Hot hatches for all weather conditions | Six of the best

The rise of the all-weather hot hatch with AWD seemed long overdue considering everyone’s favorite faster segment has been alive and kicking for at least half a century. Of course, the concept was hampered for a long time by the cost implications: manageable when selling homologated WRC specials, not so much elsewhere. But the influx of JDM imports in the mid-1990s and the astonishing performance improvements regardless of the conditions left a deep impression on the European market. Audi launched the S3 in 1999; ten years later it broke the glass ceiling with the inline-five RS3. The first proved the effectiveness of on-demand AWD in a hot hatch; the latter showed what a ton of sonic fun and power could do for the quattro format. The concept has moved on much faster in the intervening years, but an original RS3 will still go places beyond belief in the real world. And not for much money either.

Fast forward another decade and you get all kinds of things, but probably nothing as ‘out there’ as Toyota’s inimitable version of a fire-breathing supermini. The Yaris was originally intended for rallying, although it was the company’s standing start (it had exactly no recent experience with hot hatches or performance AWD) and its willingness to essentially remake the standard model was almost unbelievable. It hardly needs reminding that the result was an instant legend: the GR was fun and blisteringly fast in almost equal measure. The popularity has kept prices steady, but also means there’s plenty to choose from, although none are as temptingly cheap as some of the others listed here. Yet you are almost certainly looking at one of the last large hatchbacks with a combustion engine. It is a premium well spent.

Although Toyota didn’t specifically reference the Focus RS when the GR Yaris launched, it seems impossible that it didn’t provide some sort of spiritual reference point. We say this because, even though Ford’s own rallying heritage is untouchable, the latest RS felt like it was conceived in a laboratory. One staffed by hooligans with GKN tattoos and unmodulated Haribo addictions. Easy to forget now, but the Torque Vectoring system was groundbreaking – and modestly controversial at the time. Sure, the hatchback it was mated to wasn’t a paragon of driving perfection (generally its predecessor was more fun to drive), but once it got under your skin, the RS tended to go straight to your head. And since the furor has long since died down, they now look like vaguely good value for money – especially if you find one of the many cherished by a confirmed Blue Oval fanatic. This is what this one looks like.

If the Focus’s pranks sound about as appealing as eating cardboard for breakfast, then of course you could spend considerably less on the cleverly buttoned-down A45. The original model was built specifically to challenge the RS3’s rise to greatness and had no right to be as good as it was: after all, AMG had no more claim to automatic greatness than Toyota did a decade later. But he soon discovered how to get a huge amount of power from a modest four-cylinder, and how to make it work fascinatingly well with a 4MATIC all-wheel drive system. Arguably better even than Audi had done at the time – which was a trick considering how boring the underlying A-Class had to drive. Plus, at least Mercedes hasn’t gone crazy with the body kit to begin with, meaning you can have one that almost qualifies as a Q car. For less than €17,000. Bargain.

Although Subaru undeniably helped kick-start the rise of all-wheel-drive performance cars – and produced some of the best examples – by the time it launched the third-generation Impreza in 2007, Subaru had been caught out and overtaken by a number of European rivals blessed with deeper pockets and smarter design departments. Nevertheless, there was still a lot to like about its inimitable flat-four and the quirks of the symmetrical AWD – especially if you manage to track down one of the rarer STI 330S examples produced by Prodrive. Admittedly, modernity and comfort are not found in the Impreza’s wheelhouse, but if you like earthy sensations and no shortage of speed, there is really nothing comparable. This hasn’t come very far in recent years, which should mean there is an opportunity to get away with the asking price.

Finally, a legend, but not the one you see on every corner. Other like-minded cars came before the Golf R – not least VW’s own six-cylinder forebears – but perhaps none of them cemented the concept of a usable all-weather hot hatch like the suspiciously affordable Mk7 did. There was a period when it seemed to be just about everyone’s daily driver with access to more exotic things in the garage. Its immediate predecessor, while not as fast, laid the foundation for that drinkable goodness, and is considerably rarer – especially in a low-mileage, one-owner condition like the one about to go under the PH hammer. It won’t be for everyone, dressed head to toe in black, but it is cherished as a member of the family and has years of life left in it. At the right price, a Christmas miracle.