Going from the Golf to the Focus would be a downgrade? My colleague who owns the Ford Focus test-drove the VW Passat recently and commented on the smooth and refined ride of the vehicle vs. the Focus. He mentioned it is on another level from the Focus, more refined and sophisticated. I suppose the DSG of the Volkswagen is different from the Powershift of the Ford. Having said that, the Focus drives reasonably well for me.

I own the Focus Titanium though I believe the Sport and Titanium mostly share the same parts with the same transmission. No issues so far. The transmission may behave erratically at low speeds with mild jerks in the first 1,000km though that will iron out with higher mileage. I believe there is now an updated (most recent) software upgrade from Ford that resolves the juddering of the transmission, though at the expense of robbing some thrill out of the drive. With this software upgrade, the jerks with every gear upshifting are now missing, ie. when the gear upshifts from 1st to 2nd, or 2nd to 3rd. The jolt everytime the gear upshifts during hard acceleration that pushes your body to the back seat, you don't feel the kick now with the missing jolts, giving the impression of a less powerful acceleration. It's not too bad though, since the car still accelerates fine. Without the jolts, the transmission now behaves more like a CVT than a 6-gear Powershift.

Sorry I got carried away.

Not many issues. Just a minor gripe in audible wind noise when the vehicle is traveling above 100km/h. I am not sure if it is only my vehicle that has this problem. I plan to bring this up to the service centre in my next appointment to see if they can resolve it. My ears are very sensitive and I like my vehicle to be quiet, free from rattling, wind or suspension noises. Rattling is the cause of poor fittings, and I am happy to report the Focus does not exhibit any annoying rattling noises(so far). Wind noise, the Focus does not match up to my previous car the Nissan Sylphy which is quiet up to about 150km/h. The suspension of the Focus is also not very quiet as when the vehicle goes over bad-surfaced roads or concrete ramps with grooves up shopping complexes, the noise is quite loud.

A caveat is I am a picky person. All the above may be minor issues to you.

Coming back to your concern on fuel consumption during heavy or crawling traffic. I don't know about the VW Golf but comparing the Ford Focus with the Nissan Sylphy and Proton Preve Turbo 1.6, the Focus registers better fuel economy when both are stuck in heavy traffic.