The jerking of the Focus is not really as serious as some might have implied. No doubt it's there during low speed gear change, but it is quite subtle in most cases, ie. light footwork. The jerks are only more prominent when you step harder on the pedal. It's just like when you want the car to accelerate quicker and you floor the pedal. The vehicle will lunge forward and jerk more strongly when changing gears.

Sometimes the jerks will inject some adrenaline into the drive too. If one loves speed and a sportier drive, the jerks during hard acceleration may give an exhilarating feel to the driver. Imagine the whole body being pushed strongly to the seat when the driver steps hard on the pedal as he feels the gears upshifting with each and every jerks. The car just feels lively with the jerks.

There are some cars with transmissions that are as smooth as butter, mostly vehicles that operate on CVT. I've owned and driven 3 vehicles with CVTs that drive smoothly - Nissan Sylphy, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Proton Preve Turbo. Minimal or no jerks in all driving conditions. Nevertheless, the aspects that I don't like about these vehicles are they felt HEAVY and slightly lethargic, and there is a slight lag between the moment one steps on the pedal and the moment the car starts to accelerate, especially in low speed acceleration. In comparison, the Ford Focus felt light.

Apart from the impressive specs on paper (high horsepower and torque numbers in the 2.0-litre engine), I believe the Powershift transmission plays a major part in contributing to the powerful (jerky) acceleration of the Focus which in turn gave it a "light" feel on the roads. The Nissan Sylphy and particularly the Proton Preve Turbo and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport feel "heavy" even though it drives smoothly.

If choosing between the jerky Focus and the smooth Preve Turbo, Sylphy and Pajero Sport, I would definitely pick the Focus for its lightness during acceleration.

Of course, handling and driving dynamics are another matter. :-)

Personally I think the Focus suits those who prefer a more sporty drive. Sometimes, some jerks are good too. A livelier drive, more life. A drive that is as smooth as butter may be a bit boring and bland, in my opinion. Horses for courses.

It's understandable. I've driven the normal torque converters, CVT, now the dual-clutch.....they all have different characteristics that needs to be adapted to with different driving styles. That's why I always say, don't blindly jump on the bandwagon because you heard Focus handling how good the dual clutch how awesome, it's not suitable for everyone. If my dad drives my car in a jam he will curse it to heck.

But if you're like me, you will get used to it soon and can naturally compensate for the eccentricities without giving much thought to it. At one point I was switching between an old 4AT, a CVT and the DCT regularly and didn't think much about the differences, my feet automatically just knows which car I'm driving and adjusts accordingly

Hahaha over 100 pages already and still talking about the jerking "problem". One of the reasons why I hardly visit this thread anymore, it's the same ol' rant over and over again.

People, it's NOT A PROBLEM, it's how dual clutch transmission WORKS!

It's a Ford Focus, it has a prestigious heritage, it drives well, handles brilliantly and it's the best selling car in the world right now. Get into your car, start the engine, floor the flippin' pedal, tackle all the corners you want and just enjoy your ride.

I can't even feel the "grinding noises" or the "jerking" anymore because the sheer adrenaline this car gives me more than compensates these CHARACTERISTICS.

Hahaha over 100 pages already and still talking about the jerking "problem". One of the reasons why I hardly visit this thread anymore, it's the same ol' rant over and over again.

People, it's NOT A PROBLEM, it's how dual clutch transmission WORKS!

It's a Ford Focus, it has a prestigious heritage, it drives well, handles brilliantly and it's the best selling car in the world right now. Get into your car, start the engine, floor the flippin' pedal, tackle all the corners you want and just enjoy your ride.

I can't even feel the "grinding noises" or the "jerking" anymore because the sheer adrenaline this car gives me more than compensates these CHARACTERISTICS.

What's your mileage now bro? Ron97 price just went up another 5 cents while the global market price went down, our government are getting poor.

You're lucky to get to drive from the age of 18, nice.
No need to remember once you're familiar, we're all spoilt thanks to the P1 and P2 and the Japanese made car. Imagine if we're raise up with an European car, we might think the Japanese car are boring to drive, lol.
I think your theory make sense, I never drive a MT before (except during license taking),  but I think it's quite logic if you give it a thought.
It's not a temporary workaround, it's a permanent solution, to adapt our driving behaviour to the CHARACTERISTIC of the DCT.
Really? I should start to give it a try then, could you also monitor your mileage with S mode?
I afraid there's none, there's really not much ST in Malaysia.
Why peoples keep forgetting about SAFETY, lolx, I'm really surprised with what's the first factor that comes to a Malaysian mind when choosing a car, looks like it's not the safety but the transmission, that's shocked me!
Then I afraid you have to looks else where (maybe in our dreams ) , there's no such thing as PERFECT car in this world, in fact, there's nothing PERFECT in this world
I doubt there'll be any face lift this year, maybe next year.

Just came back from the SC to complain on the friction sound when turning the steering wheel left or right. Apparently the mechanic didn't hear it so I hopped into the vehicle and go for another 2nd round of drive and showed him the sound does exist. We agreed the sound from the steering wheel is quite soft, and he informed it is normal due to the EPS. He said there is nothing that can be done, but if the sound gets louder then they will consider replacing the pump for the EPS or something, which is responsible for the sound from the EPS.

Apart from that, they claimed some bolts were tightened when I complained on a thud or knocking sound from the suspension when going over bumps. Will need to monitor further on this though so far the suspension seems quieter.

As for the jerks and grinding sound, I did put in the complain though they are not very serious. The mechanic who test drive concurred that the vehicle drives well and doesn't exhibit serious judders, so he didn't update the software for me. I did tell him that I don't want my vehicle to experience greater shudder with the new software update, and since the vehicle seems to drive well now, the software is not updated and remains as it is.

A complain on a slight gap on the front speaker cover at the dashboard, and the part was ordered. Approximately one month waiting period for the part to arrive.

By the way, the service is acceptable but waiting period, in my opinion is too long. Chatted with two guys at the SC and similarly they thought the waiting period is too long. One guy was servicing his Focus Titanium 10,000km mileage and instead of half day leave, he used up a whole day. The service drags on until about 4.00pm from 8.00am in the morning for the 10,000km service. The other guy who only had one complaint on the shudder when braking waited in the SC from 8.30am until 3.00pm.

Which Service Centre is this?

I sent my car for its 10,000km service to SDAC PJ. Sent it in at 9am and left at 11am.

Sorry, it is the 20,000km service and not 10,000km service. Perhaps the 20,000km service takes a longer time than the 10,000km service.

The service centre is SDAJ PJ.

Any chance you have sound from the steering wheel of your vehicle?

Yeah when the car is stationary and you turn the steering, there's some "sticky" noise... not very obvious though so I kinda ignored it haha. If I wanna nitpick on noises and small issues then I'd be a very busy man!

Still love this Focus to death, though. Aiming for the new Focus RS now, or if that fails, the ST!

Just got my Focus S+ Black today.
Realised that overseas versions have Ambient Lighting and ours do not.
Am I right?

Just got my Focus S+ Black today.
Realised that overseas versions have Ambient Lighting and ours do not.
Am I right?

Welcome bro! Enjoying the new car yet?

If you go through this:

https://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServe.../OwnerVideoPage

you will realize we don't have a lot of things

Any way, anyone think that the factory viper is kinda poor quality?
Mine is noisy, jumpy and didn't clean so nicely.
I'm still prefer silicon wiper with its water droplet effect

Your car has ambient lighting, it's in red. Go through your menu and you will find an option to switch it on.

The Focus in the States however, can choose the colour of the ambient light.

Any way, anyone think that the factory viper is kinda poor quality?
Mine is noisy, jumpy and didn't clean so nicely.
I'm still prefer silicon wiper with its water droplet effect

I think the wiper is good and cleans reasonably well. It is surely better than the wipers on my previous and current cars. I particularly like the configuration whereby the right wiper goes clockwise and the left wiper goes anti-clockwise since in this way the set of wipers cover a larger area on the windscreen. On most vehicles, the wipers only go in one direction that is clockwise. Haven't tried silicon wiper with droplet effect though.

Hmmm... isn't the wiper silicone? From the colour it looks silicone-ish....

Things I have found that helps with the unsmooth wiper motion/sound:

- wash the blade every time you wash the car
- periodically clay the windscreen
- coat the windscreen with Rain-X or equivalent

One cool thing about the wiper (which I am sure was not intentionally designed!): when it is on, even on intermittent settings, the blades do not go all the way down; however, when you shut them off completely, the blades drop down the last 1 inch to completely vanish beneath the hood.

Whit is the best discount around for Focus S+ 2013? any good SA to recommend?