dgc333

We have a bit over 1800 miles on our SEL now and the powershift tranny has been smooth since the get go. The only idiosyncrasy that I have found you need to adapt to is if you are coming off the line with very light throttle then decide you need more get up and go the tranny is some times already in second or third and it takes a fraction of a second for it to down shift back to first and get the rpm's up into an area where there is enough power for decent acceleration. This is not really an issue in Sport mode since it stays in each gear to a higher rpm before shifting and you don't often catch it in the wrong gear.

Traction certainly does help in stopping and turning by keeping the tires rolling so you will still have control . Especially with a FWD car asking the front tires to drive and steer is a receipe for trouble, you loose traction and you have lost all control. The biggest advantage to a pure snow tire is added traction on ice, there is not much difference between an all-season and a snow tire in snow. I have been driving in New England winters for 40 years and adjust my speed and following distance to the conditions. I have had only one instance back when I was a teen and spun out in a corner and got stuck in a snow bank. The folks that scare me are the ones running around with bald tires in snowy and icey conditions. I don't think legislating snow tires will help with the clueless folks you meet on the road.

I don't have MyFord Touch but do have the dual zone system in my car (SEL). Yesterday it was in the low 90's and set it to 65 on auto initially the fan went to full speed then within a couple of minutes had slowed down so as you could barely hear it running and it maintained the car at this temperature easily.

I live in the Boston area and haven't felt the need for dedicated snow tires since they started putting traction control on cars. I only use all-season tires these days.

FWIW, my wife has a new 12 Focus SEL Hatchaback. She typically gets 2-3 mpg less than I do on any vehicle we both drive and makes no effort to maximize her mileage. She has about 1500 miles on the Focus now and she has been averaging 34.8 mpg in 100% suburban around town driving. The best tank has been 36.2.

We have a little over 700 miles on ours and the tranny has been very smooth an seamless. Give it a little gas and it runs up through the gears like a manual with nice firm shifts, readily downshifts when you give it a little more throttle and in most cases you have no idea what gear it is in but the car immediately responds to throttle changes. I find no reason to use the select shift buttons (also didn't find the auto stick in our PT to be any more than a gimmick either). After I ordered the car I started seeing some complaints on the various forums I signed onto and have been particularly aware of any idiosyncrasies. The only thing I have noticed is if you start to pull away from a stop with very light throttle it starts in second gear and then if you nail it there is a very slight hesitation while it downshifts back to first. If I hadn't read about problems I would never have given it a second thought.. The tranny is doing what it is supposed to do; the 700 miles has all been suburban driving and the car has been averaging 35 mpg.

According to the link with the spring part numbers. The S and SE Sport use the same rear springs. The SE, SE Sport, SEL and Titanium all use the same front springs. That link also states all models use the same sway bars. I would venture a guess that if there is a noticed difference in the ride between an SE Sport and SEL it's likely the Sport has 17" wheels and the SEL 16" wheels that is making the difference.

I requested a broucher after ordering my car and got the $750 private offer a few days latter. I also got $500 for using Ford Credit. The Dealer had me sign a form and the $1250 was take of the price of the car when I took delivery. FWIW, the Ford finacing was not the lowest I could get but the addtional $500 off made the monthly payments a few dollars less at Fords rate compared to the local bank. You have to check this stuff out and see which way makes sense for you.

Don't know if you are aware or not but Ford gives you a funnel with the car just in case you have to add fuel from a can. It's next to the spare tire.

It was actually built on 6/1 and was delivered at the dealer on 6/15 and we picked it up on 6/16. Five weeks and one day from order to delivery.

Ethanol doesn't have the energy content of gasoline so I don't see where it would make a difference. The advantage of direct injection is you can more precisely control the when the fuel is injected during the cycle this allows for more compression which results in more power. Also, because of the more precise control and the the better atomization of the fuel you can run much leaner mixtures under light load conditions which results in improved fuel economy.

California Car Cover (http://calcarcover.com/) is arguably the best brand. I have a couple of Budge (http://www.budgeindustries.com/) that seem to be OK, they have lasted about 5 years and they are less expensive than California. The materials very dramatically based on the elements you are trying to protect the car from so read the descriptions and pick one with an appropriate material. The Budge ones I have are a three layer material. Rip resistant on the outside, breathable membrane in the middle and soft to not scratch on the inside.

The only time E85 makes sense is if you are building an engine where you can take advantage of the higher octane rating to make more power. If the engine is designed to run on 87 octane then you just lose gas mileage using it.

FWIW, the X-Plan documentation I got for my purchase limits the dealer to charging $100 for a documentation fee (if they charge it at all). The doc fee price preprinted on their sales form was $348.00. I also got a certificate from Ford for an addtional $750 off the price (it came with a broucher I requested on line) and it could be used with any other applicable incentive.

Ordered mine on 5/10/11, it was built the week of 5/31 and is currently in transit to the dealer.

I ordered a hatch simply because I like the looks better than the sedan. I also have a PT Cruiser turbo that I never really utilized they versitility of the car. When I need to haul something that would require removing the back seat (the PT back seat comes out and has wheels like a mini van) I just use my pick-up. Can't imagine I will do anything different with the Focus.