At the risk of sounding older and crankier than I feel, it can be hell trying to find a car with a unique identity anymore. As our four-wheeled friends have become more refined, they’ve also become more homogeneous. Especially when sampling mass-market sedans, the distinctions are often subtle to the point of solipsism, and a sense of automotive deja vu is almost inescapable. Which is why there’s a surprisingly warm place in my heart for hybrids: they may not be fun or even practical in the traditional senses, but they are undeniably different. Unless, of course, they aren’t.
Like other hybrids, the Fusion has a profound effect on the driver that can only be properly compared to a personalized regimen of mood stabilizers, anti-anxiety pills and attention-deficit medication. Leaving town through Friday rush hour congestion would normally be a cut-and-thrust exercise for me, an id-tickling campaign of maximum effort leading only to minor advantages in speed and lane placement. That’s just how I roll. But despite believing deeply that traffic is a battle to be fought, I found the Fusion guiding me towards a center lane. There, the Fusion settled into a sedate, nay, a mature pace. I found myself focusing on the battery levels, indicated mpg, and accelerator level. Sure, the point of a hybrid is to be driven efficiently, but there’s more to it than that. Like any good psychotropic cocktail, the Fusion Hybrid leaves you wondering what happened to your old personality, and why the new one can’t stop fixating on something as relentlessly prosaic as fuel efficiency.
Which is not to say that the Fusion’s hybrid powertrain can’t be used for less socially harmonious pursuits. Leaving the traffic behind and heading into Oregon’s coast range, the road begins to wind and the commuter daze fades somewhat. After soft-shoeing the gas accelerator for miles, a savage jab at the throttle feels like a satisfyingly guilty pleasure. There’s a brief pause while the eCVT transmission process the right foot’s environmentally irresponsible request before the sound of burning hydrocarbons heralds a noticeable surge of power. The drivetrain transitions are surprisingly smooth, and progress down the road is pleasantly satisfying (0-60 in about 8.5 seconds).
The Fusion’s respectable poke and planted feel might almost make you look forward to the really curvy bits of road. And it keeps feeling poised and capable until the moment that you start to turn the wheel, and all you can feel is 3,800 pounds pulling you wide. A dab on on the regenerative brakes brings the nose into line, but by then the promise of any kind of fun has passed. Adding to the questionable at-speed handling is the (repeat after me) numb, overboosted power steering. Vague on-center, the helm goes completely numb in sweeping curves that might otherwise be worth a redeeming giggle. And though body roll is quite well-contained, mid-sweeper bumps are exaggerated by the oversensitive yet uncommunicative wheel, requiring awkward mid-corner correction.
But the reality is that nobody buys a hybrid based on winding mountain road performance. Besides, there’s nothing terrifying or dangerous about the Fusion Hybrid’s handling dynamics, it simply never feels like mucking about. Luckily, the brief attempt at traditional car fun has helped shed some light on the keys to the Fusion’s hybrid hypnosis. One of the Fusion’s party tricks is its ability to run on electric power alone up to 47 mph, nearly twice the speed where its foreign competitors switch to a gas-electric mix. Unfortunately, realizing this advantage requires the combination of a full battery, compliant traffic and right-foot reflexes of Swiss watch precision.
The Fusion’s other unique offering to the hybrid repertoire is the control panel’s brightly-colored LCD display, which turns humdrum commutes into an eco-themed video game. In the “Empower” display setting, the right edge of the gauge screen is occupied by a kind of leafy digital vine which grows as you drive more efficiently. In concert with a power-demand gauge, this tritely metaphorical aide lends a weird glamor to light-footed driving. Though watching your botanical nanny shrivel under unrelenting acceleration adds a certain amount of palate-cleansing schadenfreude to the hybrid experience, the thrills never last and you always end up settling back into a quasi-hypermiling driving style. If ever there were a way to keep the Playstation generation from living out Gran Turismo fantasies on public roads, this is it.
Unfortunately, as it is with so many other instances of 21st Century life, the video game is better than reality. Though the Fusion Hybrid is rated at 41 mpg city and 36 mpg highway, our tester averaged 35.5 mpg over 600 miles of mixed driving. Sure, the majority of our testing was outside of stop-start urban traffic, but most of it was also driven with efficiency in mind (and a little research shows that we weren’t the only testers to struggle to replicate the Fusion’s EPA numbers in the real world). Overall, that’s not much better than what you might expect from a Fusion S, which starts under $20,000 compared to our stripper Hybrid’s $27,270 MSRP. Which is a far more reasonable price point for such Fusion features as the cheesily chromed-out grille, and an interior that comes in any style you like as long as it’s at least 80 percent leather-grained, semi-soft black plastic.
Ultimately then, the Fusion Hybrid is a difficult car to recommend. A carefully-driven four-pot Fusion will come close to the Hybrid’s real-world efficiency numbers for less money, and offering more potential for old-school driving fun. Unless of course your commute is a traffic-ridden hell that involves more sitting than actual driving. Or unless money is no object and you want to show your support for the environment, a US company and the workers of Saltillo, Mexico, all at the same time.
For more rational commuters, a Prius offers more efficiency at a lower price, with less rear-seat room as the only relevant drawback. Oh, and one more thing: though the Fusion’s higher EV speed and engaging display insidiously sucks you into the hybrid lifestyle (aka life in the slow lane), once you wrestle your eyes away from the in-dash game the spell is broken and you’re left driving slowly in a cheap, heavy car. If Ford hopes to win more converts to the hybrid mystique, it will need to offer its otherwise competent drivetrain in a package that wears its uniqueness with pride. Aren’t modern cars homogeneous enough as is?
Nice photos, Edward.
I haven’t driven one of these myself yet, but even judging from this less-than-positive review the Fusion Hybrid drives better than the Camry Hybrid.
TrueDelta has a real-world gas mileage survey. Participants report 27-33 MPG with the regular Fusion, and 39 MPG with the Hybrid. Most people would consider this a significant difference.
http://www.truedelta.com/fuel_economy.php?stage=pt&bd=Ford&mc=98
The Fusion continues to do well in our Car Reliability Survey.
To read about the surveys, and sign up to participate:
http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php
I think Hybrids work best in the hatchback body style. I figure those who care about drivetrain efficiency also care about packaging efficiency, and I think this country might finally be over its hatchback aversion. How about a Fiesta hybrid?
“you’re left driving slowly in a cheap, heavy car.”
Meh, not the worst thing in the world.
Capt. Clint Roberts makes his living cutting accident victims out of hideously mangled vehicles, but even he could hardly believe it when two people in a 2007 midsize car survived a head-on crash with a full-sized pickup last year.
The Ford Fusion’s reinforced steel construction probably saved the lives of the 18-year-old driver and his 16-year-old passenger.
Because hydraulic cutters couldn’t shear the roof posts, rescue workers had to turn to heavy-duty electric saws, replacing blade after blade as they dulled on the rugged material.
The Fusion’s passenger, for example, was hurt but conscious and joking with Roberts as the crew worked to get him out. The driver of the other vehicle — a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup — was dead at the scene.
Michael: 33MPG is 3.0gal/100 miles. 39MPG is 2.5gal/100 miles. Over 10,000 miles, that is 50 gallons different. $150 in gas savings. The math shows that the differences, as far as dollars go, are quite insignificant. Considering the price premium between the two models and the fact that a hybrid driver is more likely to hypermile (thus probably skewing your data), buying a hybrid over the gasoline version is a hard sell other than the reasons Ed listed.
Okay, so it’s pointless and overpriced like all Hybrids. But just LOOK at all the cool gauges! They’ve got “ACC”, “PWR”, “MPG”… the only thing missing is Edward’s hemoglobin level.
How was the yurt?
@jmo Good story. I had no idea.
http://www.informedforlife.org/demos/FCKeditor/UserFiles/File/1MasterSCOREr.pdf shows The Fusion as second only to the Buick LaCrosse in safety
Lower is Better
51 2010 Buick LaCrosse 4-DR 3918 LBS
53 2010 Ford Fusion 4DR 2WD 3325 LBS
55 2010 Ford Taurus 4-DR 3948 LBS
65 2010 Toyota Prius 4-DR 3098 LBS
77 2010 Honda Insight 4DR 2730 LBS
The Fusion weighs less than the Taurus and is still safer and more fuel efficient so I’m not sure why the focus on weight.
While on a recent car hunting trip for my girlfriend, I drove a Fusion SEL with the 2.5 I4. The dealer talked my GF out of even driving the hybrid due to said lack of real gains in efficiency over the 4 cyl and worse driving feel. I was so shocked by the driving experience, I am tempted to pen a review on it.
The Fusion’s steering is so overboosted and without feel that I found it actually difficult to point it where I wanted the car to go and to keep it going in my intended direction. Further the car was very crashy and cheap sounding when it hit mild bumps like seams in concrete road surfaces. Isolation of exterior noise in general was also suprisingly substandard. And, while there were some strategically placed soft plastics and our tester had leather seating, the overall feel of the interior was cheap. I especially did not like the blue gauge lighting. My girlfriend absolutely hated the car. She commented that it reminded her too much of the 2002 Neon she is trying to replace. To make matters worse, the car we drove, which was as loaded as a 4cyl Fusion gets, stickered at $27K!
I was fully expecting the car to be awesome and for my girlfriend to be so impressed that we wouldn’t need to drive anything else. I am left amazed that anyone buys that car.
Okay, so it’s pointless and overpriced like all Hybrids.
Don, are you a GM executive? As that is exactly the kind of thinking that bankrupted GM – make all your decisions based on how things stand at this very moment. How things can and will change in the near future – totally irrelevant.
As someone who’d never driven a modern Ford sedan as of July, but who’d driven various incarnations of the Prius, I was pleasantly surprised with the Fusion Hybrid’s performance and would likely pick it over a Prius. Did I crave more, in nearly every respect (especially interior treatment and steering feel)? Of course – but less so than in the Prius.
However, as Ed remarked: until/unless small Miata-esque hybrids with commendable driving dynamics pervade the landscape, most people don’t buy them for purposes other than efficiency. I believe the Fusion Hybrid needs a freshening already – at least to bring it more in line with the Taurus’ more tolerable interior.
Hybrids aren’t usually the most economical choice for the average driver. If you drive a lot of highway miles, where the hybrid benefit isn’t as great, you almost always end up doing better with the regular 4 cylinder model.
A base Hybrid Fusion starts at about $28,300 while a SEL 4 cylinder optioned closely to what the Hybrid has is 25,000, a $3300 difference. The SEL also comes with $1500 in rebates, while the Hybrid gets an $800 (I think at the moment) tax credit, so we’ll call the difference $4000. At that price the Hybrid has cloth while the SEL has leather, but that is the closest way to make the comparison, add about $1000 for good aftermarket leather to the Hybrid to make it apples to apples and a $5000 price difference.
At 22/31 for the SEL, and 41/36 for the Hybrid, a driver who does almost all city driving and 12K miles per year will burn through 545 gallons of gas per year costing him roughly $1600 (at $3.00 a gallon). The same driver will burn through 292 gallons in the Hybrid, at a cost of $880. So, it will take between six and seven years and around 90K miles before the Hybrid owner starts to reap the benefits of the Hybrid under best case scenarios. If gas shoots up well above $3 a gallon over the next several years though, it could bring the Hybrid into the more economical category quicker.
Then again, certain cities and states allow Hybrid owners to drive in the HOV lanes alone, or to park on the street without paying the meters, and a number of other benefits, so if those conveniences apply to the potential owner it could sweeten the deal. We also shouldn’t forget that image and a desire to reduce emissions will effect some driver’s decisions.
Compared to the Prius the Fusion Hybrid does have some big benefits – it is much quieter inside, the seats are far more comfortable, the interior materials quality is higher, and the shift from electric to engine driven power is virtually undetectable.
I want to like this car, but I have the same issues with it as I do with the Camry and Altima hybrids: it’s expensive and you lose a lot of versatility by opting for a trunk. Meanwhile, the Prius gives about as much useful space, better mileage, handling that works and a trunk that you can use for actual stuff.
The sales of these models bear it out: hybrid buyers don’t really want an impractical sedan.
I can’t help but think Ford might have been wiser to hybridize a vehicle in a niche that Toyota has left relatively empty: the 6-8 passenger people carrier. Th Highlander is decent, but it’s cramped; a hybrid Flex would appeal, I think, to a lot of people.
Questin:
I posted the 33MPG upper limit for the regular Fusion because someone is reporting that avearage. But most drivers seem to get 27-28.
Ok, I did some comparisons, and it looks like the “get a base Fusion instead” comments are rather inaccurate.
If you want something moderately loaded, you’d spend ~27K on an SEL and a 31K on the hybrid, MSRP-wise, to get comparable options (moonroof, parking aid/audio on the SEL, and leather on the hybrid). An “everything on it” option for the hybrid makes the loaded difference even smaller, at $3.5K (28.5 vs 32). Also, note that the 4-pot is rather anemic, so you’d want to upgrade to the Duratec if you don’t want to wind the motor to the stratosphere just to get that thing moving. That’s another grand and a half, and it yields you slightly better acceleration at the cost of high-teens city mileage.
So, with those options, if you want a well-equipped Fusion, you drive a lot in the city, and you don’t want to drive a total slug, paying an extra 2K for a hybrid makes complete sense. It’ll pay for itself in gas alone over the five or so years you’ll own it (over the V6), and the added benefits of reduced maintenance and much higher reliability are an extra bonus.
Then, when time comes to sell, you won’t have a 12K V6 Fusion on your hands – you’ll have a 14K Hybrid! Probably even better than that; 07 Camry Hybrid KBB’s at 21K, and a loaded V6 of the same vintage is barely getting mid-18’s.
Basically, over the first few years, you get to pocket the free gas money, and you’ll get your hybrid premium back when you sell. Try getting that kind of return on your 2K in the stock market…
If you keep the car longer, your hybrid premium will decrease, but you’ll keep getting great gas mileage and reliability of an anvil; not a bad deal, either.
Somebody needs to review the equivalent Mercury, as it makes a bit more sense in a “loaded” state.
I like the hybrid, but I doubt I would buy one. The Fusion (I4) is on my list when we start looking seriously next year.
The sales of these models bear it out: hybrid buyers don’t really want an impractical sedan.
I don’t think the issue is the relative impracticallity of a Sedan… a midsize four-door with an average trunk should be plenty practical for a small family… I think this simply oversimplifies the point.
Hybrid buyers don’t want Hybrids that look like average cars. They want cars that scream “look at me, I’m driving a Hybrid!” This, the Prius does very well. The Honda Civic Hybrid, which to me has a better powertrain configuration, missed this point. The Accord Hybrid missed the styling point AND the efficiency point by miles, as did the Malibu/Aura “mild” hybrid systems.
The math behind the extra cost vs. the fuel savings doesn’t escape most buyers. One could make the same argument between buying a prius and just buying a much less expensive Corolla or even a smaller car if fuel savings was the main point.
Several things:
First, people looking at hybrid cars are not hooners.
Second, I’m tired of the endless cost analysis refering to the hybrid systems, get over it. People considering these systems know they cost more. I recently saw that a Camaro option for special wheels and tires cost $5000, no one had any cost anaylsis for that. How long does it take to recoup your “investment” on those? Or a 2 grand leather seat option? Or a thousand dollar sun roof? Inboard brousers/entertainment systems are common at thousands of dollars these days.
Third, the engine shutoff at stop and electric low speed movement are very useful in cities like Philadelphia that have small compact downtowns, The engines shut off, there are no exhaust fumes! For pedestrians, this is literally a breath of fresh air. All cars should have the shut off feature, hybrid or not, if for no other reason then they cut down on fumes.
Consider the hybrid system a factory option like a $2000 entertainment system, or a $1200 auto shifter or an optional V6 or V8 engine, it makes sense.
Personally I want to have fun, so I am waiting for Honda’s upcoming hybrid sports car. Perfect! The best of both worlds. We shall see!
Sounds like all hybrids. Bad driving dynamics. Overpriced when compared to relevant competition.
I haven’t ridden in a Fusion, but I have taken a ride or two in a Prius. I could say all of the complaints about the Fusion also hit the Prius. The only one that may not is the mileage. The Prius I was riding in was getting about 40mpg.
@jmo:
IIHS frontal crash test scores:
2007 Fusion: Good (their highest rating)
2001 F-150: Poor (their lowest rating)
Yes, I know there are a LOT of other factors involved, but the above crash test scores make the story a bit less surprising!
The Honda Civic Hybrid, which to me has a better powertrain configuration, missed this point.
The Honda Civic hybrid has a smaller back seat than the Prius and a trunk about the size of the RX-8’s. It’s also just as expensive as the Prius and yet gets worse mileage despite being smaller and slower. Oh, and it’s powertrain isn’t nearly as reliable (CVT issues are endemic, batteries drop off markedly as they age) as Toyota’s.
I don’t think that qualifies as “better”.
I know a lot of Prius drivers, and while image does play into it a bit, all of them dismissed the be-trunked hybrids because they just don’t work well. The only—only—other hybrid that was in the running for them was the Escape, which is impossible to find and not nearly as fuel efficient.
The Prius hits a sweet spot of functionality, practicality and price for the demographic it appeals to. That other makes, Honda most notably, have failed to realize this is really kind of strange, but understandable given Honda’s tendency to make “We know better than our customers” mistakes inherent to a company run by “car guys”.
I recently test drove a Fusion Hybrid, and to be honest I didn’t have much issue with the EPS rack. Then again I wasn’t driving it like I stole it. I found the interior adequate and outside of the CC and maybe the Accord it was standard fare for this class.
People pay $2000 for a nav system that in a few years will be outperformed by a portable model at 15% the price. Its a statement, not a green eyeshade calculation, and so are hybrids.
I might look at a Fusion in the future once my oldest car goes pins up, but the smarmy attitude and whiny music at the end of the TV ads disqualifies the hybrid version. Call it a statement.
Hey, 36 mpg average in a car this size is nothing to sneeze at. I suspect if you drove it mainly in dense stop-go conditions, that number would go up.
Adding to the questionable at-speed handling is the (repeat after me) numb, overboosted power steering. Vague on-center, the helm goes completely numb in sweeping curves that might otherwise be worth a redeeming giggle. And though body roll is quite well-contained, mid-sweeper bumps are exaggerated by the oversensitive yet uncommunicative wheel, requiring awkward mid-corner correction.
Blame the electrically assisted steering, and the added weight of the hybrid system. Otherwise, the Fusion has a really well sorted out chassis – probably the closest anyone has come to the intuitive feel of an Accord.
To me the only reason to buy a hybrid is the higher mileage resulting in lower fuel cost. When the price premium far outweighs the fuel cost savings I’m not interested. The true comparison between the Hybrid Fusion with cloth interior is the SE model and there is approx a $8k price difference. There is no way IMO to justify the cost of the hybrid model. Probably in several more years hybrids will be priced the same as ICE versions until then pass. I can’t even justify the base MSRP difference between the Fusion hybrid and the Prius can anyone else?
Here at Ford when we did the Fusion 1,000 mile challenge, we managed an average (over a total of 1,445.7 miles on a single tank of gas) of 83mpg. Once you spend time with the car, you can learn many ways to maximize your fuel economy. Many of these techniques are equally applicable to non-hybrids by the way.
Fact is, Hybrids make sense as long as you use them for the purpose for which they are made. If you are planning on spending many hours a day on the highway, and want great fuel economy, an I4 Fusion might be for you. If you spend time in traffic or at speeds below 47mph, then the Hybrid Fusion is for you.
May be a dumb question, but is it possible to reduce the boost of the electric steering from Ford/Buick levels to Mazda/VW levels as an aftermarket modification?
Ok, TrueDelta shows an under-2K difference between a “lower” 240HP V6 and a hybrid, with all features taken together. Regarding the SE comment – it’s a LOT more than the seats. Comparing a steel-wheeled, stickshift 4cyl Fusion to a rather well-packaged Hybrid is not quite fair. Just ticking the SYNC and autobox options (a must on a family car these days, really) sets the price at $23K, which is now less than 5K under the hybrid’s price; that still forgoes all other nifty little features like heated mirrors, parking assist (only available with v6), AC outlet, and so on.
Don’t forget that Toyota/Ford hybrid is really a premium powertrain, akin diesel – reliable, torquey, and efficient. For whatever reason, VW manages to charge an extra $2500 for the TDI motor which offers about the same performance as the base motor, and only manages 30/40 c/h mpg using more expensive (at the moment) fuel. They don’t seem to be getting any shit for it, either.
TrueDelta shows an under-2K difference between a “lower” 240HP V6 and a hybrid
There is no way IMO to justify the cost of the hybrid model.
Who needs to “justify” anything? I spent an extra $2k on a leather/sunroof/heated seats package – do I need to justify that?
Can’t I just get something because I like it and it makes me enjoy the car more.
Blame the electrically assisted steering….
No, blame it on Ford’s steering rack design.
Mazda has electric assist in the RX-8 (as well as most of the rest of it’s lineup) and Honda has it in the Fit (and a few others, but the Fit’s rack is very good). All handle well and give great steering feedback; there’s nothing about hybrid powertrains or electric steering that precludes good feedback.
The Fusion weighs less than the Taurus and is still safer and more fuel efficient so I’m not sure why the focus on weight.
Good point, excepting 3800lbs before people, luggage, and gas means that you’re pushing a lot of weight for what amounts to a mid-size sedan. In comparison, that’s almost exactly what the first gen Ford Explorer weighed with 4WD.
re: Karesh; I posted the 33MPG upper limit for the regular Fusion because someone is reporting that avearage. But most drivers seem to get 27-28.
Probably because they do the same as the rest of us with four banger power. Gotta give it all the revs it can handle at every stop light and every on ramp. Kinda kills the MPG.
For whatever reason, VW manages to charge an extra $2500 for the TDI motor which offers about the same performance as the base motor, and only manages 30/40 c/h mpg using more expensive (at the moment) fuel. They don’t seem to be getting any shit for it, either.
Having test driven the VW Jetta Sportwagen in 2.0L and TDI forms, I gotta give it to the TDI. You’re right, performance is similiar, but there’s something about the locomotive thrust of the finely honed diesel that just feels right in the car. And the fuel mileage difference can be quite large. I’ve heard rumors of TDI’s getting over 50 on the highway while the 2.0L gasser eeks out 30.
Having test driven the VW Jetta Sportwagen in 2.0L and TDI forms, I gotta give it to the TDI. You’re right, performance is similiar, but there’s something about the locomotive thrust of the finely honed diesel that just feels right in the car. And the fuel mileage difference can be quite large. I’ve heard rumors of TDI’s getting over 50 on the highway while the 2.0L gasser eeks out 30.
But, how can you justify it over the 2.5L? :-)
According to Ford’s website an SE w/ auto is MSRP $21,775 less $500 rebate. The hybrid is $28,350. Difference is $7,075. The cloth interior is the same in both cars. The SE comes w/ aluminum wheels. The V-6 option is not a valid comparison to the hybrid the I4 is. For $7k I can do without heated mirrors and parking assist.
The V-6 option is not a valid comparison to the hybrid the I4 is.
Why? Both the hybrid and the v-6 are premium engine options – they just manifest their “premiumness” in different ways.
Performance and mileage, the normal parameters that would be used to compare engine offerings.
35mpg average in mixed driving cycle for a midsized sedan that is loaded with hi-tech toys and can reach 60 mph in 8.5 seconds?
This sounds pretty awesome to me.
I drive a 99 Taurus with a V6 Duratec engine, and get 18mpg in a mostly city (with lots of stop signs) traffic. 0-60 time is probably 8seconds or so.
I WILL NEVER OWN A HYBRID (If I can help it)
Long after the last human on this earth DIES…the earth will begin recycling itself and all organisms on this earth fit to survive will – while those that aren’t wont.
And long after that, the sun will burn out and Earth will grow too cold to live on no matter what you are. All this Hybrid junk will be in a Block of glacial ice and till.
As far as I’m concerned, I will NEVER compromise my driving experience and even if everyone else had one, I’d still be doing 80 mph on the Southern State Pkway in my 5.5 Liter V8 using Premium unleaded with the AC on full blast.
That said – The Fusion is a great car albeit really slow and the Milan is even nicer. My sister’s girlfriend bought a Milan.
http://www.epinions.com/review/2010_Ford_Fusion_epi/content_473714232964
Performance and mileage,
Yes, the hybrid offers permium milage while the the v-6 offers premium performance. So, we agree then, the hybrid is a premium engine option?
If you’d purchased this car before september of last year you’d have gotten a tax credit for $1600 or more.
Well written review. I have no interest in the hybrid. Like the Malibu, another front wheel drive car, the 4 banger makes much more sense even over the 6 due to the weight difference, economy and the impacts on handling as long as you have a 5 or 6 speed trans. Its a good looking enough shape and has decent styles for me. The chrome grill doesn’t bother me, although I hate the 4 spoke Ford steering wheel. There is no excuse for ultra numb steering however.
Here in Chicago I see more and more hybrid taxis, yet we have no law (like NYC) that mandates hybrid taxis. Thus, the taxi operators are choosing them on their merits.
People (like taxi drivers) that do a lot of city driving probably find that the hybrid premium is worth it. People (like me) that do not drive very much probably find that the hybrid premium is not worth it. People that drive a lot on the highway probably do not find the premium worth it but very well may find the the diesel premium is worth it.
They aren’t for me, but maybe the 3rd, 4th, or 5th generation of hybrid technology suits my needs. If so, I’m going to be glad someone is funding that R&D right now by buying current hybrid cars.
According to Ford’s website an SE w/ auto is MSRP $21,775 less $500 rebate. The hybrid is $28,350. Difference is $7,075. The cloth interior is the same in both cars. The SE comes w/ aluminum wheels. The V-6 option is not a valid comparison to the hybrid the I4 is. For $7k I can do without heated mirrors and parking assist.
They Hybrid is equipped similarly to the SEL (not the SE) resulting in a price difference of approximately $3,000. Even then the hybrid is equipped with items that are either optional on the SEL or things such as the LCD display and a knee airbag that you cannot get anywhere else in the Fusion lineup. That coupled with whatever is left from the federal tax credit, and we’re looking at somewhere around a $2,000.
stevelovescars: “Hybrid buyers don’t want Hybrids that look like average cars. They want cars that scream “look at me, I’m driving a Hybrid!””
Let’s see… the Prius is $3-4K cheaper than a Camry hybrid, has similar passenger capacity, far better fuel economy and a more useful hathcback configuration.
Clearly, people are ignoring all that and just buy the Prius for its looks.
Hu hu, hu hu…
He said the Fit has a nice rack.
That’s cool, Beavis.
I like my cars loaded, so I compared the Fusion SEL 4 with a Fusion Hybrid. As guyincognito mentioned, he paid about $27k for his. I paid $30,250 for my Fusion Hybrid loaded plus I get a $1,700 tax credit. That still leaves a difference, but I think the additional cool features, like LCD dash and higher net HP, are worth it.
This hybrid system is not a Toyota engineered system. It’s Ford. And I chose this car over the Prius because it’s doesn’t try to stand out like the Prius. It looks like a normal car, no donut rims and odd peaka-boo windows in the rear here. It looks great. And I think Ford Sync is a winner! Wish my CX-9 had it.
guyincognito :
November 4th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
The Fusion’s steering is so overboosted
…
I especially did not like the blue gauge lighting.
—
Great minds think alike!
Love the photos. Maybe I should go to Oregon next year.
+1 to Theodore.
Living in south Florida, cool foggy cloudy rainy days are a very rare treat, we get maybe seven or eight per year (sure it rains a lot in the rainy season, but that is usually for about a half hour of solid torrential downpour in the afternoon flanked on either side by hours of hot cloudless sunny sky).
The photos really make the car stand out well, and it does make Oregon look very pretty.
The tuning of electric power steering is still clearly more an art than a science. I’m pretty confident that this will be sorted eventually. When hydraulic assist first appeared in the fifties, there was endless bitching about how it corrupted steering feel, ruined handling, etc., in much the same way.
I’m not sure why anyone is mystified that hybrids don’t provide much fuel economy benefit in predominantly highway driving. Regen and electric assist don’t help in that regimen, and if the hybrid shares its shell with a non-hybrid car, the advantages in aerodynamics and rolling resistance are low to nonexistent. If your driving gives you a lot of opportunity to drive a steady 65 with the cruise control on, no, the hybrid drivetrain won’t do much for you. If you do a lot of stop-and-go city driving, though, you’re not going to get 35 mpg from a non-hybrid big sedan. Horses for courses, you know?
And for everyone complaining about automotive homogeneity, take a minute or two to Google “Renault Avantime” and then for good measure “Fiat Multipla.” (We’ll wait.) Orthodoxy is not necessarily a bad thing…
Kamiller’s story is pretty close to mine. I’ve got a loaded Fusion Hybrid and was lucky enough to get the bigger tax credit on it, so the difference between it and a comparably equipped I4 is not all that much.
Before buying the Fusion Hybrid, we test drove a Prius, Civic Hybrid, Camry, Camry Hybrid, and sat in a Honda Insight for about 30 seconds before getting physically ill.
For my wife and I, at least, the Fusion beat them all. We found the look, quality, and toys better than the others. Driving experience was as good or better than the other hybrids.
The only real trade-off we saw was the Prius offers more practical utility, but our main use for the car is commuting in the city.
That’s the other thing about hybrids. People who spend half their time, or more, driving on the highway shouldn’t buy one, plain and simple. Driving exclusively on the highway, you get little benefit over and I4. On a few trips in the Fusion Hybrid, we generally get 35-37mpg. Only a couple more than you’d get in a regular I4.
However, we mostly use this car to commute to work and drive around town. We very rarely drive long distances without stopping. And our average tank is something like 44mpg.
If you’re this kind of driver most of the time (and most folks who live in cities are, in my experience), the Hybrid kicks the I4’s [NSFW]. You’re talking 25mpg, maybe, in city driving with a regular car.
So in the final analysis, no, I wouldn’t say everyone should run out and get a hybrid. Folks that hop on the interstate and get off the exit right next to their job, or just travel for work a lot or whatever shouldn’t bother. But for folks that spend most of their time in cities and traffic light ridden suburbia, it’s actually a pretty compelling option. And to my mind, the Fusion is the best of the bunch if you want comfort and a reasonably nice car. If you absolutely need the space, have to get the absolute highest mpg, and don’t give a [NSFW] that it feels like driving an oddly angled cardboard tube, the Prius isn’t a bad alternative either.
A carefully-driven four-pot Fusion will come close to the Hybrid’s real-world efficiency numbers
Well, if you’re prepared to do that, then a carefully driven hybrid would best that by another 30-50%.
I will NEVER compromise my driving experience and even if everyone else had one, I’d still be doing 80 mph on the Southern State Pkway in my 5.5 Liter V8 using Premium unleaded with the AC on full blast.
Wow. Two things; is the limit 80mph? And secondly, go drive the Lexus LS-h or even the GS-h. Small minds.
guyincognito :
November 4th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
While on a recent car hunting trip for my girlfriend, I drove a Fusion SEL with the 2.5 I4. The dealer talked my GF out of even driving the hybrid due to said lack of real gains in efficiency over the 4 cyl and worse driving feel. I was so shocked by the driving experience, I am tempted to pen a review on it.
The Fusion’s steering is so overboosted and without feel that I found it actually difficult to point it where I wanted the car to go and to keep it going in my intended direction. Further the car was very crashy and cheap sounding when it hit mild bumps like seams in concrete road surfaces. Isolation of exterior noise in general was also suprisingly substandard. And, while there were some strategically placed soft plastics and our tester had leather seating, the overall feel of the interior was cheap. I especially did not like the blue gauge lighting. My girlfriend absolutely hated the car. She commented that it reminded her too much of the 2002 Neon she is trying to replace. To make matters worse, the car we drove, which was as loaded as a 4cyl Fusion gets, stickered at $27K!
I was fully expecting the car to be awesome and for my girlfriend to be so impressed that we wouldn’t need to drive anything else. I am left amazed that anyone buys that car.
I genuinely don’t get all the fuss about the Fusion for almost all the same reasons you mention.
I will NEVER compromise my driving experience and even if everyone else had one, I’d still be doing 80 mph on the Southern State Pkway in my 5.5 Liter V8 using Premium unleaded with the AC on full blast.
Oh, yes you will. When you have to pay $7-$10 for a gallon. And this day will come soon. Just wait 2 years for the US, European, and Chinese car markets to pick up steam, add the possibility of federal gas tax, and you get that..
Of course, it’s mostly poseurs who buy these things right now.
I genuinely don’t get all the fuss about the Fusion for almost all the same reasons you mention.
Have you driven a midsize vehicle in the Fusion’s price range lately? None of them are luxurious (except maybe the CC). The darlings of this class (6, Accord and Legacy) are either ugly or too huge.
I’ve yet to drive Fusions with the Monochrome and Appearance Pkgs (both have more aggressive rubber and suspension setups), but I have the Fusion Sport……and that’s a vehicle I wouldn’t hesitate spending money on.
@Flashpoint :
As far as I’m concerned, I will NEVER compromise my driving experience and even if everyone else had one, I’d still be doing 80 mph
Sheesh, going THAT slow (80 mph) would certainly compromise my driving experience.
@carguy622 :
I think Hybrids work best in the hatchback body style
Well, everything does.
The Fusion’s boxy lines would really look much better as a wagon.
@alex_rashev :
Just ticking the SYNC and autobox options (a must on a family car these days, really)
Autobox a must on a family car? How?
In my family it would be quite the opposite.
Two observations:
1. A Ford review by someone other than Baruth?
2. No mention of the SYNC system?
—–KixStart :
November 4th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
stevelovescars: “Hybrid buyers don’t want Hybrids that look like average cars. They want cars that scream “look at me, I’m driving a Hybrid!””
Let’s see… the Prius is $3-4K cheaper than a Camry hybrid, has similar passenger capacity, far better fuel economy and a more useful hathcback configuration.
Clearly, people are ignoring all that and just buy the Prius for its looks.———–
I don’t think people buy the Prius for looks. I think they buy it simply because they want to save money on gasoline. Here in NYC, the city uses em and purchases hundreds of em regularly.
PennSt8 :
November 5th, 2009 at 3:01 am
Have you driven a midsize vehicle in the Fusion’s price range lately? None of them are luxurious (except maybe the CC). The darlings of this class (6, Accord and Legacy) are either ugly or too huge.
I’ve yet to drive Fusions with the Monochrome and Appearance Pkgs (both have more aggressive rubber and suspension setups), but I have the Fusion Sport……and that’s a vehicle I wouldn’t hesitate spending money on.
We have a ’09 Mazda 6, my sister has an ’08 Accord, and I’ve had a Nissan Altima as a rental (V6 version).
I’d take any of these three before I’d take a Fusion.
The 6 is way larger in the back seat (WAY larger) while maintaining very good road manners and fuel economy, the Accord is also larger and has two fantastic motor choices, and the Altima is more fun to drive.
I also don’t like Ford’s use of faux chrome on the center IP or the Fusion’s small-ish back seat.
When you look at real world pricing, on outright purchase or lease, the Fusion also lags behind.
As far as national allegiance, the Accord is assembled in Ohio while the 6 is assembled in Flat Rock, Michigan, and both have more domestic parts content than the Mexican built Fusion (with many foreign components).
Hybrid sedans make very little economic sense.
We have a ‘09 Mazda 6, my sister has an ‘08 Accord, and I’ve had a Nissan Altima as a rental (V6 version).
I’d take any of these three before I’d take a Fusion.
The 6 is way larger in the back seat (WAY larger) while maintaining very good road manners and fuel economy, the Accord is also larger and has two fantastic motor choices, and the Altima is more fun to drive.
I also don’t like Ford’s use of faux chrome on the center IP or the Fusion’s small-ish back seat.
When you look at real world pricing, on outright purchase or lease, the Fusion also lags behind.
As far as national allegiance, the Accord is assembled in Ohio while the 6 is assembled in Flat Rock, Michigan, and both have more domestic parts content than the Mexican built Fusion (with many foreign components).
The agree the Altima does offer up a better driving experience. The Accord’s powerplants are smooth, but I am not a fan of the variable cylinder management and lack of torque. Mazda lost me when they super sized the 6, it simply looks ungainly.
So in a nutshell all of these cars are a compromise (the Fusion included). What it boils down to is which compromise are you willing to put up with.
“Okay, so it’s pointless and overpriced like all Hybrids.”
Don, are you a GM executive? As that is exactly the kind of thinking that bankrupted GM – make all your decisions based on how things stand at this very moment. How things can and will change in the near future – totally irrelevant.
Actually my thinking more closely resembles that of a Hyundai executive, a company which has been wildly successful despite its conclusion that hybrids were pointless and overpriced at the time.
Just because something is exciting and different does not necessarily mean it is the way of the future. Given some time for the 2005-2008 oil bubble/global warming hysteria to fade from memory, hybrid cars just might fall into the same pile of historical curiosities that includes disco albums and dot-com stocks. Only time will tell if they were a smart business investment or a silly fad.
I would like to see a review of this same car in a non-hybrid format. I suspect most of the complaints are due to the platform, not the hybrid engine.
I would like to see a review of this same car in a non-hybrid format. I suspect most of the complaints are due to the platform, not the hybrid engine.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/review-2010-ford-fusion-sport/
The 6 is way larger in the back seat (WAY larger) while maintaining very good road manners and fuel economy…
I’m with you on the good packaging and handling of the Mazda6–but good fuel economy, not really–it ranges from 20 mpg combined for the 6-cyl up to 24 mpg for the 4-cyl automatic.
2005-2008 oil bubble/global warming hysteria to fade from memory, hybrid cars just might fall into the same pile of historical curiosities that includes disco albums and dot-com stocks.
Hah! So you do think exactly like a GM executive. As you know war in the Middle East, Israel attacking Iran, revolution is Saudi Arabia, etc. something like that could never happen. No need to plan for it – just one of a number of “historical curiosities”.
@Cougar Red:
I was just explaining to Ford’s rotary-motion provider the other day that we cannot honour his request to assign all Ford reviews to Jack Baruth; our reviewers have a wide range of perspectives and preferences regarding Ford vehicles, and different reviewers will come to divergent conclusions without being right or wrong.
What is it with Ford and their garish chrome trim and overwrought grilles? And is there really a good-looking Ford steering wheel out there? This one is hideous – like some chunky bastard from 1993 with spokes that are one too many and too-thick for the thumbs and middle fingers to wrap around (like most cars).
The interior looks cheap and is probably rife with sharp edges and chintzy feel like most Fords. Another generic looking appliance-like Ford exterior to boot. What’s with the hideous blue gauges (also on the damn Taurus). No thanks. Looks like it was designed by committee – one whose members think it’s still cool to adorn their creation with as much “classy chrome” as possible. Rich.
To top it off, like GM, Ford whores out the assembly for numerous vehicles to peasant Mexican workers while also bypassing environmental and other costs that would be faced in our own. So patriotic.
If I was in the market for a hybrid, the superior mileage and hatch practicality of the Prius would be very difficult to challenge.
nice review. i don’t think anyone is close to building a hybrid that qualifies as a driver’s car.
the point is lost on some readers here, but many people are much more concerned about emissions than they are about driving performance. people who dismiss hybrid owners as fools wasting their money proving to the world that they are green should be reminded that most people think that people who buy sports cars are fools wasting their money on machismo nonsense.
don1967 :
Actually my thinking more closely resembles that of a Hyundai executive, a company which has been wildly successful despite its conclusion that hybrids were pointless and overpriced at the time.
hyundai’s making hybrids now. they’re just not exporting them yet. the koreans are very cautious. they like to see how the other manufacturer’s are doing in a new segment before they jump in. they also like to work out the bugs on their captive home market before exporting anything.
carguy622: “I think Hybrids work best in the hatchback body style. I figure those who care about drivetrain efficiency also care about packaging efficiency, and I think this country might finally be over its hatchback aversion.”I don’t get why it’s taking so long for the manufacturers to figure this out, particularly considering the Prius outsells all other hybrids combined.
What’s aggravating about the Fusion is that it’s based on the Mazda6, which I think is available as a 5-door in markets outside the US. It wouldn’t seem like it would have been much of a problem for Ford to have designed a Fusion hybrid as a hatchback exclusive.
Of course, the new Insight, which is a virtual Prius-clone, isn’t exactly setting any hybrid sales records, either.
As far as I’m concerned, I will NEVER compromise my driving experience and even if everyone else had one, I’d still be doing 80 mph on the Southern State Pkway in my 5.5 Liter V8 using Premium unleaded with the AC on full blast.…
Sheesh, and to think they say “North Shore snob”…
our tester averaged 35.5 mpg over 600 miles of mixed driving. Sure, the majority of our testing was outside of stop-start urban traffic, but most of it was also driven with efficiency in mind (and a little research shows that we weren’t the only testers to struggle to replicate the Fusion’s EPA numbers in the real world). Overall, that’s not much better than what you might expect from a Fusion S, which starts under $20,000 compared to our stripper Hybrid’s $27,270 MSRP.
Ed, this comment is disingenuous for several reasons. First, you’re evidently comparing the overall mpg for the hybrid (which itself is considerably lower than what most typical drivers are seeing in the field) to the highway mpg of the Fusion S. Overall mpg is not the same as highway mpg.
Secondly, the base Fusion Hybrid has a number of upgrades from the base Fusion S. This includes more horsepower, keyless entry, 17″ wheels, power driver’s seat, side curtain airbags, dual zone auto-climate, Sirius satellite radio, Microsoft SYNC, upgraded cloth seating, and of course considerably better fuel economy and all the components and instruments that go with the hybrid drivetrain.
To me that seems like quite a bit more than “not much better” as you claim. Add the federal hybrid tax credit (or what’s left of it) and it’s not that difficult to see that the price premium includes significant upgrades.
Also, I should point out that I’m averaging over 42 mpg on my FFH without any difficulty. This includes a combination of highway and city driving and my occasional lead foot when stuck in aggravating traffic.
With cruise control set to 70mph, I see about 39-40 mpg on the highway. The only time it is lower is if there’s a strong headwind, in which case I see between 36-38 mpg. In city driving, I can easily get in the mid-40 mpg range, and I’ve seen even higher when traffic is light (as high as the mid-60 mpg range).
Also note that the fuel economy improves as you break in the vehicle. I’ve noticed improvements of several mpg’s around the 2000-3000 mile mark. But again, 42 mpg overall is nothing to sneeze about for a well-appointed midsize sedan, and it’s far better than the more expensive Lexus HS250h.
Gosh, more FUD:
Hybrid buyers don’t want Hybrids that look like average cars. They want cars that scream “look at me, I’m driving a Hybrid!” This, the Prius does very well. The Honda Civic Hybrid, which to me has a better powertrain configuration, missed this point. The Accord Hybrid missed the styling point AND the efficiency point by miles, as did the Malibu/Aura “mild” hybrid systems.
Even semi-pre-rebutted, it still came up. Amazing.
Dear genius: If “Look at me, I’m driving a hybrid!” was the reason the Prius has whooped all other hybrids, it wouldn’t have whooped the Honda Insight, either old or new, and not even the GM mega-truck hybrids with the huge HYBRID splashed all over them (the very definition of “Look at me! I’m driving a hybrid!”, right?)
The Prius wins because it has a huge useful cargo area compared to its competitors, and because with the back seat in normal operation, the rear seat leg room is superior to all compact cars and many midsize cars. Period.
35 mpg in a compact isn’t that great but 35 mpg in a mid-size car seems pretty good to me. The Fusion offers the more comfort and luxury than the prius as well.
I keep coming back to this: electrics in the city, diesels in the country. Maybe, just maybe there is a place for hybrids in the burbs/commuting. That’s what makes sense to me. Hybrids are a gross violation of Murphy’s Law. Hybrids are *much* more complex which means much more expensive and failure prone. KISS. Just because you *can* build a hybrid, doesn’t mean you should. Similarly, a Swiss Army knife has all kinds of functionality, but it is a lousy screwdriver, a lousy knife, a lousy corkscrew, a lousy saw.
If all this effort had gone into a cheap city/burb electric, we’d have a lot more to show. If like Europe, we had gone for diesels (1/2 the cars there are), we’d have a lot smaller energy budget. I drive a 2003 VW TDI Jetta, hypermile mildly and get a consistent 55MPG. Hybrids have turned driving into rocket science which I Just Don’t See the point of.
@ Stewart Dean
I note that you often make the comment that “hybrids are *much* more complex”. There is no support for your claim in any form of reliability data, nor engineering principle.
You’ll find the 2007 Camry Hybrid is MORE reliable than the Camry 4 (or V6) on True Delta.
What specifically and why, engineering wise, do you claim that either the Ford or Toyota hybrid designs are more complex and prone to being unreliable?
Responding to Pete Moran who said: What specifically and why, engineering wise, do you claim that either the Ford or Toyota hybrid designs are more complex and prone to being unreliable?
For the simplest prima facie reason (which I even stated): they are more complex. They have two interlocking motive system and a much more complicated computerized management system. It is a basic tenet of reliability analysis/statistics that the more complicated something is, the more prone it is to fail. Any part, if run for a test of indefinite length, would, at some point, fail. Some will fail absurdly early by sheer bad luck, some will work damn near forever. Now, if you have more parts, it is a law of statistics that you increase the chance that one of them will fail sooner than an assemblage of fewer parts. Hence a 2 engine jet aircraft is less likely to have an engine failure than a 4 engine jet. Hence jet engines are much more reliable than the old incredibly complex rotary IC engines that powered the old Lockheed Constellations. Hence, integrated circuitry has become more reliable as more and more function is integrated into a single chip instead of a mess of interconnected chips. Hence, the people that put together the Apollo program calculated how long a mission could last before the odds of some part going sproing got too high and nobody would come back….they had a lot of interconnected system and the time they would trust a mission’s hardware was calculated in days.
I am not a betting man, but I’d stake a lot on the hybrids dying earlier than their simpler straight IC cousins, being more expensive to repair…or even impossible to repair or repair perfectly, requiring a manufacturing environment to get all the parts just so. As a used car, they will be disasters. Were it not for the unGodly abilities of the Japanese to take quality control into heretofore unimaginable (now taken for granted) levels of QC, hybrids would be unimaginable. Yes, it does happen that a particular IC design can be less reliable than an hybrid, but that’s not they way things will trend by statistics…that’s just a particularly bad IC design. In addition, the IC design will be a lot easier and cheaper to fix.
OK?
@ Stewart Dean
(My post does not appear either. BTW, I believe you can only request deletion for your own posts not other people’s).
The basis for your position is your own assertion that hybrids are necessarily more complex but you don’t provide any example. Examine this component of the Hybrid Synergy Drive and tell me how it is MORE complex than a conventional transmission?
Reliability numbers don’t back your claim, because your starting point that hybrids are more complex is wrong. I’m not sure where this comes from. Toyota claim they have never explained HSD as “more” complex, or tried to give that impression. They do suspect that it has come from competitors trying to create FUD.
The leafy vine graphic seriously grows when your driving is more “eco-friendly”? Who comes up with this crap?
I think y’all are overestimating the mileage of the ICE Fusion’s I-4 — or any large-displacement I-4. My Mazda3 has essentially the same engine, and despite weighing less and having a manual transmission, it barely cracks 30mpg on the highway. And in town? Fuhgeddaboudit.
And even mileage champs like Toyota struggle to break out of the teens when hauling a mid-size car around town with a 4-cylinder.
It’s disturbingly common, this wild overestimation of ICE efficiency in articles and comments about hybrids. Mileage in the very high 30s is damned respectable for any car under any conditions, and for a midsized car in city driving? Unbelievably good. Give the Fusion Hybrid its due.
Add to this the instant torque of an electric motor, and wow, great city car. No wonder cabbies buy ’em.
Yes, a diesel also gets you strong torque and good efficiency, but even modern diesels shake, rattle and roll; their higher initial cost and higher ongoing fuel costs make them as dubious a cost-benefit gamble as any hybrid; and they spew deadly particulates (the exhaust from modern diesels LOOKS cleaner because the particulates are too small to see, but invisible-sized particulates are MORE deadly than visible ones–look it up). And searching for a truck stop just to fill up a car is a pain.
Hybrids are here to stay. If you want one that’s fun to drive, get a Nissan Altima instead. You give up some ride comfort and some MPGs for a more entertaining driving experience. The laws of physics and marketing have not been repealed: you can tune for efficiency or entertainment; Ford has chosen one niche and Nissan another, and it’s as if your gripe is that it didn’t make the same choices as Nissan, when doing so would only have lessened the hybrid’s advantages and hence its market differentiation.