New Ford Powershift Paddle Shift Not So Hot?

Justin Berkowitz
by Justin Berkowitz

AutoExpress offers a "review" (in the Motor trend sense of the word) of the European Focus, complete with Ford's new dual clutch gearbox. Parsing AutoExpress' usual PR puffery, it's not sounding amazing. Whereas VW's DSG is a viable alternative to a manual transmission– it accelerates faster than rowing your own and returns even better mileage than the stick– Ford's sounds little better than a bog standard autobox. AutoExpress says "But there are no steering wheel-mounted paddleshifters with which to change up or down – and no Sport mode on the box, either – as Ford is keen to stress the gains in economy and emissions offered by Powershift, rather than its outright sportiness." Right, so that puts the "stick replacement" theory to bed. It's just a better automatic transmission. AutoExpress also notes that the Powershift's a very expensive option only available on higher end cars (this is what VW does, too, but not as badly). The rumor is that PowerShift is coming to the US (would be great paired with EcoBoost). Let's hope FoMoCo's boffins reprogram it not to suck.

Justin Berkowitz
Justin Berkowitz

Immensely bored law student. I've also got 3 dogs.

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  • Bleach Bleach on Jun 04, 2008

    The appeal of DSG in this current climate may be mileage, but that wasn't the appeal to most VW owners who bought that option in the prior years. The appeal was the supreme compromise of leaving it in auto when wanted and to have instant response/performance for fun. Seriously, if you try it out in an A3 or GTI, you'll see how flexible VAG's implementation is for switching between convenience and performance. Once Ford has this in production and priced, buyers can figure out if the additional price is worth it. I'm not trashing Powershift, but it really wouldn't hurt to have a sport mode at least.

  • Johnny ro Johnny ro on Jun 04, 2008

    cant say against CVT but I believe since the computer does the clutching and shifting, it is more durable than if you or I do it. They can take out materials and have it last longer anyway.

  • Blowfish Blowfish on Jun 04, 2008

    I had a Honda Civic 1500 once, the clutch according to the ex-owner was 3-4 yrs old. It also failed to my surprise. Is not due to the friction material worn out, but due to high temp cause some debris came off jammed the clutch together. Rendered u cannot disengage the clutch at all. When the mech drove her in to repair , she was fine, but fine for how long? When the clutch came out there was a fair amount of meat on it too, except the debris came off due to high temp.

  • Chui Chui on Jun 05, 2008

    If it's to improve fuel economy then it definitely needs a new name POWERSHIFT = performance improvement to me. YES! Someone else who perceives things as I: shift rearward for UPshifts and forward for DOWNshifts. P.S. That will not likely happen. I do think it's probably better to be on the wheel but not attached TO the steering wheeel.

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