It’s time to see how the pending arrival of the new 2015 Subaru WRX sedan on the market will affect the hotly contested compact performance category, with Motor Trend’s Jonny Lieberman ringing the bell and placing the Japanese sedan across one of the magazine’s best rated vehicles in the segment, the 2014 Ford Focus ST, in the latest episode of ‘Head 2 Head’.

The two cars are similar in some ways, and different in others, with Subaru ditching the hatchback body style and keeping the sedan for the latest generation WRX, while Ford only offers a five-door hatchback variant of the Focus ST in North America (there’s also a Station Wagon version for Europe).

Both manufacturers rely on 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engines with similar outputs, though, whereas Ford follows a traditional design for its 252hp unit, Subaru nets on a boxer style mill serving up 268 hp.

Moreover, while Ford chose a front-wheel drive setup, Subaru kept with tradition fitting the WRX with a sportier version of the brand’s “symmetrical AWD”.

The Focus ST has a starting MSRP of $24,910 rising to $30,125 for the car tested. Subaru has not released pricing yet, but MT said that the 2015 WRX should start at a little over $27,000 with the tester estimated to cost about $31,500.

We’ll leave it that, as to not spoil the video review that follows below. Once you watch it, feel free to cast your thoughts in our comments as well.