Hi,

A friend of mine has asked me if the Mondeo PowerShift auto gearbox is any good and specifically how it compares with the Audi Multi-tronic CVT transmission he currently drives in his A4 s-line? It's company car renewal time and he needs to make a decision in the next day or two so might not have time to track down a car to test drive.

Thanks in advance,
Craig.

It's ok as far as 6 spd, dual clutch autos go. Don't know about how it compares to the Audi but it is very similar to the VW DSG (but without the paddles).

Thanks for that Richard. Do you own one of these PowerShift cars or have you driven one? It certainly sounds like it is not the same as his CVT based Audi. Someone told him it WAS the same as the Audi but I think they were assuming his was a DSG not a CVT.

Thanks again,
craig.

I've not driven either but its gonna be different from a CVT. I currently drive and Robotised Manual and have driven cars with CVT gearboxes and they're very different.

The gear changes will probably be painfully obvious if your used to a CVT but you'd get used to it pretty quickly.

I've got one as a company car and I've had it for a couple of months now. It's my first auto (I've reached that age now!) and I've found it to be ok. The only issue I've found is that if you are, for example, coasting down to a roundabout and decide that you can make the gap and boot it, it does seem to take a fraction too long thinking about what gear it should be engaging. Other than that it's been absolutely fine.

Mine does that in the fiat, you coast up in 5th, see a gap so floor it, and then drift with no power as it shifts down four gears.

With this kind of box, in this situtation, your best bet is to shift down your self.

Other thing to watch out for is driving on snow or Ice (Where a propper auto is much better) as mine in the Panda (Even in manual mode) kept shifting down because it doesn't like the revs to be too low so I'd catch up with someone going much slower and then the wheels would spin and the car would just be undrivable at thier speed so I had to stop and wait for them to get further away. Again this is my experience with the Fiat dual logic system and it might be different in the ford system.

Another thing worth mentioning, If you drive in manual mode, Lift off (The accelerator) when changing gear, in my car and in some Citroens I test drove, it makes the change smoother and faster.