 That being said, Ford and its dealer network should do a lot more to explain to future owners what DCT is. The regular swish-style gearbox is simple in that one bears down on the throttle to go fast and eases to slow. DCT requires one to drive with a manual gearbox mentality. To quickly get to 4th or 5th, stay below 2500 rpm and then once on 4th or 5th one can push beyond 3000rpm to get some speed - I suspect that's when the turbo kicks in. I've found 6th works best in the range between 2200 and 2600rpm. To accelerate, use manual mode but at 160hp from turbo, I dont think this is the horse for that race. update as of 11/2016:upgraded to the focus st - essentially the same car but with more power and a tad worse fuel economy. same comforts as the regular focus, but is easier to live with compared to a wrx. got a 6 year dealer/manufacturer warranty so not worried about ford quality. never had any issues with the regular focus, and none so far with the st.