Having pretty much invented the hot hatchback, Volkswagen continues to blanket the segment with a range of them for every pocket and predilection. We've covered the uniformly excellent Golf GTI before, and the quick but frugal diesel Golf GTD, so today we're looking at three others from the top to bottom of the range.

Sadly, only one of them is likely to come to the U.S., and even that's not officially official. It's the Golf R (rumors suggest that it will be called R20 if and when it makes it to the States). Motor Trend's editors adored the 2008 Golf R32, and this is its replacement.

Alongside the Golf R, we have the Scirocco R. This uses a coupe-like bodyshell over the Golf chassis. Essentially the long-awaited successor to the Corrado, it shares almost the same mechanical package as the Golf R with the notable exception that it's front-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive.

Finally, there's the Polo GTI. The Polo is VW's subcompact, again a car not sold in the U.S., but we're keen to see whether VW can shrink the GTI format into a car of Mini Cooper S size. It's got an intriguing powertrain: a tiny 1.4-liter direct-injected four with both a supercharger and a turbo, linked to VW's seven-speed DSG.

While Volkswagen GTIs are developed and built in house by the VW mothership, the R models are the responsibility of a newly created subsidiary known as Volkswagen R GmbH. From now on, it will be responsible for all R-branded vehicles, just as Quattro GmbH is the Audi business unit developing, specifying, and marketing all the RS models and the R8. Of course, BMW has been doing the same thing with the M division for years, as has Mercedes with AMG. Because Volkswagen R is the new kid on the block, it's too much to expect its cars to be so far separated from the mainstream just yet.

So the Golf R doesn't have a wide body like Ford's Focus RS, nor bespoke suspension arms. The basic chassis -- simple struts at the front and a four-link rear -- is like any other Golf. The all-wheel-drive system has an electronic differential, pretty much like the Audi TT. And the engine is also shared with the TT S -- a turbocharged direct-injection 2.0-liter four making 266 horsepower.

That's a change from the R32 predecessor that employed VW's 3.2-liter narrow-angle V-6. That six-ender sure was a sweet motor, with a delightfully alert response to every change in throttle position right through the rev-range. But it was a heavy unit, and it had also reached the end of the road in emissions compliance. The four-cylinder turbo is lighter (which benefits handling agility), more economical, and cleaner. And it goes faster.

There's not a lot wrong with the character of the new engine. The torque curve is steeper, so you need to be more attentive with the gears, but use the torque well and you've got a huge well of easy corner-exit thrust. And as fours go, it makes a charismatic noise when you wind it out toward redline, while remaining civilized enough for long-distance cruising. So while it doesn't have the instant throttle response of that big-capacity six, among its peers it is pretty quick-witted.

It's available with a six-speed DSG transmission but our tester was equipped with the standard six-speed manual. DSG might have been fun for its near-instantaneous shifts, and the manual lever has a slightly clunky action. But even so, manual shifts are never a chore because the clutch and throttle pedals are so precise.

Another option our tester went without is a three-program adaptive chassis. We never felt deprived by its absence, for the standard damping setup is extremely well-sorted. It was easily able to hold the car in check during a bout of medium-duty circuit work, yet allowed the tires to maintain good contact on stretches of cresting, bumpy roadway.

The steering feel is also well-damped in that German way, but you soon realize the R is mighty agile, with more of a spring in its step than the old R32. You very, very seldom feel hampered by understeer, and if you do, then a very slight throttle-lift followed by a firm re-application of the power will settle things to get the rear tires working to balance the two ends nicely. So it's a very easy car to drive quickly. But despite the ability of the center diff to channel almost all the torque rearwards in extreme circumstances, it basically feels like a front-drive car with huge traction, as opposed to the more playful and rear-biased Subaru WRX or Mitsubishi Evo.

Strangely, for playing slithering games on a track, the Scirocco R is more obliging. While it has fundamentally the same drivetrain and chassis as the Golf R, it's front-drive only. (It also loses 5 horsepower, but what's that marginal difference between friends, especially when its 250 pounds lighter?) The body is Volkswagen's not-for-the-U.S. Scirocco coupe, but despite the lower roofline it shares its wheelbase with the Golf and for our purposes it fits within the definition of a hot hatch: roomy rear seats and a tailgate.

Volkswagen dialed into the Scirocco R chassis an unusually tail-happy attitude. Turn in to an off-camber corner with a flick of the wheel and the car rotates so sharply there's time to wheel on a dose of corrective lock before the ESP kicks in. The electronic simulated LSD (VW calls it XDS) is effective at canceling understeer on the way out of bends, too.

If you're prepared for all this, the Scirocco R is a fun car, but on the road the chassis often feels less polished and more ragged than the Golf R's. Despite -- or perhaps because of -- its electronic dampers, it is less able to cope with high-frequency undulations, which induce a brittle wheel-hopping motion.

So the Golf R emerges as the highest expression of the philosophy Volkswagen first demonstrated in 1976 with the Mk1 GTI, and first imported to the U.S. in 1983 (when the Motor Trend test just got under 10 seconds for 0-60 mph). The Golf R is a magnificently useable everyday compact, with superb perceived quality and refinement. But it's also got the heart of a sports car: agile, light on its feet, and faithful to the driver.

Now if the Golf R is VW's top expression of the hot hatchback breed, the Polo GTI is its smallest. And yet here's the thing: the Polo GTI also has almost identical performance figures to Volkswagen's first "super-GTI" -- the 1995 172 horsepower Golf GTI VR6 front-driver. The two are within an inch or two in every direction, and within 50 pounds. Such is progress: Today's subcompact is yesterday's compact.

But whereas that VR6 was a 2.8-liter, the Polo GTI has just half those cubes, deriving its poke from VW's unique twincharger concept. This means a supercharger provides the urgency at low revs, and is declutched at higher rpms once the turbocharger has spooled up. Yes, two types of forced induction in one engine.

There's never a hole in the power delivery, or anything that would feel strange to a driver who hadn't been told such a relay-race of technologies was going on. Sadly, though, the engine note is a bit of a dull rasp.

Strangely, given this engine has such generous torque, the Polo GTI comes standard with a close-ratio seven-speed DSG transmission. This seven-speeder is used on many small-displacement VW Group cars in Europe, and to save weight and complexity the clutches are dry-plate rather than the oil-bath type used in bigger DSGs. This means the car doesn't creep as well as it should, and in start-stop urban traffic it's harder to be as smooth through the gears.

So the Polo GTI's engine and transmission are efficient but uninspiring, but what about the handling? It points well and grips decently, but there's not enough feedback when you press hard. Small cars should have a sharp edge and a sense of fun to them, but this one doesn't. It's not as much fun as the real GTI, the Golf.

The base Polo is one of the most beautifully made, delightfully appointed, and refined small cars anywhere. The GTI version takes none of that away. But it doesn't really add much either. Yes, it's quick, but it's a bit joyless. Which, strangely, was just how this writer remembers the Golf VR6 being back in the mid-1990s.

So among all Volkswagen's hot hatches sold anywhere in the world, the best of the bunch is the Golf R. But running very close, and certainly eclipsing it for overall value and economy, is the Golf GTI. Which, considering its long and storied lineage, is only fitting.

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