with the 6th generation ST205, striking fear into Ford and Subaru, and doing what the early AWD Golfs could never do. The final gen, it was the sporty sibling of the Corolla, with an aggressive body kit but similar internals. Supposedly Toyota is bringing it back, but I say they already did with the GR Corolla.
7. Hyundai Elantra N
This suspiciously sedan shaped i30N has consistently stunned me every time I’ve seen it. I was first introduced to this car through the honorable sport of autocross, where i watched one get the top time of the day, despite the owner only having had the car for a week. Hyundai stunned everyone when the introduced the Veloster N, and then stunned everyone again when it turned out to be a really good car. The Elantra N takes everything that made the Veloster N great and runs with it. It uses a similar engine and a nearly magic electronic limited slip differential to keep all 276hp going straight to the front wheels, and its upgraded suspension helps to keep the car planted. It shares much of this with the i30N, a bonafide hot hatch.
Despite what Honda nerds love to claim, the original Hot Hatch was the Volkswagen Golf GTI. It did hot hatch things, and it did those things for quite a long time until Volkswagen had an idea. Where the Jetta had always been a more refined version of the Golf, what if they made a more refined version of the GTI? Dubbed the Jetta Grand Luxury Injection from day 1 it did all the same things as the GTI, but as a classy sedan.
5. Subaru WRX
Yes, I know Subaru made WRX hatches, so the WRX doesn’t qualify for this list as it already has a hatchback form, thus making it very much a hatchback. And I am aware that the WRX is a rally inspired sports sedan and is in no way a hatchback and actually outperforms any hatchback ever made. Now that that is out of the way, let me just say that these cars are really fun. I’ve considered buying one a few times but things always seen to work out in favor of other cars. They’re powerful, they have a strong rally heritage, they’re tunable, and hold their own in motorsports today. But why is it a hatchback? Well it only ever seems to compete against them. But what about the EVO? Its the most iconic WRX competitor? Well look below.
4. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions
If you want rally heritage, look no further. There is always some discourse about what EVO is best or if a specific version is a real EVO so let me just say, I have yet to see an iteration of the Lancer Evolution that was not a immensely impressive vehicle. This is yet another case of, “This car is too cool to be a hot hatch”, but I say look at what it is compared to. The only cars that can be directly compared to the Lancer Evolution are the top tier of hot hatches, cars like the Golf R and Focus RS. Sure they aren’t Subarus and don’t have the same rally heritage (even if they do), but the Lancer isn’t good because it was a rally car. It was a rally car because it was so damn good.
3. Audi S3
Now hold up, didn’t I just spend the past 2 cars talking about how qualifying for this list involves the car generally being compared to hot hatches? Yes, yes I did. You might then be quick to point out that this car isn’t compared to hot hatches, as it is in fact a legitimate Luxury Sedan, with the refined interior and class to prove it. Well under all that refinement and class, things start to get suspiciously Volkswagen. For an S car, the engine seems oddly transverse, and that AWD transfer case seems awfully familiar. And where else have I seen an EA888 before? Its awfully cheap for an S trim Audi too, about the same price as the top trim Volkswagens. No, it couldn’t be…. is the Audi S3 actually just a Golf R?
Yes.
And a lot of Golf parts are really expensive because of it.
And I know you can get a S3 hatchback in Europe, but I live in the U.S.A., we don’t get nice things over here.
Why is this here? Because its a WRX that is better in every way. Actual differentials, a more powerful engine, less likely to explode, the WRX STI is famously an amazing car. Everything that made the Lancer Evolutions and the WRX worthy of being on this list can be found in the WRX STI. Subaru has consistently made amazing cars with the STI badge, and they deserve all the rights and privileges of being called a Hot Hatch.
Honorable Mention: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)
Its kinda a hatchback. Undoubtedly the corvette is hot. Even the relatively slow pre-LS versions are incredibly fun and fast cars that punch well above their weight. Where most hot hatches are able to compete with sports sedans and GT cars worth twice as much money, the Corvette competes with super cars. If you look at versions like the Z06 and ZR1, it can outperform super cars. How is it a hatchback though? It has a funny trunk and an unreasonable amount of storage for a sports car.
1. Honda Civic Si
When it comes to hot hatches, nobody does it quite as well as the Civic Si. An early adopter of the limited slip differential, and favoring light weight over high power engines it has been a tuning and motorsports staple for its entire life, while still being something practical enough that your grandmother could feel comfortable driving one. It might not be the first, but it is often regarded to be one of the best hot hatches ever made, so why the hell does Honda refuse to make it as a Hatchback?
There are plenty of iterations where the Si is a coupe or a sedan, but scarcely in its history is the Si a proper hatchback. The early 80s versions were definitely hatchbacks, but as time went on the Civic more often took the form of a coupe or sedan, and the Si with it. Despite this, Honda has often made an effort to make the Type R a hatchback, largely why it was left off this list. Even the current version of the Civic, despite Honda making a Civic hatch, the Si is only available as a Sedan. The Type R in contrast, is only available as a hatchback. So yeah, it belongs on this list.
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