2019 Mazda 3 vs Ford Focus

What's the difference?

If you will indulge me, I'd like you to cast your mind back to the mid-90s. If you're too young, ask your parents or Google to do the same.

Have a peek at the pretty but not especially amazing 323 Astina. Some folks call it a four-door coupe, but it's a sedan. It was not nearly as attractive as the more adventurous hatchback.

The 323 went dull for almost a decade and then when the 3 arrived, it was the sedan that I thought was the looker. Sure, they weren't completely different like the old days, but the proportions were nicer and it was just a better thing to look at.

Then along came the most recent fourth-generation 3, the BP. The hatch, I think, is the gorgeous one while the sedan is a more sober. And while still made of lovely proportions, it seems to have been... flattened a bit.

Thorough as we are here at CarsGuide, I spent a week with the new sedan to ponder not only its looks, but whether it's much different to the hatch.

You've got to feel for the marketing peeps at Ford tasked with cooking up a catchy one-word description for the new Focus Active.

The others models in the range are easier, of course. The Focus ST-Line? "Sportiness", says Ford. The Titanium trim? "Elegance", they shout.

But the Active? "It's like a hatchback, but with more capability..." It isn't quite as catchy, is it?

That capability they speak of arrives in the form of more ride height (30mm at the front and 34mm at the rear), as well as standard roof rails and two new drive modes, Slippery and Trail, which are designed to help the front-wheel-drive Focus better handle light off-road conditions like sand or icy roads.

But the weird thing here is that, for a car so focused on light off-roading, the place the Active really shines is glued firmly to the tarmac.