Watch to see who wins Hot Hatch drift battle

One of the most talked about automotive developments in 2016 is undoubtedly the 'drift mode' of the new Ford Focus RS.

It's attracted a lot of attention and not all of it has been positive. Some road safety advocates in Australia insist it'll lead to carnage and that Ford is irresponsible for giving the public access to it, but we like to think Aussie drivers are more intelligent than that, and will engage the indisputably fun system away from public roads.

In a nutshell, the RS drift mode allows even novice drivers to perform long, sideways four-wheel drifts -- a technique that usually takes years to master.

Competitive drift racing is hugely popular right around the world, including in this country, where the national Australian Drifting GP is televised regularly on free-to-air TV.

At the push of a button, the Focus RS's advanced AWD system shunts more power to the rear wheels and allows drivers to basically drop the hammer, turn the wheel and, hey presto, it's el drifto time.

Everyone has an opinion on performance cars and the many and varied new technologies they bring to the table, but we prefer facts to opinion – it's absolute.

So we put the Focus RS up against two of its German rivals, the Audi RS 3 Sportback and Mercedes-AMG A 45, to see if the world's toughest hot hatches can mimic the capabilities of a bona-fide sports car – and perhaps better them.