Remember the Taurus? It was a good car at the right time and it made Ford a bunch of money--until they turned it into a jelly bean and then started concentrating too much on trucks. Well, when the history of this current economic conundrum is written, the car that got Ford through it all may well be the 2010 Fusion (with help from the functionally identical Mercury Milan).
This humble sedan is all the more significant given that Ford started work on it years before the economy imploded and gas hit $4 a gallon. Cars were what people needed--not ungainly sport-utility vehicles and trucks that never towed or hauled anything anyway--simple, functional cars with four doors and a trunk. That is the mid-sized sedan you get with the new Fusion, built to take on the other simple, functional cars in the segment, like heavy hitters Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.
Ford takes them on with new, more efficient engines, six-speed transmissions for all models, front- and all-wheel-drive and even a new hybrid that'll suck the bark off any tree you want to hug.
Sheetmetal is new from the A-pillar forward and it gives the car a sharper, more modern curbside appeal. It's certainly more attractive than the volume leaders in the segment.
Under that new sheetmetal is your choice of three gasoline engines and a hybrid electric powertrain. Our favorite was, strangely enough, the 2.5-liter 175-hp four. It felt the most appropriate for the car and is the only Fusion to come with a manual transmission, a nice six-speed gearbox. The 240-hp 3.0 V6 and 263-hp 3.5 V6 come with six-speed automatic transmissions only.
The big news here is the hybrid drivetrain, which debuted in the 2009 Escape and Mariner. In the Fusion it'll sticker at $27,270. The 2.5-liter gasoline four--mated to a continuously variable transmission--is the same block as the regular Fusion but with new pistons, cams, timing and electronics. It also operates on the Atkinson Cycle, which is not a diet plan but a means of increasing fuel economy by delaying the intake valve closing and essentially lengthening the stroke. You give up low end torque but when you have a big electric motor in the powertrain that makes all its torque from zero rpm, who cares?
A colorful readout on the dash of the hybrid model shows you when you're in EV mode and using only the 208 D-cell-sized nickel-metal-hydride batteries for power. The best way to do that seemed to be to accelerate briskly then back off and go easy on the throttle. Doing that and meticulously watching the dash gauge returned 39.6 mpg in 14 miles of city driving--and was only slightly maddening.
There is a sport model available, too, powered by the 3.5-liter V6 with six-speed automatic. It gets a more responsive suspension and sporty looking wheels. Before you scoff, we actually got our fastest slalom time in that model.
Yes, Ford had us all running around autocrossing these things, we suspect to demonstrate that they understeered slightly less than the Camrys they also had lined up for us. The lesson we came away with was that you probably don't want to autocross a stock mid-sized sedan from any carmaker. As we said, the most fun to drive was the four-banger with the manual and we could've lowered our time considerably given enough laps in that baby.
The four-cylinder with the manual was also our choice for driving around canyon roads. And it's the least expensive.
We seem to be returning to simpler, more conscientious times. As it did many times in the past, Ford has the right car ready.
SPECS
On Sale: Late March/Early April
Base Price: $23,975 plus destination
Drivetrain: 2.5-liter, 175-hp, 172-lb-ft I4; fwd, six-speed manual
Curb Weight: 3,285 pounds
0-60 mph: 9.5 seconds
Fuel Economy: n/a
This humble sedan is all the more significant given that Ford started work on it years before the economy imploded and gas hit $4 a gallon. Cars were what people needed--not ungainly sport-utility vehicles and trucks that never towed or hauled anything anyway--simple, functional cars with four doors and a trunk. That is the mid-sized sedan you get with the new Fusion, built to take on the other simple, functional cars in the segment, like heavy hitters Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.
Ford takes them on with new, more efficient engines, six-speed transmissions for all models, front- and all-wheel-drive and even a new hybrid that'll suck the bark off any tree you want to hug.
Sheetmetal is new from the A-pillar forward and it gives the car a sharper, more modern curbside appeal. It's certainly more attractive than the volume leaders in the segment.
Under that new sheetmetal is your choice of three gasoline engines and a hybrid electric powertrain. Our favorite was, strangely enough, the 2.5-liter 175-hp four. It felt the most appropriate for the car and is the only Fusion to come with a manual transmission, a nice six-speed gearbox. The 240-hp 3.0 V6 and 263-hp 3.5 V6 come with six-speed automatic transmissions only.
The big news here is the hybrid drivetrain, which debuted in the 2009 Escape and Mariner. In the Fusion it'll sticker at $27,270. The 2.5-liter gasoline four--mated to a continuously variable transmission--is the same block as the regular Fusion but with new pistons, cams, timing and electronics. It also operates on the Atkinson Cycle, which is not a diet plan but a means of increasing fuel economy by delaying the intake valve closing and essentially lengthening the stroke. You give up low end torque but when you have a big electric motor in the powertrain that makes all its torque from zero rpm, who cares?
| The 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid adopts the powertrain used in the Escape hybrid. |
There is a sport model available, too, powered by the 3.5-liter V6 with six-speed automatic. It gets a more responsive suspension and sporty looking wheels. Before you scoff, we actually got our fastest slalom time in that model.
Yes, Ford had us all running around autocrossing these things, we suspect to demonstrate that they understeered slightly less than the Camrys they also had lined up for us. The lesson we came away with was that you probably don't want to autocross a stock mid-sized sedan from any carmaker. As we said, the most fun to drive was the four-banger with the manual and we could've lowered our time considerably given enough laps in that baby.
The four-cylinder with the manual was also our choice for driving around canyon roads. And it's the least expensive.
We seem to be returning to simpler, more conscientious times. As it did many times in the past, Ford has the right car ready.
SPECS
On Sale: Late March/Early April
Base Price: $23,975 plus destination
Drivetrain: 2.5-liter, 175-hp, 172-lb-ft I4; fwd, six-speed manual
Curb Weight: 3,285 pounds
0-60 mph: 9.5 seconds
Fuel Economy: n/a
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