My Focus RS has it, and while I have no earthly idea *why* it’s on there it does work smoothly and I don’t mind it. Because it’s a three-pedal, they can predicate it on the clutch and neutral. It can fire the engine faster than I can get into the gear, so unlike the automatic implementations it never really gets in…

Brand new Focus RSes are invoice or less. I know because I bought one at invoice a few weeks ago, and I know others who did better than I did. Given that, the used prices will correct shortly.

Alright, so which wagon is the best driver’s wagon? Which is the one that delivers excellent driving dynamics and performance to go with that daily practicality?

Make sure to test drive one first though. My parents have a 2nd gen Fit and every minute I’ve spent driving that car was pure misery.

Just one small correction here - the STI has limited slips front (helical) and rear (torsen), along with the active center.

Model S. 3. X. Y.

While 20 years old with coll/comp was never going to be cheap, it’s a FWD commuter econobox that was eventually covered by State Farm at around $2k a year.

On the other hand, every insurance quote I’ve ever gotten from AAA has been so comically high that I thought it wasn’t a real business. I bought a new 08 Mazda3 at 20 years old and they wanted $7,000 a year to insure it with normal coverages.

Blaming production numbers? They sell 30K Civics a month, 5% of that is right around the GTI sales numbers and 10% is right around the WRX sales numbers.

Hatches only here, sedans can go to hell. (Pictured: Weber Spirit E-310 in a WRX.)

I guess my local Ford dealership feels the same way, as the STs on the lot are discounted ~6.5k each.

Thing is, my local Ford dealership is offering $6.5k off the Focus ST MSRP right on the website, not even an “email for quote” deal. I can get into a basic one for 19 or a fully loaded model for 24. That changes the balance between these two cars quite a bit.

God knows why people like the Focus/ST/RS interior in the first place. Completely unimpressed by the examples I’ve seen... and I’m in a Subaru.

I have just one simple question. Will it break?

Absolutely not. Bluetooth uses SBC lossy compression in most applications, which is passable for quality at its max settings in the same sense that 128 kbps MP3 is passable. (Lower SBC settings are horrific sounding for anything but voice.) Some devices support higher quality aptX streaming -iOS devices and most cars…

It’s worth noting that Android has supported a “car mode” for some time now, even before Android Auto rolled out. You can now load Android Auto on a phone any time to get the car UI, and just stick it on a mount. You can even do this with a small dedicated Android tablet if you’d like to get something of decent size.

“at least here in Asia” but you’re on a US based state with a primarily US readership. Ford parts are stupid plentiful here. Especially since the Focus RS shares a powerplant with a Mustang and a chassis with a high volume econobox.

This might not be a case of MORE power but WIDER power. The STI just doesn’t make power until the turbo spools up, which is late on that design. A new twin scroll design could perform way better even if the topline number doesn’t move, similar to what they did on the latest gen WRX.

In this case, the occupants of the two cars seem to know each other.

Ladies and gentlemen, look no farther than the Mercedes C63 AMG: