Remember those episodes of now-old Top Gear where Jeremy Clarkson explained that a Mitsubishi Evo or Subaru STI could take any corner at any speed thanks to all-wheel drive grip? Yeah, that’s all wrong.
Indeed, all-wheel drive doesn’t give you any more traction into a turn. It gives you more traction powering out of a turn. And while these rally specials offer some very serious suspension and drivetrain components and performance for not a ton of money, they are not hero-makers.
Most STI and Evo owners know that by now, most Ford Focus RS buyers are in the process of figuring it out, and this hawkeye Scoobie driver from 2013, spotted by Speed Society, learned that lesson in pants-staining fashion.
Just because Clarkson tells you that a car can do anything, doesn’t mean that it’s true.