My 2013 Focus cant even handle slush in a car park...i don't think the automatic gearbox helps it either same for TC kicking in every second, very easy to wheelspin in this car and from my experience so far its not a good car in the snow at all, FWD are generally better in snow but i have just found my Focus being terrible i wont even drive it when it snows now as i live on a hill and it doesn't matter how many attempts i have i woke get up it lol.
My sister has this car and I've tried to drive it and it is abysmal in the snow. Tires spin like mad when trying to take off and I barely depress the accelerator. My pickup does better in 2WD then her car does.... It's so bad in the snow I'm convinced its the tires. No car can be that bad!!
It's the tires. They are designed for mileage, not winter traction. And it drives me up a wall when I see people saying it's a "car" issue and not the rubber you're riding on. I have a 2014 Titanium (manual) with snow tires on the stock 17" rims and it's been more than adequate in northern Michigan so far. I took a drive through 6 inches of unplowed snow on a back road just to be sure one night. General Altimax Arctic tires are the ones I put on there, good bang for buck IMHO.
Wow, that's impressive. The only constant winter driving experience I have is with an '04 Ford Taurus with bad tires. I could never turn at the rate of speed you did, even with good tires, due to the car not having the AdvanceTrac system. Both my mom's '09 Taurus and my dad's '08 Mercury Milan do well in snow with the system, so hopefully my 2010 Ford Focus does well with the AdvanceTrac.
That's a bummer. Our 2002 Taurus SEL had traction control and at least and it was a tank in the snow, we never got that thing stuck and I used it as a snow plow for the road before the town took it over lol...
you call that snow?? I have a 2013 focus se, on 4 cheap Daewoo matterhorn snows, a full tank of fuel and a 50lb tool box in the trunk I have tackled around 8 or 9 inches of powdery snow. just turn the traction control off, keep your rpm's low, get good momentum on the hills. most important though always keep right hand near e-brake lever.
Thanks for doing this video. This really has boosted confidence of the Ford Focus for me. Looking to get out of a 4x4 truck into one of these. Snow was somewhat a worry, but i can see the focus can handle its own. GREAT video sir
+mrmiyagi5 I just got one no 8' touch screen but i got it for 10,699 with 31k miles i heard the trrans is beat so i got a good power train warranty. Are you happy with your car? I am hoping ill love it
+Geoffrey Graham my transmission is mediocre. it grinds sometimes while accelerating on turns. some days the car drives like a dream and on some it drives shitty. I can't figure it out.
Your ABS light should NOT flash in any vehicle when the system is operational. The ABS light is only for ABS system faults. TCS and ESC lights are the only ones that should flash when operational.
@TheInstantClassic90 If you want a comfortable compact car, try out the Focus SE and the Cruze LT...both are comfortable and get good mileage, you might also like the new Elantra
Well if it makes you feel any better, the car was such an unreliable piece of crap the dealer bought it back a year later and I have a Fusion Sport now :/
They MyFord Touch system had a mind of its own and the transmission was simply terrible, even for a dual-clutch automated manual...not even close to VW's DSG. It also had numerous squeaks and rattles that the dealer couldn't find and/or made worse. The entire MyFord Touch model was replaced and all that did was just fix my old problems and create a bunch of new ones. Search my channel to see all the videos I made of its many problems. :(
That's why I did it in a secluded area with no traffic. All of my snow tests are done right behind my house in neighborhoods with no traffic or pedestrians with a 25mph speed limit...
I have/had these exact same size and tires on my 2015 se sport Pkg and hated them for snow. I loved them for wet/dry. I replaced them with general rt43 v speed rated so now I guess I’ll find out if it’s the car or was the tires.
Right, so you're driving this car in some pretty shitty conditions one handed while you're holding the camera with the other hand, I hope you dont crash as you would be deemed to "Not be in proper control of the vehicle" and then you might have your insurance voided when they view your video, Jeesus, some people....
Urgh...Continentals. At least Ford put Michelins Pilot Sports on the car if you bought the car with the Titanium handling package. They're summer-only though. The Pilot Sport A/S 3+ have a much longer tread life and are as grippy in summer.
Sick car bro, My parents gave me an ok on the S or SE trim of the Focus, would you recommend it for long driving or is there another car around the same price that's better? Thanks.
I have the 2012 Focus Titanium with the winter package, as well, and I was not able to drive this comfortably on snow and ice. The car was going all over the place.
Thanks I was really wondering about the newer focus I have a 02 focus and that thing its great in the summer but winter its a nightmare I can't even drive as fast as that did the car just shimmy's around more than I think it should and to top it off I have new tires on it of course I don't have the traction features of the new one.
is that sarcasim? haha xD i almost bought a focus, are they really that bad? i had a 07' GFX (rally edition, very rare) and loved it! 5 speed manual. so what was going wrong with your car?
I am driving a hatch back titanium model and doesnt find theres any problem in MFT (yet.... but i still hate those small buttons) and you are quite right about the transmission, it does a bit squeaky especially in traffic. But all the Dual clutch suffers same problem as they tends to shift so often to save ur gas + more fun to drive (CVT is actually better in fuel saving but not fun to drive)
this is helpful actually living in MI I have always driven a 4wd jeep in the winter and havent had to consider winter tires but now that im thinking of a Focus ST i will surely need to have a set for the winter. thanks for the help
Much appreciated you doing this, handsome... I just bought a 2013 not even thinking about snow....but looking at the front , I thought the bumber is so low to the ground how can it get thru the snow....Thanks again :-)
I have a 2014 se Ford Focus hatchback. I have 16inch winter tires (stud less) and "have" problems getting up hills/driveway with little snow/ice. It is not a very good winter vehicle. The have to turn off the traction control every time I go out on the road because it makes it worse when you come to a stop and try to climb a hill. (you wont be able too). Its a fun car to drive, but not a good winter vehicle.
I guess it depends how much snow your talking about but I have the same car and it snowed 8 inches (worst this past winter). I had a long drive home from work that included hills and my car did absolutely fine and I'm ridding on the 16 inch all season tires it came with.
I know this is an old video, but how did you like your focus? I'm thinking about leasing one for a first car but I drove one of these for drivers training and the acceleration on the highway was AWFUL. I'd keep it floored (yes FLOORED) and it would only be at like 65-70 mph. It was scary. On my moms Chrysler 300 (V6) the gas is barely 1.5/3 the way down and it's like I'm already going 80 mph... I'm also comparing the focus to the Dodge Dart and Kia Forte. I'm in Michigan so I'm also scared to get a FWD car, too... I don't know. If compacts don't work out for me I might just go for a Dodge Journey or Ford Escape with V6/Ecoboost and AWD but then it's just going to get so pricey... :(
Don't get a Focus, I had a horrible experience with this car...especially the transmission and MyFord Touch. I would strongly consider a Mazda3 or Volkswagen Golf for a first car. Personally, I'd go with the Golf.
mercmilan06 Ya I think the reason why the drivers training car was so slow was the trans... :( Was it slow for you too? The reason why I considered a focus is that I know someone who works for Ford and I could get the best discount... unlike Kia. I could get one for Dodge too with the Dart but I'm not sure how I feel about the Dart...
The Focus really isn't that slow of a car but the transmission is horrible...not difficult to get clutch chatter and very sloppy gear changes out of it. I wouldn't trust a Dart as far as I could push one up a mountain after being shot in the leg.
I drove it for a whole season and never came close to crashing or getting it stuck in crappy weather. If it had the Titanium Handling Package with the 18" rims and summer tires then it would be hopeless.
