Speed Read: 2010 Ford Fusion SE 6-speed
Price: $22,165
Major equipment: 2.5-liter Duratec four-cylinder, six-speed manual transmission, sunroof, SYNC, autodim rear-view mirror.
In the fleet: 5/15/2009 – 5/22/2009
Approximate mileage driven: 450
J. BARUTH: Remember all the things we used to love about “foreign” sedans back in the dino-sized Big Three days of the Eighties? They were good-looking, reasonably-sized, fuel-efficient vehicles that offered manual transmissions, interesting equipment, decent handling, and bulletproof durability.
So now here we are in 2009, and the average “Camcord” is a bloated, cost-conscious, automatic-transmission sled. Meanwhile, Ford has a car that reminds us more than any current mainstream Japanese sedan of what those great Accords and Stanzas used to be like. It’s not overtly sporty, the convincing-looking wheel covers aside, but it’s an acceptably rapid, very spacious, rather pleasant conveyance. To make things more interesting, you can now choose the option of a six-speed manual transmission to help the 175-horsepower Duratec kick the Fusion down the road.
Our initial drive revealed one potential issue with putting a “standard shift” in the 2010 Fusion: in normal operation, you can’t hear the engine rev. At all. Only when the tach reaches all the way around the dial can you hear the typically charmless Duratec growl so familiar to Spec Focus racers everywhere; the rest of the time, you’d better watch the dash to make the most out of each gallon. Our observed road test average of 27.9 mpg was remarkable considering the frequency with which we pasted the accelerator to the carpet.
The interior’s a step down from the 2010 Fusion Sport we tested a few months ago, but it’s on par with the competition. Seating, in particular, is remarkably decent and supportive for long trips. Best of all, Ford’s class-leading SYNC system appears here in reasonably complete form, complete with Bluetooth integration. There’s no better way to use an iPod and a modern mobile phone together, and if you don’t want to use the voice commands, browsing through even a 12,000-song iPod like mine is reasonably efficient with the on-screen menus.
The transmission itself is pleasant and easy to operate, with a smooth takeup and throws that are long but not onerous. If you want to make rapid progress, however, you’ll find yourself rowing the ‘box quite a bit. The days are long gone when a 3400-pound car with 175 horsepower was considered “fast”. Just keeping up with modern V8-powered SUVs requires a heavy right foot and a quick left one. When the road curves, it’s apparent that the suspension tuning is very different from that which let the Fusion Sport roll through Ohio’s Hocking Hills with such alacrity during our 2010 Mustang GT test. This car is optimized for ride, not handling. Luckily, the ride is awfully good, particularly on choppy freeways.
The rest of the car is what you’d expect from a 2010 Fusion: enormous trunk, reasonable rear-seat space, aggressive new looks, class-leading durability and reliability. Ford is not shy about pointing out that you’re likely to get the same service out of a new Fusion that an Accord buyer would get from Honda’s midsizer, and at a lower cost.
Ah, cost. The sticker on our well-equipped tester barely broke $22K. It would take a particularly lousy negotiator to take one of these cars out of the showroom for more than twenty grand flat. For that money, you’ll get a car which offers everything the Japanese competition does, plus an extra gear in the manual transmission and a more aggressive look. This is really all the car most people need, and if fuel prices continue their recent climb, more and more drivers will find themselves learning how to shift again.
Given our choice, we’d ask Ford to combine this powertrain with a more aggressive suspension and wheel/tire combination, but let’s be honest: who’d buy it? The sporty customers will still gravitate towards the rapid, rewarding Fusion Sport. Best to leave this car the way it is: as a modern-day Accord in a sea of Accords that look more and more like old Ford Torinos.
I have an auto SEL from Hertz this week. The outside and ride/handling are better than the '09 versions. On par with or better than the competition . __The interior still needs work. A few things I noticed (from most to least annoying):__-Since '09(?) Ford has been using "Full Nelson" angled head rests from some safety regulation. You spend the whole drive with your neck forced into a weird angle feeling like your older brother is trying to make you submit. __-The radio controls (shared with the focus) have a CHEAP feeling kings crown thing going on. __-The HVAC controls are low in the dash and angled away from you. It's difficult to figure out the auto HVAC system like this. __-The leather seats don't align center to center with the steering wheel. You sit an inch to the left. Not as bad as the VW R32, but still bad. __-Ford is using a soft touch matte finish on the dash. It looks like you haven't maintained your car in black. It looks better in beige. Ford should use a slightly higher gloss version, so it doesn't look like your grandma's 1994 Taurus dash, which has been sitting in the AZ sun for 15 years. __
You nailed it in the first graf. This IS the Nissan Stanza: fun, attainable, innocent, not pretentious, naturally good. The question: how do we, as buyer advocates, get people to abandon cliches and give these cars a decent chance?
It's getting easier to coax people into Ford showrooms, though. They're riding the no-loan wave.
I have an auto SEL from Hertz this week. The outside and ride/handling are better than the '09 versions. On par with or better than the competition .
The interior still needs work. A few things I noticed (from most to least annoying):
-Since '09(?) Ford has been using "Full Nelson" angled head rests from some safety regulation. You spend the whole drive with your neck forced into a weird angle feeling like your older brother is trying to make you submit.
-The radio controls (shared with the focus) have a CHEAP feeling kings crown thing going on.
-The HVAC controls are low in the dash and angled away from you. It's difficult to figure out the auto HVAC system like this.
-The leather seats don't align center to center with the steering wheel. You sit an inch to the left. Not as bad as the VW R32, but still bad.
-Ford is using a soft touch matte finish on the dash. Ford took matte too far! In black, It looks like you haven't maintained your car. It looks better in beige. Ford should use a slightly higher gloss version, so it doesn't look like your grandma's 1994 Taurus dash, which has been sitting in the AZ sun for 15 years.
I am glad someone else noticed that the drivers seat is not aligned with the steering wheel. I find it very annoying. I can only imagine that it is a result of poor engineering which doesnt make me have faith in Ford. I can imagine slamming my head into the side of the steering wheel in an accident.
I want to go test drive one purely off the Nissan Stanza comparisons.
I use to own a 1991 Stanza XE with a stick. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, just a great car. That and the 3rd gen Maxima were there pinnacle of Nissan. Absolutely bulletproof and it drove like it was brand new when it had 200k miles on it.
http://tinyurl.com/hmZamaTour Enjoy
Buy American.
Nah. Buy world-beating product, no matter where it comes from. Just so happens Ford and GM are producing some damn good cars worth your bucks these days.
I can't help but see Contour SVT in this (that's a compliment), if only they'd couple it with a decent sport package.
New front seats (even just the driver's), wheels, tires, and suspension could turn this into a great practical sporty daily driver.
I just heard a rumor that there is a sport-suspension I4 on the way… we'll have one to test.
Really…
Awesome.
Have any of you who have driven this also driven the '08+ Malibu? If so, thoughts?
I have (along with every other comparable sedan except the vw) rented a few (all 4cyl auto). The Fusion is a smaller car with less leg room. I don't know if the dimension show it, but the 'Bu is bigger over all. I feel the 'Bu has a better interior. The Fusion has a better ride/handling mix (probably better in both respects) and is the sportier of the two. The Fusion also has better brakes. It all comes down to how much space you want and how much you want to spend as, I believe, a comparably equipped 'Bu is a few K more.
The Fusion really compares better to the Altima, while the 'Bu compares better to a Camery.
After a test drive that I loved I was sold until I saw the wheels. I just can't get over the crappy plastic caps. Somebody talk me down off this issue. Otherwise, it's a Mazda and I'd like to go American. Can't believe the base S model has the better looking wheels.
Think of it as your opportunity to pick out upgraded wheels and tires.
Also: Mazda is owned by Ford and the NA Mazda6s are built in Michigan.
If the first Mazda6 was the base chassis for a stretched, widened Fusion, the new Fusion is the base chassis for a slightly smaller 6 that is now, sadly, allergic to hard cornering. Mad_Science is right, btw: the 6 is assembled in Flat Rock, and the Fusion is assembled in Hermosillo, Mexico.
I'm with you, though… I'd dig the wheel design, bigtime — if it was an actual alloy wheel.
Buy American?
Uh, the Fusion is hecho en Mexico, Amigo. Who in their right mind would trust the reliability of anything made in Mexico, especially by Ford?
If you want to buy American, buy a Camry. Made in America.
Oh yeah, and Toyota won't belly up to the taxpayer funded Bailout Buffet, either, like Ford will no doubt do in a few months.
Ok, lets get it right Brian. Toyota IS getting a bail out form THEIR government 86 Billion Yen to be be exact. I used to sell the Camry that's ASSEMBLED in the U.S. NOT made here. As for the Mexican made made Fusion it has beat the Camry for over two years in quailty reports and the money still goes back to Detroit not back the Japs who bombed us first, imposes huge taxes on American products AND refuse to open their market to us. Ford has not taxen ANY of your TAX MONEY. I work for them I know. I can say the pledge with out being a hypocrite. 2001 Mustang GT over 200,000 miles. Have a great day!!!!! Nazi's thought they where Germans too but they were only sick scum. Real Germans are not Nazis and real Americans don't say the Jap products are MADE in this country.
"oyota IS getting a bail out form THEIR government 86 Billion Yen to be be exact."
Firstly, they're loaning Toyota money. That is a little different from the bailout "loans" GM and Chrysler get that are worth more than their entire companies and will never be paid back.
Secondly, so what? It isn't MY tax money! If the Japanese wants to force their taxpayers to subsidize my car purchases, who benefits? ME, and every American consumer. I'm not a Japanese taxpayer, it doesn't take money from my pocket by government fiat.
"Ford has not taxen ANY of your TAX MONEY."
Not yet. They just secured billions of it. Just in case. A "loan" gaurantee. The only reason they haven't gone C11 and gotten cash from Uncle Sugar yet is because they mortgaged the entire company in 2006. But given their horrendous levels of cash burn, they're probably about 6-8 months behind GM. It will happen soon enough.
"I used to sell the Camry that's ASSEMBLED in the U.S. NOT made here."
The Toyota Camry is 80% + domestic content. The Fusion/Milan/MKZ is 50% domestic content. I'd say the Camry is more "American" than the Fusion by any reasonable measure. Who cares where the corporate headquarters are? These companies aren't really "American" or "Japanese" or "German" now, they're international conglomerates who happen to have their headquarters in Detroit, Tokyo, and Bavaria.
I've heard this spiel about how the domestics finally have their act together ever since I got rid of my 1989 Tempo and swore off Detroit for good. They never change. They either still don't build good products, or build one good product and sit back on their laurels, letting it rot on the vine without improvements (Taurus, Focus, the LH cars, A-bodies, should I go on?)
Compare that to the attitude of the transplants.
There is ONE thing Ford (or GM) could do to get me in their show rooms. Namely put their money where their big mouths are and give us a 10/100,000 miles warranty like Hyundai did when it wanted to improve the image of its reliability. Then I MIGHT take a look at a Fusion. But I'm not going to risk getting burned by a what could end up the Tempo II until then.
Even though I am driving a beautiful, fully paid-off Scion tC, and will be doing so for a while longer, I would definitely buy a `10 Fusion SE 6MT. You get a lot of bang for the buck, and the Fusion matches, if not exceeds the quality of the Camry/Accord (both superb vehicles in their own right). I have driven the SEL 4-cyl 6AT and the Sport, but the gearing in both 6AT versions is too tall, so it takes quite a while to shift between gears (presumably for fuel efficiency and comfort). I will say that the SE 6MT is rare, and probably will have to be ordered, because most dealers only have the "S" model in stock, if even that. I was confused why even the "S" model has 16" alloys, but the SE has 17" steelies with full covers, but they don't look all that bad, and are a replica of the 18" alloys on the Ford Mondeo.
I drove a new Fusion loaner last week. True, it was an FBO car, but it was a plastic piece of garbage inside.
Hey Brian I wonder if you know geography. Mexico is part of America, as is Canada. Yeah there's a whole fuckin continent called North AMERICA that both happen to be on. So yeah anything made in Mexico, Canada, the good 'ole US & A and even Central and South America is ALL American. The USA happens to breakdown to "United States of AMERICA"…Yeah learn something dumb fuck.
Brian, pull your head out of your ass, and open your eyes. This isn't the 80s. Everybody knows the Tempo was a POS. But, edmunds, and hell, most people, professional and owners, say that the Fusion is a fanatastic car. To quote, "If the Fusion had a toyota badge, the sheeple would be humping it in the parking lot" . The orginal toyota, hondas that came from Japan were huge Pieces of shit. Go look at one. Honda and toyota don't offer 10/100k mile warranties, do they? Neither does Nissan. But Chrysler offers lifetime powertrain warranties on their products. Whether they stand behind it is another story altogether, but you get the picture.
As for Majesitc Moose, have you ever sat in a honda/toyota? They ALL have plastic interiors. So do Nissan, BMW, MB. It's the feel of the plastic that makes the difference.
Daniel> Mexico is NOT part of America. America here means, from the USA. The North American Continent and the United States of America are not the same thing. Personally, I don't consider things assembled in canada foreign. But things from mexico, I do. I heard that in a couple years the Fusion will be assembled somewhere in US. Probably Michigan, where most Ford production is.