Yet Ford gave it to them anyway. Look at that snout: there's more Aston Martin in that grille than most real Astons Martin. And those nice proportions and swoopy lines down the side give even the stylish Hyundai Sonata midsize sedan a run for its fashion dollar. Inside there are the most comfortable seats in the class and one of the most modern and clean dashes, too.
But the main draw of the new Fusion is that it offers powertrains for just about everybody: four engines, two transmissions and your choice of six-speed manual (with the entry –level engine) or six-speed automatic (in everything else).
What's It Like To Drive? We started out with the fwd 178-hp 1.6-liter EcoBoost with gasoline direct injection, six-speed automatic and the $295 Start-Stop option. Ford figures you get about 3.5 percent better mileage with Start-Stop than without it. It doesn't always cut off the engine at a stop light, for instance, if you have the a/c blasting and it's a hot day it might keep the engine running. Mileage is rated at 25 city/37 hwy/29 combined. The starting and stopping were accomplished with almost no lurching or clunking at all – you barely feel the transition from on to off. The engine starts as soon as you take your foot off the brake. Even though it was a little underpowered it was kind of fun to drive and even got from 0-60 in 9.0 seconds.
Next we drove the Fusion Hybrid with the 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle four and 1.4 kWh lithium ion battery providing boost. It was very quiet, smooth and, like the rest of the Fusion line, spacious inside. Ford claims mileage of 47 across the board. On a 14-mile drive loop during which we drove very badly we got 20.8 mpg indicated on the little dash readout. Your mileage will vary, especially if you're doing the EPA city loop. We did get it to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds, so it's better than the 1.-6 version in that regard.
Then we drove the 240-hp 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbo four with all-wheel drive. The awd is usually fwd until the car senses rear-wheel slip, at which point it engages a clutch integrated with the rear differential and the rear wheels start gripping. We never engaged that clutch but did launch the thing as hard as we could, which wasn't very hard at all, and got to 60 mph in just under seven seconds. That's not bad by the standards of the class. Our car had the optional 19-inch wheels with 235/40 ContiPro Contacs and so might have felt a little grippier and a little sportier.
We also drove a 1.6 with the manual transmission and found we liked the shifter, clutch engagement (though takeup was a bit high in the pedal travel) and easy driveability.
There was none of the 2.5-liter fours with sequential multi-port injection to drive so we can't tell you much about that one. Ford says it gets only 26 mpg combined.
Overall, the Fusion came across as a very comfortable car to both sit in – which we did half the time - and drive – which we did the other half. There was room both front and back and the side bolsters on both the sport seats and the regular seats were surprisingly comfortable. The trunk was plenty huge, offering 16 cubic feet of space, or a little less than 12 with the hybrid battery back there. By the admittedly low standards of the class, it was fun to drive. We got no track time so we can't tell you at what point it starts to understeer but we did enjoy two days of driving these new Fusions all over the Santa Monica Mountains and came away unfatigued and mostly satisfied.
Do I want It? With such a wide variety of powertrains available there's something for everybody. The Fusion S with the relatively low-tech 2.5-liter engine starts at $22,495, including the $795 destination charge; the SE starts at $24,495 and an awd Titanium-trim Fusion starts at $32,995. There are so many ways to position options, trim levels and drivetrain possibilities that we can't begin to sort them all out here. Our favorite might be (as is always the case) a combination that isn't available – the 240-hp twin-turbo 2.0-liter Ecoboost four with the six-speed manual. The plug-in Fusion Energi Hybrid will be on sale in the first quarter of next year and there are other EcoBoost engines supposedly on their way, too. It could get confusing. But with such a huge market to address, Ford has to offer something for everyone, and it's certainly done that with the new Fusion.
2013 Ford Fusion
Base Price: $22,495
Base Drivetrain: 2.5-liter I4; 175 hp at 6000 rpm, 175 lb ft at 4500 rpm
Base Curb Weight: 3615 pounds
Base Fuel Economy (EPA): 22/34/26
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