2020 Ford Focus vs Honda Civic

What's the difference?

The Ford Focus ST is a hot hatch, but just how spicy is it? Well, if it was a curry it would have two little, red chillies next to its name on the menu. Listed directly below would be the Focus RS accompanied by three chillies, but there’d be a line drawn through it with a marker pen because sadly Ford doesn’t serve that any more.

So, is the Ford Focus ST hot enough for you? And does it also offer the practicality that goes with performance which has made hot hatches popular through the decades?

The new-generation Focus ST launched in 2020, soon after its smaller sibling the Fiesta ST (one chilli). We’ve already tested the Focus ST with the manual gearbox and this review is of the same car with the automatic.

The clue’s in the name.

A permanent fixture of the small-car scene for nearly 50 years, the Honda Civic has long been a strong urban runabout proposition, providing quality, efficient and progressive engineering at affordable prices.

For 2020, a minor raft of changes to the hatchback version strives to improve what’s been a roomy, refined and enjoyable alternative to the Toyota Corolla since 2017.

Here we take a longer look at the Civic RS – one of the more popular and sportier grades in this 10th-generation series – to see how effective the updates are, as small cars struggle to stay relevant against the onslaught of compact SUVs.