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2012 Focus owners - how do you like Powershift tranny so far?

85K views 230 replies 104 participants last post by  silver_fg 
#1 ·
For those who own a 2012 Focus with the Powershift 6-speed automatic transmission, so far how do you like it? Any problems or concerns you might have? I recently test drove 2 Focus models (1 sedan, 1 hatchback) and the Powershift performed flawlessly and seamlessly. Felt very much like a regular automatic transmission. I came away very impressed with the performance.

Thanks for your feedback!
 
#2 ·
I don't have one YET, but the two that I took for a test drive felt very smooth and NOT like most automatics. The normal slow shifting really does feel like it is gone. I suspect that some work is still needed for WHEN the car should shift, but it feels VERY smooth in acceleration.
 
#5 ·
The low-speed "shuddering" is normal for any dual clutch transmission. The same effect can be felt on a GTI or R32 with VW's DSG transmission. A lot customers simply don't understand that a dual clutch transmission is basically an automated manual transmission, and that manual transmissions by nature have a very notchy feel to it.

Traditional automatics use a torque converter to help synchronize gear changes and make shifting smoother. It also unfortunately delays the process of shifting itself and saps power from the engine in the process. And CVT equipped cars don't have any physical gears to speak of, so they're even smoother. So any regular customer who goes from driving one of those to a dual clutch transmission car will probably think that something is wrong when they feel the transmission jerking.

Ford could definitely solve the problem by making the lower gears taller, or by inducing some type of artificial delay in the shifting process. However your fuel economy will suffer and the transmission won't feel nearly as responsive. Essentially you're taking away the two major benefits of even using this transmission technology to begin with.

The bottom line is if some people can't handle the way this transmission works, they should look into getting a car with a regular automatic or CVT instead. There's no reason Ford should have to resort to castrating the PowerShift transmission for the sake of smoothness. I'm sure in the future they'll find ways to make it shift smoother without compromising anything. But for now this is what it is.
 
#9 ·
no problems with mine

I have not noted any problems with mine and have 1600 miles on it so far. I find it shifts very smoothly with the best evidence that I don't even notice the tranny. I had an 08 Enclave where the set-up for the tranny was so bad it was difficult to drive until a reflash was offered that solved most of the problems. I am also impressed with the sport mode and do not fine the button shifter cumbersome at all as many reviewers have.
 
#11 ·
I have a fiesta with about 7500 miles on it, the powershift I assume is the same/very similar. I sometimes get a jerk when you're stopping and abruptly get back on the gas, like a red light turning green. I figure it's normal, even if not desirable. Should be picking up my 2012 Focus tomorrow, I'll have to see if it's any different.
 
#12 ·
If you drive it like an auto, it'll be jerky and you'll get shuttering. It's as simple as that. Was in a friend's Volkswagen today and it felt almost exactly like mine. If you drive it more like a manual, it's just as smooth as any traditional automatic.

That being said I'll reserve judgment for it until it's seen at least 100k miles, and hasn't had any issues. Don't really care how fun or awesome or cool it is if it breaks at 50k. I might change my mind if the paddle shifters didn't SUCK hard. Really not terribly fun to drive in that mode, computer still takes over all the time, and shifts aren't as quick as I'd like them to be.
 
#14 ·
If you drive it like an auto, it'll be jerky and you'll get shuttering. It's as simple as that. Was in a friend's Volkswagen today and it felt almost exactly like mine. If you drive it more like a manual, it's just as smooth as any traditional automatic.
I'm not sure what you mean by that. If I'm going very slowly in first gear, as when I'm in heavy traffic, I'll get some shuddering, which may be clutch chatter. There's only one way to drive the car under those conditions, with little or no throttle.

The only time the trans. is jerky is on the 1-2 and the 2-3 shift and only when the trans. is cold. Maybe that could be avoided by shifting manually in the sport mode. I'll have to see.
 
#13 ·
Mine is still breaking in and I get some pretty rough shifts out of it, but it is getting better. It was a little hard to get used to it since I wasn't used to driving a double-clutch before. I rather like it though, I feel the gearing is pretty spot on for the car and delivers great fuel economy at highway speeds, even with my lead foot.

One thing that caught me off guard was the roll back from stop lights, but I'm used to that now as well so there's no issue. Overall I am very happy with it!
 
#15 ·
I'm liking it so far; rapidly approaching 2,000 miles on my Focus with PowerShift.

I haven't had any problems. There was a bit of shudder under moderate acceleration when it was very new, but it's quite smooth now (I'm guessing that was the clutches wearing in).

Upshifts are very smooth. Since the dual clutch system provides continuous power to the wheels, shifts are barely noticeable. If not for the change in engine output and note, and the drop of the tachometer needle, you'd barely know it was shifting at all.

But I do feel that it upshifts too quickly in regular (D) mode. It's only a little better in sport (S) mode. It seems that the best way to prevent early upshifting is to mash the throttle down... which is not the greatest thing for your fuel economy, ofc.

In sport mode, it downshifts when you hit the brakes. In fact, it downshifts fairly aggressively throughout the braking process. Very cool. This usually leaves you in a much better gear for exiting a turn than regular mode does.

In D, it's usually a gear (or two) too high after completing a turn. To get it into an appropriate gear requires a heavy foot and a wait for a downshift (or two).

Another thing it does in sport mode is delay upshifts after hard acceleration. This is not nearly as cool as the downshifting under braking. In fact, I don't like it at all. I can see where it might be good to have on a track... but I drive on public roads, haha.

With a normal automatic, when if you accelerate hard to, say, 50 MPH and then let off, the transmission immediately shifts to the highest available gear and the engine very quickly settles down.

With the PowerShift in sport mode, after a hard romp to 50 MPH and then letting off the accelerator, it does not immediately upshift, but rather holds the lower gear for a moment longer (in case you have second thoughts about ceasing acceleration, I guess). This can leave the engine revved up quite high at a time when you think it should be quieting down (you took your foot off the gas, after all). You also get quite a bit of engine braking going on until it finally decides that you really are done accelerating and upshifts.

In regular mode, it behaves exactly like a traditional automatic transmission, immediately upshifting a gear (or two, or three, as needed) when you let off the accelerator.

6th gear is locked out in sport mode, unless you use the plus-minus button on the shifter to get it into 6th gear... but this will put the transmission in manual shift mode. Sport mode does tend to settle into a gear that's a bit lower than when in regular mode. It seems to keep the engine around 1800-2000 RPM, while regular mode will shift into 6th gear at quite low speeds, practically lugging the engine. This is great for fuel economy, but rather annoying when you need to accelerate a bit.

Another rather disconcerting thing (at least the first couple times it happens), is a tendency to roll backwards briefly when moving off on an incline. Never more than a couple inches, though. Not really a problem, just a little reminder of the true nature of the transmission.

I've also noticed that it's sometimes necessary to give the throttle a little goose to get the car moving, especially in reverse. (This could be because of my driveway... a rather haphazard collection of concrete slabs of varying dimensions and horizontality.)

And you can forget about hard launches. No clutch-dumping allowed. You just have to wait for the transmission computer to fully engage things before you get full acceleration. I can't blame Ford for not programming the transmission computer to abuse the drivetrain... but just a little bit harder take-off would be welcome.

The plus-minus button the shifter is a bit of a joke, in my opinion. Shifts seem very slow to come after pushing the button, and it only works in sport mode. And once you press it, the transmission goes into 'manual shift mode' and the only way to get it back into regular or sport mode is to move the shift lever to D (and then back to S if you want automatically shifted sport mode.)

Overall, I think it's a good system. Shifts are smooth and operation is predictable, albeit slightly different than a traditional automatic. 'Sport mode' could use some tweaking. Fuel economy is outstanding. If the longevity is there, it's a winner for sure.
 
#17 ·
I drove the automatic before going with stick, however the automatic is very smooth. even the shifts feel smoother than an automatic, but they are still noticable. This was especially evident when pushing it; 3 shifts before 60mph seems too much considering im used to 4 and 5 speeds
 
#18 ·
All in all I'm pretty impressed & happy.

I really don't care for the "button" shifter though. I suppose paddle shifters wouldn't be too satisfying on a car of this caliber either, but they'd sure be more gratifying than a silly little button on the gear selector. At least there IS one though, a lot of automatics (or DSGs for that matter) don't have any at all.

I have to say that many years ago I test drove a brand new M5 with the DSG and it was the WORST experience of my test-drive life. If you floored the car and went balls-out it performed great. But in day-to-day city driving (read: 99+% of your driving) it was the most reluctant, hesitant, frustrating thing I've experienced in just about any car, much less a $100K~ish car. Talk about awful. The Focus is a dream compared to that car in the shifting department. [headbang]

Tony
 
#19 ·
Hey anyone have a clunk when letting off the brake but not putting your foot on the gas? I noticed it today when I was stopped at a red light with a slight decline. I wanted to inch up to the car in front of me and so I just removed my foot from the brake. This is when the clunk happened. I did it twice and sure enough it did it again.

Anyone else experience this? It has about 400 miles on it so far.
 
#24 ·
I'll report back on this once I have taken delivery and had my car for a while. I've had a dual clutch automatic in my VW for the last 5 years/70k miles so I consider myself a pro when it comes to normal operation. During my various Focus test drives I did not detect any shift abnormalities or clunking. I can confuse my VW sometimes if I'm slowing to a stop and then get back on the gas and then let off again all in rapid succession. As others are posted you have to remember that it is basically two manual transmissions inside that gearbox. The computer is doing its best to anticipate the correct clutch operation, but it isn't fool proof. Without the torque converter from a traditional automatic it won't feel as smooth. It does sound like there may be some opportunities to improve the shift logic though. Hopefully over time Ford will release a programming update. I've had one or two for the DSG in my GTI.
 
#25 ·
I'm liking the PowerShift. Sometimes, it won't down shift exactly when I want it to, but I think it will get better with more driving. I've only put 800 miles on mine, so I do have to adapt to how this car drives.

Inn sport mode, this little car is lots of fun. I've gotten quite comfortable with the button shifter.
 
#29 ·
Service advisor told me Ford would not authorize him to do anything to my car because there was no error code. He said sometimes it takes 5-7k miles to break a car in, and if I still have the issue then I can bring the car back in and they'll look at it. ???? 5-7k miles seems a bit excessive to have to wait before can enjoy a smooth ride in my brand new car.
 
#31 ·
I think it is the nature of the beast. Mine shifts just fine when I have my foot into it the only time it really jerks is when in stop and go rush hour traffic. If your real light on the pedal I find shifting manual between 2000 and 2500 rpm makes for a nice smooth ride you only need to shift up it downshifts just fine. The shift points on automatic seem to be around 1500 rpm maybe they can adjust the shift points at a little higher rpm to smooth out the ride.
 
#32 ·
I have about 600 km on my Focus, and I haven't experienced any rough shifting, even at low speeds. From a standing stop, when I take my foot off the brake it seems to feather the clutch and creep forward smoothly, behaving just like a normal AT.

As mentioned previously, shifts occur at a relatively low rpm, for good gas mileage. When making a right turn from a stop, I find it hits 3rd before I've completed the turn. If I'm not watching for the shifts, I don't notice them.
Posted via FF Mobile
 
#33 ·
i find mine pretty much no diff from a convential auto EXCEPT in first gear. there is a slight shuddering, which is normal, but i still don't like that. will just have to get used to it i guess. otherwise, no probs at all w/ this transmission.
as well, not a responsive at start off as a reg. tranny imo
 
#35 ·
You know, I've noticed that the PowerShift is a bit notchy in D when driving in 10-15mph traffic stop-go style. I figure that S helps out a lot by holding out the gears, as D tries to shift quickly (and by the time it does switch to 2, I'm already hitting my brake to slow down).

I've also found out that the kinda-clumsy shift from first to second (which I don't see as a problem, much more as a quirk) can be easily rectified by easing into the accelerator to ease the clutch transition instead of going immediately for the lead foot. Seems to be a pattern after several trials around town.

Other than those quirks, I love the transmission. Very responsive on the highway and gets good gas mileage.
 
#36 ·
We have a little over 300 miles so far and the poweshift has been silky smooth and seamless. Under aggressive throttle the shifts are firm and solid just like a well shifted manual. Under cruising you can hardly tell it is shifting.

The only thing I have noticed is when pulling a way from a stop with light throttle it is starting in second gear and if you the jump on it it will down shift to first. There is a split second hesitation in this down shift. If folks hadn't been complaining about how the tranny shifts I would never would have thought about it. All the automatics i have had over the years have had some sort of hesitation under some transitional condition.

Overall I couldn't be happier with the way it shifts.
 
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