Like you I feel it is a great compromise, not too harsh a ride, good comfort, great performance, good grip and traction, great practicality, superb value and just a great all rounder.
For me it just qualifies as a hot hatch when comparing to other heavier AWD ICE cars such as the older RS3's and Golf R's. It's oviously a heavier car than ICE hot hatches and the "chuckabilty" factor is'nt quite there so is more suited to "curvy" roads rather than really "twisty" ones. I think the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 Acoustics will only improve this.
However on A and B roads with sweeping bends it is right up there IMHO with the best ICE hot hatches with its instant torque and traction to power out of the bends and gap nearly everything behind you ?.
Like you I use Sport mode (via Custom menu) for any spirited driving to keep that front motor in play all the time and minimise any delay in distributing the power and torque vectoring to the best wheels.