Irish Times best buys: Hot Hatchbacks

We’ve reached the half-way point of the year, and this, the Ford Focus RS is still the best car we’ve driven in 2016. Let’s not forget that this is a year which includes the BMW M2, Audi R8 V10 Plus and the new turbocharged Porsche 911. In pure driving terms, the bright blue Ford beats them all. It’s a classic fast hatch recipe - a big (2.3-litre) engine turbocharged up to 350hp driving all four wheels with equal vim. Sounds simple, but what’s amazing is that Ford has actually fitted the Focus RS with a NASA-grade electronic control system that actually replicates an old-fashioned, analogue way of driving. So, in fast corners, the all-drive RS actually feels more like an old-school rear-drive coupe. On track, with the hilarious Drift Mode engaged, it feels like the best toy in the toybox, yet in ‘Normal’ mode it’s (almost) softly sprung enough, and certainly roomy enough, to be used as a day-to-day driver. It’s ballistic, bombastic and a little bit bad (in the good sense).

Best buy: Focus RS from €52,600. Focus RS prices start at €52,600.

PCP packages start from €POA a month.

Read the review: Ford Focus RS – a hot and peerless hatchback

Should we have had the mighty Golf GTI in this slot? Possibly - after all, this is the hot Golf’s 40th anniversary and we all know what they say about life kicking off at 40… But the fast Skoda just seems like a much more appealing car, especially now that you can have a 230hp version with the same trick front differential that makes the Performance Pack Golf GTI so alluring. Thus equipped, it’s fast, fun, safe, secure and seriously practical. And that perhaps is why it supplants the Golf in this list. That massive boot and those roomy back seats, and the option of the ever-more capacious estate body, mean that the Octavia RS really can be all things to all people. Practical family wagon during the week, favourite back-roads tool at the weekend. All that, plus diesel and 4x4 options and it’s handsome too.

Best buy: Octavia RS230 TSI from €35,995. Octavia RS prices start at €33,495.

PCP packages start from €347 a month.

There are two levels of 308 GTI. There is the standard model, with 250hp from its wonderful 1.6-litre turbo engine, and standard suspension and powertrain. And it’s fine. Fast, pretty and well made and not at all bad. But it’s not all that special either. But then there’s the 270hp version. 20 extra horse power is only the start, because this version has been breathed on by the magicians at Peugeot Sport, and they know a thing or two about making a great racing car. 205 T16 anyone? Or Le Mans-winning 980 HDI V12? With trickier suspension, a clever front differential and other Peugeot Sport tweaks, the 308 GTI really comes to life. It’s genuinely fast, properly furious when you want it to be, but can also do the relaxed Grands Routier thing when you like. Possibly not quite as accomplished an all-rounder as a Golf GTI or Octavia RS, but engaging, agile and very, very pretty.

Best buy: 308 GTI 270 from €39,990. 308 GTI Prices start at €36,990.

PCP packages start from €POA a month.

Now we are into the realm of the truly oddball, but stick around and you might find that the hot Mini estate is curiously satisfying. The old Clubman was a strange, slightly extended Mini hatch with an odd rear-hinged extra door on the drivers’ side. This version is a conventional estate, and is hardly a proper Mini any more (it’s properly long, in fact) but it’s roomy (sufficiently so for day-to-day family work) and arguably better built than any previous Mini model. In Cooper S form you get 192hp from a 2.0-litre turbo engine, and you can even have a six-speed automatic gearbox if you like. Thus equipped, the Clubman is a car with a strange mix of abilities - one with premium-standard interior layout and build, rapid (if not exactly manic) thrust, gorgeously balanced steering and handling and plenty of room in the back for the kids. It’s a slightly strange car, but equally strangely appealing.

Best buy: Clubman Cooper S from €35,360. Clubman Prices start at €29,100.

PCP packages start from €POA a month.

The current MkVII Golf GTI is one of the very best performance cars you can buy - handsome, practical and genuinely rapid. Which is all good news, but the better news is that the previous MkVI generation GTI was damn near as quick, damn near as good to drive and can be snapped up for much less money as a second hand purchase. Obviously, as with any performance model, you need to check carefully to make sure that it hasn’t been modified or thrashed, but aside from that, the Golf GTI is a ruggedly built car with few major issues. Hesitant or ‘lumpy’ idling usually means a coil pack replacement, while the electronic handbrakes can be troublesome, and excessive rear tyre wear is not uncommon. Cambelts have to be changed at 130,000km so make sure that’s been done if it’s a high-miler. A full service history. preferably from a VW main dealer, is vital.

Best buy: 2012 Golf GTI for circa €20,000