I did the whole hot hatch eval before I bought my Mk8... Hated the BMW (there's a thread on here somewhere with my thoughts on that), Minis are basically the same as the 1 series (hate them - we have 2 here, both waaaay too hard and uncomfortable for me), there's rest of VAG but no thanks, Mercedes are simply unreliable garbage, Renault don't make a hot hatch AFAIK any more, Honda have ended the Type R (but also definitely not for me), Ford no thanks and that leaves the fuel guzzling/hard af/noisy I30N.
Hot hatches like sports bikes are a dying breed in this day and age. Those that haven't quit the market will be doing so soon.
Its been fun, I've had a few, but The Day Of the Milkfloat(tm) is here now, which are basically fast in a straight line super tankers that aren't any fun really and recharging is a nightmare.