Securing its place among the hot hatch royalty, Audi created possibly the best hot hatch there ever was. The R26.R was a hardened version of the previously-launched Megane Renault F1 Team R26 launched to commemorate the F1 successes.The R26.R was to the Megane range what the Porsche GT3 RS is to 911’s – lightened, hardened and styled for the track. We round up some of history’s best and most exciting pocket rockets.Nothing else on the road offers as much practicality and performance as a hot hatch.These days, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world where we don’t have sporty hatchbacks, such is their beloved, revered status among car enthusiasts.Inevitably, dozens of discussions happen in offices, race circuits and pubs across the world, all of which centre around the hot hatches that stand out from the rest.Here’s our list of hot hatches that define the breed; yes, we’ve tried to rank the best hot hatches of all-time, and considering there’s so much to choose from, it wasn’t easy. It is a spectacular machine.When this arrived in 1975, the hot hatch recipe was fresh and new.

".Rally heritage makes the 1980s Delta highly desirable. But it also commissioned Lotus to build a rally version of the car, which was unveiled in 1979 and proved highly successful. The HF Integrale picked up competition technology and incorporated it into a road car. It is, without exaggeration, one of the most iconic cars of all time.The 205 GTI is another lightweight, superbly-fettled hatch with more than enough power to classify it as a daily use missile. The Lancia Delta HF Integrale is not only a great hot hatch, but also one of the best race-bred road cars the world has seen.And sure enough, for the second generation of the Fiesta, the XR2 was a winner all round. The engine lineup grew to include 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre units.It was the MK3 Golf GTI where things started to go wrong: too much weight and too much focus on comfort. While the handling of the car is superb, we think it’s the engines that really made the car special, with the revvy, hyperactive 1.6 and the slightly less vigorous 1.9 with superior pull, both being wonderful motors.Over 30 years after launch, the 205 GTI is still a benchmark which many hot hatches are put up against, and if that isn’t the mark of an all-time great, we don’t know what is.Browse the businesses in your area and find what is perfect for you.If you are searching for a job around your local area, use our online system.Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article. The greatest hot hatchbacks of all time The greatest 1990s hot hatchbacks A lack of driver aids coupled with modern engine technology made 90s hot hatchbacks great – here’s our top 10 Some ground rules! The hot-hatch formula is simple: take an ordinary family five-door (or sometimes three) and give it the surprise-and-delight performance and handling of a sports car.The Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6 (1984-94) has been voted the Greatest Hot Hatch of All Time. It happens a lot.The second-generation Golf put on a few pounds, but it still had the right stuff: it was relatively fast, pleasingly simple and was still showered with praise from critics. It featured a powerful 2.0-litre turbo engine, short gearing and a combination of viscous coupling and locking rear differential for tenacious on-road handling.The first Integrale was an eight-valve model, but a 16-valve version was developed for rallying and a subsequent roadgoing model.As famous for its enormous rear wing as its performance and handling, the Escort Cosworth (1992-96) picked up the powertrain from the previous Sierra Cosworth and repackaged it in a homologation special for Ford's World Rally Championship (WRC) contender.The car's 162kW output seems tame now, but that wing wasn't just for show: the Cossie was one of the first production cars to produce proper downforce at high speed.The car that started it all: the Golf was only ever intended to be an economical family hatchback, but a small group of enthusiasts at the company decided to create a 'Sport Golf', using an uprated version of an Audi 1.6-litre engine and giving it firm, sporty suspension.The Golf GTI went on sale in Europe in 1976 and created a sensation. List of the best Hatchbacks of all time in terms of reliability, performance and looks, with photos. Not to mention an entire genre of vehicles.The Clio Williams was never sold in New Zealand, but any enthusiast who picked up a British car magazine in the 1990s would have been unable to escape the prose of praise for this pocket rocket.Renault launched the car in 1993 as strictly limited run of 3800, promising to make no more. Hot hatchbacks provide the best of all worlds – performance, practicality, cheap running costs and above all, fun. A roadgoing version appeared in 1980 and was also highly acclaimed.But it was only a flash of brilliance: the Scottish plant that built the Sunbeam was unprofitable and closed its doors in 1981.The best of the best: Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6 lives up to its reputation as the top hot-hatch of all time.Lancia's rally expertise produced the iconic Delta HF Integrale road car.

Image 1 of 10. It is lightweight, and thanks to that, its 76bhp packs quite the punch. But we had a go….The 197bhp Type-R was one of the few great hot hatches of the early-2000’s, becoming renowned for its eager, near-constant three-wheeling while steering at the limit, with the likes of Jeremy Clarkson remarking that the car was ‘cocking its leg’ much like a small dog.The car was a serial award winner among the motoring press, and cemented the Civic Type-R as a prime hot hatch after the previous success of the EK9.The car that provided much of that success was the Lancia Delta HF Integrale, which won three World Rally Championship titles in 1988, 1989 and 1991.The road-going version of the rally car retained its four-wheel-drive system, as well as much of its handling prowess and performance ability.