Comments on: Ford PowerShift twin-clutch transmission

By: OMG

OMG — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:21:20 +0000

As far as the 207 resale compared with the focus Adam’s talk of it being worth nothing is typical of a person not good at their job.
If a yard doesn’t want the stock they should ring someone who does and will pay the right money.
Most cars go down 22%/year plus or minus depending on condition and kms.
I work in the trade too and i have traded 2008 Territory with 8000 km drop $18,000 compared with what the owner paid – they they got a deal when they bought it new.
Sure, some dealers were offing $4k less so they didnt get to own it.
You shop the wholesale market and you find someone who knows what the Pug is worth.
Peugeot is not like SAAB or Renault which actually are resale basket cases.

By: Fluffy

Fluffy — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:05:50 +0000

This is why Ford small cars are better than Holden small cars now Holden is gonna see what chevrolet is gonna do about this since Holden copy everything Chevrolet does.

By: Camski

Camski — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:10:53 +0000

Andrew M – Oh no by all means I had no intention of implying that it shouldn’t be fitted. What I mean’t was, by detuning the ‘box down to maybe a 100ms shift time (if possible as I believe a lot of this stuff is software related as Ferrari went from something above 100ms (F430) down to 60ms (430) with a software change) Ford could then sell the optional PowerShift for a lowered price in the XR5 where that 8ms shift time isn’t ultimately necessary and therefore saving the buying some hard earned cash.

Think BMW on this one, 323i, 523i, both use the 2.5L straight six found in the 325i (no longer) and 525i but in de-tuned form – therefore cheaper.

By: JML

JML — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:10:41 +0000

As per usual, Ford Europe is right up there with adopting/developing new technology and features, however Ford Oz won’t import it until all the other makes in Australia have had it for years. For example, the Euro Mondeo has adaptive (distance to vehicle in front) cruise control as an option, something only a few luxury brands have in the entire world. Do we get it here? Nope…And probably won’t until every other manufacturer has it and it’s not a unique selling point any more.

By: Glen

Glen — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:49:41 +0000

I must agree the Focus interior is quite bland but quality wise i think its much better than the corolla, astra and definately the viva.

I would like to give the dual clutch gearbox a go but or a small car like the focus I’d still prefer a manual. Although I like my ZF Auto XR6 Turbo its definately the best auto ive ever driven. Although a dual clutch version would be fantastic

By: John

John — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:49:15 +0000

FORD IF YOU’RE LISTENNING IMPORT THE XR5’S WITH POWERSHIFT !!!

(I’ll take one in white with sunroof thanks!)

By: David_T

David_T — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:48:11 +0000

firstly, one of the great things about driving an overpowered little hatch like an xr5 is being in touch with the car via a manual gearbox. being able to control what the car does coming into corners, exiting corners, openning up on straights, it just aint the same with any type of auto trans.

and its very hard to lump the xr5 in with the ordinary focus in any discussion. the trim in the standard focus sucks, but level of trim in the xr5 suits it perfectly.

the resale of a standard focus is probably crap, but try finding a 2006 xr5 under 30k. its chalk and cheese…

The Focus ST is just such a great car for the price. even with the new lv model, ford are starting to stuff it up. i hope they dont ruin it by putting in all types of crap it doesnt need.

or at least, stuff it up, and send us the 2009 Focus RS to replace it.

By: John

John — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:43:54 +0000

8ms is awesome!!! I really hope Ford Australia import some XR5’s with PowerShift. These DSG boxes are awesome, even Ferrari and BMW are moving towards them over the crappy automated conventional clutch units they’ve been going nowhere with.

About the Ford’s interior. I don’t know if any of you commenting on the Golf’s interior has ever sat in one lately. I’m not talking about the GTI but the rest of the Golf range interior is bland and cheapy in my opinion. Sit in a little Fiesta XR4 and it’s interior material, look and finish crap all over anything from the Golf range. You internet warriors really need to stop look at brushed up pics on the net and actually get out and look at these cars close up.

To the clown that actually thinks a GTI will out handle an STI in the track, dude what are you smoking? Pass the bong!

By: Azza

Azza — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:18:50 +0000

Just another milestone that Ford have managed to pass… =P

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:18:16 +0000

With regard to Powershift, it really is great to see Ford introducing dual clutch to this bread and butter segment. However, from memory, in UK it’s not available with some of the cheaper engines. Wonder if that will be the case in Australia, and be only available to XR5 and the diesel.

I have yet to driven a dual clutch myself, but from reviews and comments from friends who owns DSG, moving off from stand still is not as smooth as tradtional auto, and can still give slide judder. Also many of them won’t hold the car when parked uphill at the light, or creep smoothly in a traffic jam. I would love to try one myself though.

As for interior, Focus has nice plastic quality, but the over design doesn’t look very classy IMO. I guess it’s the execution that’s not right. Golf is the clear leader in this car, and i would rate Civic as the best from Japan in this class. Have to say too, the FG Falcon has a really nice interior, best of any Australian car i’ve seen, miles ahead of the Commodore, which is quite cheap looking in comparison.