The current Mk 3 has an epic 350bhp and gets it down through four-wheel drive. What could be better than that? You have all the latest technology, and a four-cylinder engine with a pretty wicked sound. You’re not going to be getting it sideways easily, not unless you select Drift mode and really go for it, but that’s sort of the point, a lot of power and the ability to get it down.
So what could the Mk 2 offer? It’s been around for eight years, it’s been superseded. Old car, with 305bhp trying to get to the road through just the front wheels. So it has ‘only’ just over 300bhp, but it’s a whopping 130kg lighter than its successor, thanks largely to the absence of four-wheel drive.
Back when this was new, nobody could believe it could top 300bhp, and it has effectively the same torque figure as the Mk 3. And of course that engine sounds a beaut, a five-cylinder that makes you sound like some sort of Audi superstar.
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This isn’t simply a question of new is better. But which one is better? You’d better watch the video to find out.
Spoiler alert: it’s a Ford Focus RS.
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