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Originally Posted by WILDB
People need to remember that these are NOT an automatic gearbox, they will feel, sound and drive totally different to an automatic.
What you are driving is a manual gearbox which automatically controls the clutch and changes gears for you, thus it will display different driving characteristics. It will roll back on hills if you don't allow it to enable hill launch assist - DO NOT use the throttle to hold the car on a hill, you will fry the clutches.
Jerkiness may be experienced during stop/start and city driving, this is again a characteristic of dual clutch manual gearboxes, in a conventional manual the same thing would be experienced. You don't have the "slip" of the torque convertor which would help smooth things out on a normal auto in such situations.
I think there is a bit of an "unknown" factor for people and these types of gearboxes as they are new technology in Ford products and are not like people have experienced previously.
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Makes sense ..
.. however doesn't help when Ford advertise it like this though ..
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Six-speed PowerShift Automatic Transmission
Too smooth for school. Seamless, barely perceptible gear changes not only make for a dream drive, they also mean less time at the pump. Dual-clutch design lets you enjoy the optimum gear ratios of a manual, so there’s no ‘drag’ between gears, with the effortless ease of an automatic with amazing responsiveness.
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I have a reasonable mechnical knowledge .. and that reads like it's just an auto (planetary gearsets, bands and all) without a torque converter. I'd be interested to read the operating manual.
I hope my friend will just wear into it and stop thinking about it too much. Can't really acuse him of driving like a grandma though .. his previous vehicles included 351C XB GS coupe, 351 XC GXL, LJ with 308, '49 Spinner with 302, A-roadster with 302, 421SD Pontiac Bonneville, etc, etc ... I think he'd be giving the little Focus the beans when applicable.