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Facelifted Ford Focus


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A wise man once said that a pig in a dress is still a pig. It won't matter what it looks like or how the interior is if they continue the DPS6 nightmare. With any luck they will pull their craniums out of their kiesters and use a functional transmission like 6F35, or one of the co-designed with GM boxes. For once I wish they aped Toyota and launched with a reliable 4 cog (like 4F27 or even the damn CD4E) instead of the PR nightmare that they waded into. They only make it worse under warranty by cleaning oil soaked clutches, and not authorizing replacement of any clutch that has under 250 RPM shudder as that is "within design tolerances".

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A wise man once said that a pig in a dress is still a pig. It won't matter what it looks like or how the interior is if they continue the DPS6 nightmare. With any luck they will pull their craniums out of their kiesters and use a functional transmission like 6F35, or one of the co-designed with GM boxes. For once I wish they aped Toyota and launched with a reliable 4 cog (like 4F27 or even the damn CD4E) instead of the PR nightmare that they waded into. They only make it worse under warranty by cleaning oil soaked clutches, and not authorizing replacement of any clutch that has under 250 RPM shudder as that is "within design tolerances".

 

You quoting this from personal experience or what?

 

Styling changes...the front end looks like its going to be cleaned up and not as busy as the first gen Focus, with the Fusion and Fiesta style grill being put in. The taillights look very interesting...

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A wise man once said that a pig in a dress is still a pig. It won't matter what it looks like or how the interior is if they continue the DPS6 nightmare. With any luck they will pull their craniums out of their kiesters and use a functional transmission like 6F35, or one of the co-designed with GM boxes. For once I wish they aped Toyota and launched with a reliable 4 cog (like 4F27 or even the damn CD4E) instead of the PR nightmare that they waded into. They only make it worse under warranty by cleaning oil soaked clutches, and not authorizing replacement of any clutch that has under 250 RPM shudder as that is "within design tolerances".

You can see the same transmission through the sheet metal? Wow, you have good XRay vision.

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You can see the same transmission through the sheet metal? Wow, you have good XRay vision.

 

He said that he hopes that Ford replaces the current transmission with a more conventional (and reliable) unit.

 

Based on his post, it sounds as though he might be a dealer technician who sees these cars on a regular basis.

 

He isn't the only one who has complained about this transmission.

Edited by grbeck
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The Ecoboost 1.5/1.6 with 6-speed manual and genuine 6-speed auto would make for an interesting improvement over the 2.0 DI

The 6F cannot match the efficiency of the DPS6.

 

There isn't one person that says having the 6F with 2-3 fewer would be any better than having the DPS6 that gives you better MPGs at lower cost and better performance.

 

Ford has a tendency to abandon technology that others eventually perfect. CVT anyone?

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Eh, there still aren't exactly a ton of automakers using CVT's in widespread applications. More than there used to be, but in Ford's case, the CVT really didn't offer any improvement in its application.

 

Nissan is about it..and couple of reviews I've seen of their products haven't been glowing when it comes to the transmission. After my experience with one in a Dodge Cabiler years ago, I stay FAR away from one. The only car I've driven that has had a decent CVT style transmission is the Fusion Hybrid...but that isn't quite the same thing.

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The 6F cannot match the efficiency of the DPS6.

 

There isn't one person that says having the 6F with 2-3 fewer would be any better than having the DPS6 that gives you better MPGs at lower cost and better performance.

 

Ford has a tendency to abandon technology that others eventually perfect. CVT anyone?

9-speed auto anyone?

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Acutally I think its the opposite, how many Honda and Toyota always came in bringing up the rear in the tranny game. Its laughable the new Corolla is being introduced with what, a 28 year old unit? And when they do introduce 6, Ford will be at 8-9 at that time.

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A wise man once said that a pig in a dress is still a pig. It won't matter what it looks like or how the interior is if they continue the DPS6 nightmare. With any luck they will pull their craniums out of their kiesters and use a functional transmission like 6F35, or one of the co-designed with GM boxes. For once I wish they aped Toyota and launched with a reliable 4 cog (like 4F27 or even the damn CD4E) instead of the PR nightmare that they waded into. They only make it worse under warranty by cleaning oil soaked clutches, and not authorizing replacement of any clutch that has under 250 RPM shudder as that is "within design tolerances".

Well, I have a '12 Focus with that transmission, and I have no complaints. As stated by Biker16, it's hard to get that good of fuel economy with a conventional slushbox.

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My '12 with 49K works great. I think it's a lot more fun to drive/listen to than an auto. I would expect some tales of post-warranty repair/replacement costs to have leaked out across the interwebs if it was a huge nightmare for a car selling in the 7 figures a year globally for 3+ years.

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From the info I saw while I was in Dearborn, a new transmission in the focus would not surprise me. The DPS6 is not that bad for some and awful for other customers. Customers in a lot of stop and go traffic have the most complaints.

Overall, these cars should be sold with the knowledge that it is an automatic shifting manual transaxle. At least they know upfront. It has the characteristics of a manual trans. Ford is hitting dealers hard on replacing clutches. Now you have to monitor shudder/slippage and submit the recording to ford. I have read on dealer message boards, that new clutches seem to fix a lot of issues, but Ford wants them cleaned.

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afaik (a recent hard drive crash means all my data files are inaccessible)

 

all FoMoCo hybrids use CVT

 

is that wrong?

Electronic CVT, the hybrid trans uses a combination of two electric motors and the ICE to generate CVT gearing.

The second electric motor's function is to move part of the epicyclic gearing in the correct directions/speeds to generate the desired gearing,

if you were to add that transmission to a conventional ICE, i think you'd find that the electric power consumption would make fuel economy worse.

It's also the reason why the Volt goes into direct mechanical drive at higher highway speeds to improve fuel economy in that mode.

Edited by jpd80
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The 6F cannot match the efficiency of the DPS6.

 

There isn't one person that says having the 6F with 2-3 fewer would be any better than having the DPS6 that gives you better MPGs at lower cost and better performance.

Fusion and Escape owners would tend to disagree with you, if the PS6 was as good as you say,

then FNA would have not bothered re engineering FoE designs away from it and towards their own 6F auto trans.

 

The Focus with 2.0 DI and P/S is not offered in Europe, it was developed for markets outside of Europe

where a larger engine and "auto" is expected. I'm not twisted up either way but I do think that the US market

has a predisposition to a genuine auto trans, can you in all certainty say that not providing one hasn't hurt sales?

Ford clearly seen the need to do so in other FoE designs like Escape and Fusion, so clearly there is that possibility.......

Edited by jpd80
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Fusion and Escape owners would tend to disagree with you, if the PS6 was as good as you say,

then FNA would have not bothered re engineering FoE designs away from it and towards their own 6F auto trans.

 

The Focus with 2.0 DI and P/S is not offered in Europe, it was developed for markets outside of Europe

where a larger engine and "auto" is expected. I'm not twisted up either way but I do think that the US market

has a predisposition to a genuine auto trans, can you in all certainty say that not providing one hasn't hurt sales?

Ford clearly seen the need to do so in other FoE designs like Escape and Fusion, so clearly there is that possibility.......

VW has figured out a way to market a sell a DCT for better of the last decade, yet Ford can't seem to figure it out. Ford has seemed to focus more on how to "spin" issues than on fixing them.

 

As for the EU vs the US there was too much risk with selling a DCT in a mass market products like the Fusion and Escape and Ford played it safe, at the expense of class leading economy.

 

The dry DCT is used in Europe on the C-max and Focus EB 1.6, with larger and heavier vehicles like the escape and Fusion i can understand why you would prefer a wet DCT or a Slushbox.

 

the GDI2.0 is the value engine for the focus.

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VW has figured out a way to market a sell a DCT for better of the last decade, yet Ford can't seem to figure it out. Ford has seemed to focus more on how to "spin" issues than on fixing them.

VW has just had a major world wide recall on DCT issues but only after it was almost forced to....

 

As for the EU vs the US there was too much risk with selling a DCT in a mass market products like the Fusion and Escape and Ford played it safe, at the expense of class leading economy.

Could you imagine the disaster if North American buyers were put off by the wet clutch DCT in Fusion,

that would have been an absolute disaster...

 

BTW, I'm not anti DSG, but i do understand why Ford uses it in some applications and not others.

You have to give buyers what they want and what they expect, do that and everything falls into place.

Edited by jpd80
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