The best handling front-wheel-drive cars

This is because of the amount of grip and balance offered. But hey don’t hold a monopoly – and many excellent cars to drive have been built whose engines drive just the front wheels – these are some of the best:

In the 1990s, Mazda had the MX-3, Vauxhall had the Tigra, Fiat gave us the Barchetta, and in 1997, Ford offered the Puma, designed by Ian Callum. While it was available in 1.4, 1.6 and 1.7-litre variants, the 123bhp Yamaha-developed 1.7-litre was the option people favoured and would haul the 1039kg kerb weight to 62mph from rest in just over 9sec. 

Underneath was a chassis from a fourth-generation Fiesta with uprated suspension and a lower and wider track, which gave darty handling. A rarer Racing Puma arrived in 1999, to meet rally homologation regulations, with wider arches, uprated camshafts and exhaust, as well as stiffer suspension, and around 30bhp extra.

Described by many as the best-handling front-wheel drive car ever made; the Integra Type R was the benchmark for Type Rs that would follow for years to come. The large rear wing reduced lift by 30 percent while an aero lip at the front kept things stable at higher speeds. Its chassis had a reinforced subframe and additional spot welds to boost rigidity, 15in alloys helped the double-wishbone suspension to find its flow and the windscreen was 10 per cent thinner to help keep weight low.

Mini has come far with the Cooper range nowadays but the original Cooper was where it earned its famous go-kart handling and ‘giant killer’ status. A rubber cone suspension set-up was used instead of conventional springs which gave a raw and bumpy ride and all four wheels were pushed out to each corner while a low centre of gravity, and short wheel travel, allowed the Cooper to deliver sharp cornering. More powerful ‘S’ models were released in 1963 with a more powerful 1.1-litre powerplant and larger disc brakes.

While we’re used to Lotus giving us rear-wheel drive sportscars, the M100 was Lotus’ front-wheel drive answer to the big-selling Mazda MX-5. Lotus used a lightweight composite body which was attached to a rigid steel backbone chassis, the front suspension had a double wishbone set up and a “compliance raft” was attached to the chassis with stiff bushes to help reduce torque steer. Unfortunately, many purists couldn’t see past the idea of a front-wheel drive Lotus and sales flopped with only 4700 cars being produced. Kia later picked up the design and sold 1056 examples in South Korea and Japan.

While many Renaultsport cars could make our list, the iconic 182 Trophy offered the compact feel of the Williams with modern 200 Cup performance. Renault Sport engineers took the already fizzy 182 Cup and added Sachs remote reservoir rally-like dampers to the front axle, giving optimised body control and little to no flex under hard cornering. Renaultsport then added hydraulic bump stops and chopped 10mm from the ride height. Vigorous cornering meant the 182 Trophy would lift its rear rather than understeer.

Available with either a 104bhp 1.6-litre or a 130bhp 1.9-litre, the 205 GTi had McPherson front struts and a compact trailing arm setup at the rear, combined with communicative steering, allowing it to rival some bigger and more powerful cars in handling. The 1.9-litre offered suspension tweaks to reduce pitch and roll and combat the understeer that could be found on earlier 1.6 cars. It became increasingly popular because of its price-performance ratio and is still considered one of the world’s best front-wheel drive cars to this day.

The Honda Civic Type R and Renaultsport Megane 275 Trophy-R were extreme but Volkswagen took it a step further when they upped their GTI and removed the rear seats, freeing up 30kg. 306bhp and bespoke damper tuning, more camber, a lightweight front aluminium subframe and bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyres meant the Clubsport S was the quickest front-wheel drive Golf yet. A front splitter and rear wing generated a little amount of downforce which neutralized the 60kg of lift that was once produced by the GTI Performance. This gave the Clubsport S impeccable chassis balance and even promoted oversteer. 

Just as everyone was getting used to the Mk2 Focus RS, Ford then added 45bhp and resurrected the RS500 badge which, as the name suggested, meant only 500 examples of the Focus RS500 would be built. Although the chassis remained untouched from the base Focus RS, an LSD was equipped to help manage the extra power and claw the car around bends, and it would even lift the rear wheel if pushed hard enough. By trailing the brakes toward a corner with the ESP turned off, you could encourage the rear into helping adjust the cornering line.

From the 90s the 2010s the compact hot hatchback market was booming, with cars like the Suzuki Swift Sport and Fiat Panda 100hp being vastly popular. Whilst the original Ford Ka lacked performance with its 1.0-litre and 1.3-litre engines, Ford extracted 94bhp from the 1.6-litre for the SportKa. It then underwent chassis changes such as a 22mm wider front track to improve road holding, stiffened bushes, extra bracing, a suspension drop of 14mm and an anti-roll bar that was stiffened by 60 per cent. This meant the SportKa was eager to respond to the slightest of input.

Claimed to be one of the best-handling cars of the 1970s, the Alfasud was let down by questionable build quality which later led to the Golf GTI becoming the favourite. The Alfasud was amongst the first cars to boast four-wheel disc brakes and roll-free handling thanks to its low-slung boxer architecture, MacPherson front strut suspension and a cleaver beam rear axle tied to a Watts linkage which acted as a giant anti-roll bar. This resulted in a well-planted and chuckable car with great road holding.

By adding a roll cage and a carbon fibre bonnet, replacing the rear windows with polycarbonate, removing the rear seats, and removing the radio and the passenger airbag, Renaultsport managed to shave 123kg from the old Megane RS with the R26R. The spring rates, front and rear, were over 10 percent softer while the uprated dampers and springs gave better stability and control through the corners. Renault kept the differential from the normal car but fitted the R26R with Toyo tyres which gave it masses of grip.

When Seat opted for a front-wheel drive layout for the ST280, they used an electronic differential that could send up to 100 percent of its torque to the outside wheel via a hydraulic clutch. This meant that speed could be preserved at all four corners and that the driver could flatten the throttle out of a bend and experience very little torque steer. The ST280 sat 25mm lower than the regular Leon S, allowing it to hug the road, but buyers could have an optional Performance Pack, aimed more at a track day audience, which included 2.1kg lighter alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Sport Cup 2 rubber.

Ford created a fast family car with the Mondeo ST200; it was something that had sharp, responsive steering and firm suspension, carefully set up by Ford engineers, and sat low enough to take corners with gusto while also providing passengers with comfort. 17in wheels sat firmly inside the arches, helping to create the ST200’s aggressive stance. The 2.5-litre V6 was revised from the ST24 which saw the power rise from 167bhp to 202bhp.

You can’t go wrong with any Civic Type R in Honda’s range; they’ll all offer sublime handling and reliability – but we’re focusing on the FK2 here. Honda adopted a dual-axis front suspension set-up with adaptive damping to help control all 306bhp that’s fed through the front wheels. Grip was provided by 19in wheels that were wrapped in Continental tyres. The +R mode chilled the ESP a bit and stiffened the suspension by 30% which, on smooth tarmac, made for a driver-involving experience.

Fiat claimed that the Abarth 695 was the world’s smallest supercar. Buyers could opt for a dog ring H-pattern gearbox mated to a limited-slip differential while racing seats with a four-point harness, roll-cage and 187bhp turbocharged 1.4-litre were standard. By removing the rear seats and adding rally-like netting, Fiat saved 38kg, giving the 695 a total weight of 997kg. An additional 5mm of offset was added to either side which gave an increased track width of 10mm, while the Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres offered a plethora of grip. 

It was only fair that the Mk1 Golf GTI had its place on our list due to its sure-footed stability and nerve-holding stance when it came to bigger rear-wheel drive cars of the same era. In comparison to the normal Golf, Volkswagen gave the GTI stiffer suspension (both dampers and springs), anti-roll bars and they dropped it 20mm closer to the road. Its unassisted steering offered plenty of feedback and the car could make decent pace down a B-road thanks to its 840kg weight and 110bhp on tap – helping to start a legend that, with blips along the way, continues to this day.

While there were a few front-wheel drive cars to choose from in the 1990s, the Alfa 145, Seat Ibiza Cupra and Renault Clio Williams among many, Peugeot raised the bar for the hot hatch market once again with the 306 GTI-6 and 106 GTi. The 106 GTi was gifted with the usual hot hatchback recipe: MacPherson struts linked by an anti-roll bar, a torsion bar, and an additional anti-roll bar at the rear. Peugeot extracted 120bhp from the 1.6-litre powerplant, which only had 950kg to cart around, resulting in a small but capable car in a B-road blast.

The Celica T-Sport was the flagship in the range and the chassis was described by many as both brilliant and alert. It was introduced just as the Integra Type R and Ford Racing Puma were leaving the party, earning its “best handling front-wheel drive” title rather quickly thanks to its low-slung physique and engine-speed-sensing power steering system, which allowed the driver to tune in to the front wheels. While the chassis remained untouched from previous Celicas, the engine power was raised from 143bhp to 190bhp.

Like the Golf and the Polo, the Lupo GTI gained quite a cult following due to its downright feistiness and high fun factor. It received uprated springs and dampers and the ride height was dropped by 20mm over the normal Lupo giving it a road-hugging stance. Fat tyres and a small wheelbase made for sharp turn-in which in return made it a hoot to drive while understeer was predictable. The 1.6-litre pumped out 125bhp and gave an 8.2sec 0-62mph time.

There are various choices for a modern hot hatch but if you can pry yourself away from the popular and well-priced Fiesta ST then the Hyundai i20N may be worth a look. 206bhp is channelled through a limited-slip differential while the 18in alloys are wrapped in Pirelli P Zero tyres as standard. Sturdier front knuckles plus more negative camber and more chassis bracing mean the i20N can provide great cornering confidence albeit with mild torque steer on more cambered roads.