Once you get past, say, 30mph, the margin diminishes. On real roads, the Audi takes advantage of a quicker gearshift and whacking mid-range turbo thump, and mostly doesn’t fall far behind. At least not until the Mustang driver really starts using the revs, when the gap opens again. This isn’t quite the stereotypical apple-pie V8. Yes, it’ll rumble quietly along at 2,000rpm, but it thrives on high revs too. And it sounds terrific: a well-oiled mechanism wrapped in a naturally tuneful exhaust. It’s honest music, unlike the slightly cheesy theatricality that’s all the fashion on European forced-induction V8s. The Audi doesn’t just over-deliver on performance for a 230bhp four; its noise is better than you’d expect too, a blend of cream and spice, their proportion varied by whether or not you have the intake resonator engaged on the sports button. The Ford’s official economy and CO2 numbers are dire, but you might just hit them. The Audi’s are better, but as with all small turbos, less realistic.

A new diff (still a limited-slip one) and other tweaks have meant the European Mustang suffers less from the crude low-speed transmission snatch and whine than the first one we tested in the US. Even so, there’s a want of sophistication here, and your sense of lurching ham-footedness is heightened by a brake pedal that’s over-servoed at the top of its travel, a clumsy mismatch for the heavy box and clutch. At least you do feel in shifting gears that you’re meshing actual cogs. The Audi’s shift is less mechanical, but quicker and lighter and it’s easier to be smooth.