Even though on paper, the MINI John Cooper Works has more power and torque than the Fiesta ST200, the Ford happens to be the lighter car.
Naturally, this type of discrepancy is enough to make automotive journalists curious and sure enough, Auto Express set out to find out which is the faster car, not just over a mile, but also to 30 mph (48 km/h), 60 mph (96 km/h) and 100 mph (160 km/h).
How both cars did and which outscored which, you can find out by playing the clip. We will however help you out by stating a few facts about weight, power and top speed that you should take into account.
At 1,163 kg (2,563 lbs), the Fiesta ST200 is clearly the lighter car when compared to the MINI JCW, which comes in at around 1,295 kg (2,854 lbs). Take that weight difference, add in the fact that there’s only around 30 PS between them (in the MINI’s favor), and you’d be right to think this drag race should be pretty close.
However, aside from having more power, the MINI also has 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of torque compared to the Ford’s 290 (213 lb-ft), plus a higher top speed at 246 km/h (152 mph) to the Fiesta’s 230 km/h (142 mph).
Which one would you bet on to hit those speed markers quicker though, and eventually win the drag race?