There are some days when we sit in the office and think back about the good ol' days; back when cars were all about American muscle versus Japanese technology. Things like the enchanting gargle of a finely tuned carburetor and the silent bliss of a fuel-injected engine. Wait a second, this isn't right at all. All that rivalry nonsense was way before our time, back when Chevy Chase was actually funny. People who have been stuck on swampland timeshare properties for the past 20 years would have a hard time recognizing these cars.
American cars are getting smaller and more efficient,Japanese cars are getting bigger and using larger- displacement motors, and Betamax isn't the hottest thing to hit the shelves anymore. Today, it isn't so absurd to put a Ford Focus SVT and an Acura RSX Type S side by side. Not to battle each other in a day of grueling track testing, but to make note of how much the automotive industry has evolved. It's uncanny how similar these two cars are to each other.
Both cars use 2.0L displacement, high-compression motors, and six-speed manual transmissions. Ford's Focus SVT yields slightly less power than Acura's RSX Type-S 170 hp to 200 hp. With technology such as Zetec and iVTEC available, variable valve timing is no stranger to either car. Weight is always a big issue; these cars tip the scales at just around 2,700 pounds. Front engine, front-wheel drive appears to be the driveline of choice. What's more important, length or girth? The 4 inches that the Focus loses to the RSX in length is made up by 2 inches of additional width.
Appearance-wise, it's very difficult to say which car is going to get you more digits from the girlies. Futuristic-looking headlights and taillights can be found on both cars. With luxuries such as an in-dash six-disc CD player and metallic color gauges, driving either car makes you feel as if you're sitting in some type of space vehicle. Almost every spec we had on hand was close when comparing the cars. In fact, the only big difference we could find between them was the price. The RSX Type-S dents the wallet slightly more at $23,000, while the Focus SVT is available for $17,500.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but after driving both cars for a week, we still can't come to a unanimous decision on which car we like better. It's almost like having to choose between prime rib and filet mignon. A decision of this caliber requires more than a flip of a coin. Actually, we want both cars. You can call us greedy or indecisive, but we'll be the ones rolling two pimp rides to party it up with the Butabi brothers at the Roxbury. Maybe we can impress the girls in the drive-thru lines that we spend more than half of our lives sitting in.