New Ford Focus RS vs Civic Type R

Ford has revealed the first full details on its Focus RS, and the big news is that the ballistic hot hatch is all-wheel-drive. Welcome everyone, to the next chapter in the hot hatch wars.

That all-wheel-drive system is tuned, says Ford, to deliver ‘exceptional grip' and ‘neutral and adjustable limit handling' with a dab of oversteer if required. Excited, much?

Then there's the engine from the new Mustang - a 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine - here delivering over 316bhp, and a six-speed manual gearbox, sports suspension and lots of RS trinketry. You can read the full lowdown here.

What's interesting is the timing; this new RS has arrived just as we're preparing to welcome the brand new Honda Civic Type R. Both cars represent the hottest end of hot hatchery, but here's the difference: the Honda will smuggle its 276bhp-plus through the front wheels alone.

2015 is fast becoming the Year of Ford vs Honda. So if Episode I was the GT vs the NSX, may we present Episode II: the RS vs the Type R. Here's how both contenders stack up on paper...

Dubbed an ‘exclusive' version of the 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine, this four-cylinder turbo is designed to deliver upwards of 316bhp. It shares, however, a ‘fundamental structure' with the base unit found in the new Ford Mustang, and will therefore win you many Man Points when describing your new engine to your friends.

There's a low-inertia turbo, a cylinder head made of an alloy that can withstand more heat, stronger high-tensile cast iron liners in the block, a larger radiator pack for better cooling, and a redline of 6,800rpm.

Honda has also plumped for a four-pot engine, here a 2.0-litre VTEC, with - for the first time in the history of Type R - a turbo. Honda itself claims the powerplant in the new Type R Civic will blast away all previous Type R Hondas - right from the Civic, through Integra, Accord and even the old NSX.

It revs to 7,000rpm, and is tuned to deliver more than 276bhp, around 40bhp down on the Focus.

Here's where the new Focus RS makes history. It's AWD, and is based on two electronically controlled clutch packs on each side of the ‘rear drive unit', which manage the front/rear torque split, and side-to-side distribution.

This ‘RDU' continually varies the front/rear and side-to-side distribution of torque to suit whatever driving situation you're in, helping to eliminate understeer and provide ‘exceptional grip'. Oh, and some oversteer.

Theres a six-speed manual gearbox thrown in for good measure, too.

The Type R sticks with front-wheel-drive, but Honda assures us that the Achilles heel of any powerful front-driver - torque steer - will be minimised thanks to something called a ‘steer axis'.

It's a mechanical system with two supporting kingpins on the front suspension, with the hopeful outcome the Type R goes where you point it, rather than in the direction of the nearest bollard.

The Type R too gets a six-speed manual transmission, which Honda tells us has been developed in order to ‘maximise driving enjoyment'. Good.

Everything Ford notes in the brief points to something ferocious. The new RS gets specific suspension tuning, with new spring rates, bushes and anti-roll bars stiffer than they appear in the Focus ST. The adaptive dampers offer up two modes too, the harder one ‘for track driving'.

Ford tells us the RS employs a more rigid front suspension knuckle design with shorter link arms, to provide responsive, feelsome steering (together with the specially tuned electric power steering) to give your arms a workout.

Honda's setup for the hardcore Civic takes in four­-stage adaptive damping, which varies the Type R's manners from comfort cruiser to track monster. In fact, there's even a ‘+R' button to the side of the steering wheel that turns everything up to 11: steering, engine responsiveness (more aggressive torque mapping), and the adaptive damping set to ‘shatter vertebrae'.

We've got a while to wait before we get to drive either of these cars, and neither manufacturer has yet confirmed performance times for either acceleration or top speed.

But judging by the way they're being pitched, they're gonna be bruisers. Proper, proper bruisers. Which one takes your fancy at this early stage? Comments below - and keep them clean...