My Sport+ is at 20k mileage now and I love everything about it except for one unbearable thing. It vibrates and shudders way too much and badly at idle, RPM is at 750+ when idle. It almost feels like I'm driving a 20 year old car with bad engine mountings.

Already done my 2nd service and they found a transmission oil leak. They said they can't do anything about the engine vibration and shivers. Honestly, it's beginning to annoy me. Every new passenger will comment on it making the whole issue seem worse..

Another update. Mileage is currently at 37,000km+.

The problems I were facing earlier are still present, car still vibrates like an old car with bad mountings at idle. I don't quite care about the transmission jerks and noises as those are the characteristics of the gearbox and dual clutch. Shifts are still as fast as brand new. Another complain however, is the big block of sensor connected to the rear view mirror buzzing and vibrating with music on. As if it was not stuck onto the windscreen properly or it has slowly deteriorated.

I will be giving a long list of things for them to check when my car goes in for the 40k major service.

Recently I have also been pushing my car pretty hard whenever I drive. Especially uphill to Genting Highlands. Pushing it to its limits and keeping revs at around 4k to 7.5k rpm with mostly only 2nd and 3rd gears. I realised that the car does not always allow me to downshift from 3rd to 2nd even though I know the rpm will only go up to about 5.5k rpm from doing so. This is quite annoying, you will just see the gear number blink instead of going down.

Another major major turn off is that when Traction Control comes on, it forces me to HEAVILY understeer and end up going straight unless I apply the brakes. Releasing throttle does not help. This means I turn a hard right (not high speed) and control my throttle, I can literally feel them braking my front left wheel more than my front right wheel, resulting in you not turning at all unless you apply brakes.

While this is happening, I question myself where is the Torque Vectoring which is supposed to do the OPPOSITE? Which is braking the right wheels to increase traction while turning right. There is no Torque Vectoring felt at all, only ESP and Traction Control.

So this has prompted me to finally try turning off my Traction Control. I have yet to try it with hard cornering but there were some immediate changes felt.

Throttle response is definitely increased, low gear changes are slightly harder and not as smooth, sort of gives you a kick. The feeling of delayed throttle response is greatly minimised, especially when you slow down for Smart Tag and accelerate after boom gate opens.

Owners should give it a try.

This post has been edited by kelvinftg: Oct 5 2014, 10:17 PM

Yup, I was changing gears with the + - lever. It does not allow you at times to downshift too hard. Very clear that a conventional push/pull lever to change gears are much more convenient than the stupid lever given in the Ford Focus.

All kinds of lights came on when I drive the car hard! I'm talking sub 60km/h speeds with hard cornering.

Regarding the Traction Control, yes, there will be a Traction Control logo with the word OFF that lights up when you turn it off.

Cool. Thanks for the feedback. I'll give it a try without Traction Control the next time!

The thing about my previous few drives is that, on the tighter corners, I bring the car to its brink of losing grip, which is why all the electronic safety measures kicked in and kind of made the car much less predictable to control.

Granted those are great when driving through puddles of water through highways, you can really feel the car straightening out for you when the lights come on.

All this has also made me think about the Focus ST, knowing that dealers are giving out huge discounts now for it. Hmmm..

That's the problem, what I encountered was the exact opposite. The outer brakes were being applied more than the inner brakes, so it can't be the Torque Vectoring at work.

So it has to be the Traction Control sensing that I was losing grip and about to spin out, and automatically applied more brakes to the outer wheel to straighten my car. Interferes with driving especially if you actually try to correct it yourself with throttle.

Left my car there for a week as I went overseas for work, took them 2 days to do everything including 40k major service.

I confirm that I am experiencing this as well after changing clutch pack and also transmission internals. Engine vibrates and struggles a bit in 6th gear, unless you apply more gas which will drop the gears, the engine will continue vibrating. Can be tested in S mode and just move all the way up to 6th gear, cruise at 120km/h, and slowly step on gas pedal.

Prior to clutch pack and transmission change, car will just accelerate very slowly using 6th gear without vibrating.

Now not only this problem is new, I can also feel my steering wheel giving lots of vibration feedback once the car moves. I'm not sure if it's an alignment or balancing issue as I still haven't done it. If it is still there after balancing and alignment, I will return my car again. It is giving my hands the 'pins and needles' feeling everything I drive because that's how bad it is..

They have fixed some of my previous problems but now I have new ones. Engine vibration at idle is STILL there and the guys have literally told me they can't fix it. I will update here again.

Although our Ford Focus is one of the most powerful 2.0 NA cars out there, sometimes I really can't tell if you are being sarcastic when I read some of your comments.

And now you are comparing with a Porsche. Even an ST can't compare with a Porsche as kianyung highlighted. Simply put, they are in different leagues.

I think it stands for Silence Tuned.

This post has been edited by kelvinftg: May 31 2015, 07:47 PM

If only this colour was available at launch. I am officially jealous you have a Ford Blue Ford Focus.

My honest positives and negatives on my 2013 Focus Sport +. These are my very own unbiased views so other owners may not agree. I still love my car, but too bad ST was out of budget.

While it does not break down and require towing like the infamous VW Golf or Peugeot 308, it definitely has its flaws. And the biggest flaw is without a doubt, the transmission.

+ design (subjective)
+ Less common
+ Powerful 2.0 NA
+ Handling
+ Front seats
+ Technology packed
+ Fit & finish
+ 5 years warranty (no disputes so far for all my claims)

- Space (fine for me, not so fine for my rear passengers as I'm tall)
- Terrible driving at low speeds, traffic jams etc. Jerks due to poor double clutch design. I DREAD it.
- Engine vibration at idle (Literally no one at Ford knows WTF is going on)
- Replaced gearbox, clutch, steering rack, drive shaft & engine mounting so far.
- Service centres need improvement, same goes for some of their staffs.
- Absolutely horrible resale value

Well, then what do you want to call it? A unique double clutch "characteristic" that we as owners are supposed to embrace and adapt to? To each his own, I guess.


By the way, bravo to Sportyhandling and -ahtiang- for all their detailed reports here. I can say that their issues are also quite consistent with what I experience but unfortunately I do not take the effort to write it up so often here.

I believe ken77 got a really bad quotation from a greedy second hand car dealer. The most recent I heard was a 2014 Sport + sold at 75k to a second hand car dealer. Owner sold the car to change to MPV, also because was sick of car jerking in traffic jams.

A few points to note. Sedan was sold at a cheaper price, had better discounts and overall less desired.

Focus RS is slower and less premium than A45 AMG and Golf R but maybe it is the most fun?

So realistically, if they want to attract buyers, I think they will have to price it very close to and less than Golf R price.

EVERYONE looks at high losses with utter dismay, regardless of how rich that individual is, or what model was bought. At the end of the day, we just try to comfort ourselves.

All valid points taken into consideration, no Focus owner should feel okay with a resale value that shit.

A glance through this post tells me you are the sour grape.

No need for me to stoop down to your level and argue, people can't tell the difference then. Have a nice day.

My previous clutch replacement only took one full day. You need to check with them exactly why on earth it needs to stay in the SC for that long.

With that said, I tried making a reservation through phone for my 80k major service yesterday at Ford Damansara and was told that the earliest is 21st June. I refused to take that date and insisted they look at their calendar again, moments later they shifted it to 10th June. This is the first time I encounter such high traffic at this SC so it must be due to Raya.

My point is, regardless of what car manufacturer, never settle for what they offer.

I received this letter a week after my 80k service and I don't think they updated the TCM software for me. I have yet to double check with them.

2013 Sport Plus having christmas tree lights recently. Sent back to Ford to check and problems were ABS pump (~RM7k) and all 4 ABS sensors (~RM400 each) need replacing.

Ouch.. waiting for the Ford Bengkel to check and confirm before deciding whether to repair or sell this 10-year long serving car.

This post has been edited by kelvinftg: Apr 19 2023, 03:12 PM

A few ! warning lights here and there, ABS lights, slippery traction control lights, hill assist not available warning, city stop assist not available warning. Quite colourful I would say.
Mileage is 200k+. Car only goes out of limp mode when I untick and turn off traction control but it just ticks itself back on.

So... yup. It's time. Either fix and drive for another year or sell now. Although now that you mentioned, maybe get old parts from halfcut or recond parts is a better idea since I do not plan on keeping it for more than a year anyways. Mind to PM me which workshop you went to? Much appreciated.

It is indeed a feature jammed packed car for its age. No other C-segment car at this price point from 12 years ago had self parking, self opening/closing flaps, AEB, Hill assist, sunroof, 160hp, and the list goes on. But with all this comes the endless list of problems and I have encountered them all.
Mine is a Sport+ with 200k km now and I am looking at replacing it with either a Mazda 3, used 330i, or go all the way with more budget for a used SUV like XC90 or Macan.

This post has been edited by kelvinftg: Feb 25 2024, 12:23 AM