mrtn

Ice+ looks to be designed for hard winter with permanent snow coverage.

LOL :D No, really, when someone says "All Seasons" I get short cirquited and shoot from all barrels so noone would ever think smth like "All Season tire" exists. We have a somewhat different selection of tires over here, so can't suggest what's good for you personally. I last picked WS70 because it drives a lot on countryside roads that don't get plowed too often.

There must be smth wrong with it. The TC brakes are designed to brake with 890 kg payload and when unloaded it's more than adequate.

It's not the car, just the tires. TC is terrific in snow, perfeclty balanced and high clearance. The so called All Season tires are labeled like that for North America only. I am not sure what's the benefit in this but I guess it's the result of extreme competition. These tires are essentially just summer tires with a label which means nothing in terms of winter driving. They have the same hard summer compound, the same bare pavement tread with no snow extraction capabilities, standard block pattern no extra sipes to provide grip. Snow driving is all about grip and snow extraction, nothing else. For extra grip (in comparison with summer/all season tires) the compound is made much softer so it lays down on the surface like an octopus, the extra sipes (cuts in the rubber blocks) provide addidtional sharp edges which hook to the microscopic unevenness on ice. The snow tire technology has been around for several decades and developing every year in amazing pace. Every new model is better than the previous one. To illustrate the difference: you don't know what you're missing unless you've tried it yourself. You can drive on snow/ice virtually at the same speed as in summer, the braking distance is longer but it will stop when you like, given you started braking in time. You will retain full control over your car (up until some point, of course, there's no denying physics). Don't get me wrong - it will be slippery, but you will be able to control the slip and know the breaking point from experience. After you've gone sliding you'll be able to control the slide. Nokian's (Willie's post) snow tires are very good, Finns have always been pioneers in snow tire technology for the obvious reasons. So have most manufacturers provided their own technologies. Btw, I have Nokian All Seasons under my Mazda, for summer only. Not usable in snow at all. Bought Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 for winter, my TC has Kleber Krisalps for snow.

The rough seat fabric means it's extremely durable. After 6 years and 203 000 km there is no sign of wear whatsoever.

The information is incorrect. It's not a separate layer that could detach, there are thinner than human hair wires in the laminate layer between the glass layers. The glass heats up in seconds, completely deicing it in less than a minute. It's a Ford thing, had it previously in my Escort. Works like a charm, no annoyances whatsoever. Replacement glass is normal over here (up North). The glass shop must know how to replace it, there are some specific issues reconnecting the cables. You might lose heated parts of the glass (vertically) if the connection is not good.

195/65R15 is a tiny bit too small for the TC. I tried a set of 70-profile and it suited the look better. Probably the ride is a bit smoother as well.

I hardly ever fire up my Mazda 6, TC is much more fun and all-round utility despite the lack of power.

Perhaps it wasn't a texting driver, may have been tweeting about heavy traffic 8)

Ok, tried it. I observed the image from the same distance on both sides. I scaled it to the landscape so that I saw the rear wheel fully and the top of the mirror aligned to the horizon. The curvature of the main mirror seems to be identical. The fish eye is too wide for testing without a fixed backdrop.Couldn't make an adequate photo as it's raining hard.

Is it under warranty? Go and have it checked out.

Hmm, I think the mirrors are mirror images of each other so they should work either driving side.

Never seen the small ones here on any TCs.

Shouldn't be too difficult as it's originally also diesel equipped. Just be sure to look out for a modern TDCi engine, not the underpowered medieval TDDi. Keep an eye on brits' leftovers, doing diesel > Cosworth swap. They're nuts

You could check Focus reliability data, which shares the drivetrain with the N/A TC. The rest of the bodywork is rock solid.

Automatic transmission for Europe, finally! Too bad it's only good for the petrol version, diesel is still manual only.

The reason you didn't get the liftgate in the US is that you have the delivery van Transit, not the same car as a passenger van - Tourneo, which exclusively had the liftgate.

The passenger vans have always had the liftgate option.

Mine's at 200 000 km with no problems, so it must be an isolated case.

No central locking? You can turn the key twice to open both passages, the rear barn doors and the sliding dor.

How many doors there are? There should be at least two?

There's a yellow escape knob back there, inside.

Check for the power on the connector at the rear window.

That's weird. Mine are perfectly good, even for my way off standard frame I find most seats uncomfortable for.

Here's a free paper dispenser for the TC. I grab a fistful of paper from the gas station pump every time I fill up, and put it on the shelf, pulling it through the hole when needed. It's good to have something covering the paper ball (like a brochure or smth) so it would not fly out of the window when you drive with the window open.