Gotta Love The Fusion

[francismaximus]

Got back from Jersey. Ah food good.. Anyways, 29.3 miles per gallon. Average speed 74mph. 12 hours 36 minutes one way. 886 miles. Ow my eyes.

[73mach03]

Long drives are really not much fun....no matter what you are driving. I remember times when I'd pull into a gas station and get out....and stand still for a minute as everything around me still seemed to be moving. Then again that was when I was younger and could drive far longer without needing to pull into a rest stop to stretch my legs or visit the facilities.

Glad the Fusion did the job. The weather didn't really offer you a better choice. Your Mach 1 was probably happy not to have to endure the long drive and bad weather.

[francismaximus]

Yeah the Mach would have been "white knuckled driving" through the foggy rainy Godforsaken mountains on Route 81 in Virginia. Then again TN wasn't much better now that I think about it.

[cobramach1]

The Fusion is a great vehicle and very comfortable for long trips. I've made several cross country trips in ours. We bought ours in Washington state in May 2008 with 17k miles on it. I drove it cross country back to MI through every weather type possible which was pretty cool since I got to check out how it handled with the AWD. We also do an annual Florida trip in March to visit my wife's folks. The V6 is pretty peppy and I've found gets great mileage after I made a few small changes. I can't quite break 30mpg, but have gotten a best of 29.8mpg on many tanks during the long trips on the highway driving just over 70mph. We have over 44k miles on the car already! Needless to say it gets driven a LOT! I was considering getting us the AWD sport version of the Fusion, but after driving one, there wasn't a big enough difference in power to really justify it. I think our replacement vehicle for the Fusion will likely be an AWD Escape Hybrid though. I was very pleasantly surprised when we test drove one of those recently.

[73mach03]

Originally Posted by cobramach1

The Fusion is a great vehicle and very comfortable for long trips. I've made several cross country trips in ours. We bought ours in Washington state in May 2008 with 17k miles on it. I drove it cross country back to MI through every weather type possible which was pretty cool since I got to check out how it handled with the AWD.

There really is nothing quite like AWD. I miss it a lot. My 91 Eagle Talon TSi AWD had it and that car could drive through any weather and make you feel quite confident. It never hid in the garage during the winter. Although after 17 years, that eventually worked against the car (salt damage).

[03BumbleBee]

I am not a four door kind of guy, but I think the Fusion is a very nice looking car. I have heard so much good about that car, it doesn't surprise me a bit!

[swoop1156]

I had an '06 Fusion SEL V6 and I drove all the way from Michigan to Florida in one sitting [besides gas and food and stuff] but it was an awesome little ride!

[francismaximus]

Did I mention mine is the cheapest I could get. 4cyl 5speed, only options were the nice wheels, pw,pb,pdl,ac,6disc cd with prem, cc. I think thats it. Not even abs! Oh I had to take it with a sunroof cause that is the only way I could get a stick. Oh get this 195$ a month.

[cobramach1]

Originally Posted by swoop1156

I had an '06 Fusion SEL V6 and I drove all the way from Michigan to Florida in one sitting [besides gas and food and stuff] but it was an awesome little ride!

We do that trip with ours non stop every spring! We leave around 5-6pm and arrive in Orlando around 1pm or so the next day! I drive most of the way with my wife driving for about 2 hours so I can get a cat nap during the middle of the night.

[cobramach1]

Originally Posted by francismaximus

Did I mention mine is the cheapest I could get. 4cyl 5speed, only options were the nice wheels, pw,pb,pdl,ac,6disc cd with prem, cc. I think thats it. Not even abs! Oh I had to take it with a sunroof cause that is the only way I could get a stick. Oh get this 195$ a month.

Great price. I would have thought that you would get better mileage on the highway than us though with the 4cyl and a 5sp. Ours is an SEL V6 AWD loaded with every option available except an engine block heater. Automatic of course because that's the only way the V6 comes. I'm sure you blow our car's mpg's out of the water around town though! We get 19-20 in town with 27-29+ on highway only miles.

[Bill Hamilton]

Suprised the mpg was not better. Some people get that and better in their Mach's. I usually get 27+ on trips at 75 mph without trying and over 20 around town in my '03 Mach.

[cobramach1]

I think the 4 cyl is working too hard causing it to get lower mpg's. I think the 6 cyl is about the right balance for the Fusion but that may just be me. I saw the same thing when I jumped from a H code 351C to an M code 351C in my '70 Mach 1 when I first got it nearly 20 years ago. The 2 barrel 351's were a bit underpowered. Seemed about 300hp was about the perfect amount of hp for the 69/70 stangs for optimum mpg's.

[francismaximus]

Originally Posted by Bill Hamilton

Suprised the mpg was not better. Some people get that and better in their Mach's. I usually get 27+ on trips at 75 mph without trying and over 20 around town in my '03 Mach.

At 80 mph the little 4banger is at 3500 rpm. May be just me but thats screamin. But every time I filled it it the message center said 510 miles to empty. Im not gonna complain.

[Mark04Mach1]

I just drove the 2010 sport and they are pretty cool...

[Bill Hamilton]

Originally Posted by francismaximus

At 80 mph the little 4banger is at 3500 rpm. May be just me but thats screamin. But every time I filled it it the message center said 510 miles to empty. Im not gonna complain.

No, that's screaming. That's when you really need a sixth-gear, 80 mph on the interstate.

I'm "old-school" ( and always a V-8 guy), anytime you're getting over 20 mpg you're doing good especially if you're doing 80 mph. Years ago I had a 1970 428 SCJ Mustang with 4.30 gears. At 70 mph is was turning nearly 4,000 rpms and getting about 9 mpg. I had to drive 55 mph, which was around 3100 rpms, on the interstate to get 10 mpg.

[73mach03]

Originally Posted by Bill Hamilton

No, that's screaming. That's when you really need a sixth-gear, 80 mph on the interstate.

I'm "old-school" ( and always a V-8 guy), anytime you're getting over 20 mpg you're doing good especially if you're doing 80 mph. Years ago I had a 1970 428 SCJ Mustang with 4.30 gears. At 70 mph is was turning nearly 4,000 rpms and getting about 9 mpg. I had to drive 55 mph, which was around 3100 rpms, on the interstate to get 10 mpg.

Yeah, I remember the terrible gas mileage I was getting with my old 73 Mach 1. Makes my current Mach 1 seem like an economy car.

[cobramach1]

Originally Posted by Bill Hamilton

I'm "old-school" ( and always a V-8 guy), anytime you're getting over 20 mpg you're doing good especially if you're doing 80 mph. Years ago I had a 1970 428 SCJ Mustang with 4.30 gears. At 70 mph is was turning nearly 4,000 rpms and getting about 9 mpg. I had to drive 55 mph, which was around 3100 rpms, on the interstate to get 10 mpg.

I know what you mean Bill, I used to have 4.33 gears in my '70 Mach with the current 427 and C6 and it was turning about 3500rpm at ~45mph. At the time I had a 925 Holley 3 barrel carb on it and was getting about 4-5mpg's! At the dragstrip, it turned to gpm's with that setup! Now I have 3.89's and a 750 Holley double pumper and can at least drive it about 60-65mph on the highway. No clue what mileage it gets now as I don't even keep track since the speedo is not calibrated for the 3.89 gears.

[Catman]

My wife and I really like our '09 Fusion...I actually don't mind switching out of the Mach to drive it from time to time.

[Bill Hamilton]

Originally Posted by Catman

My wife and I really like our '09 Fusion...I actually don't mind switching out of the Mach to drive it from time to time.

........

I know a couple of people with Fusions and they all enjoy them.

[cobramach1]

All you have to do is drive one and you're pretty much sold on the car for a daily driver. I've sold several to people where they were looking for a car and they weren't even looking at Ford's and I told them to test drive one and they bought them the same day. Now if I can only figure out how to get Ford to hire me as a product promoter! I've sold 3 Fusions in the past year this way and another indirectly where the person I told about the Fusion bought one and then bragged it up to their friends and they bought one too. Ford's slogan Drive One is a good one because if you get behind the wheel of a Ford you'll want it.

[Bill Hamilton]

Originally Posted by cobramach1

All you have to do is drive one and you're pretty much sold on the car for a daily driver. I've sold several to people where they were looking for a car and they weren't even looking at Ford's and I told them to test drive one and they bought them the same day. Now if I can only figure out how to get Ford to hire me as a product promoter! I've sold 3 Fusions in the past year this way and another indirectly where the person I told about the Fusion bought one and then bragged it up to their friends and they bought one too. Ford's slogan Drive One is a good one because if you get behind the wheel of a Ford you'll want it.

Thanks for the warning (note to self: Only test drive Mustangs, only test drive Mustangs, only test drive Mustangs,....)

[jbrad88]

Originally Posted by Bill Hamilton

No, that's screaming. That's when you really need a sixth-gear, 80 mph on the interstate.

I'm "old-school" ( and always a V-8 guy), anytime you're getting over 20 mpg you're doing good especially if you're doing 80 mph. Years ago I had a 1970 428 SCJ Mustang with 4.30 gears. At 70 mph is was turning nearly 4,000 rpms and getting about 9 mpg. I had to drive 55 mph, which was around 3100 rpms, on the interstate to get 10 mpg.

AH that is the life...nothing like going less than 150 miles on a TANKFUL, but I bet they were JOYFUL miles

Now imagine that beast with a proper t-56 and 2 OD gears...

[cobramach1]

Originally Posted by Bill Hamilton

Thanks for the warning (note to self: Only test drive Mustangs, only test drive Mustangs, only test drive Mustangs,....)

And whatever you do don't take an AWD Fusion for a test drive on a rainy day and drive through major water puddles. You'll definitely buy one then! If you hit standing water on just one side of the vehicle, the car won't even pull to the water like a normal vehicle would. It just goes straight through! It's the best traction control system I've ever driven. And though you have no need to go through snow down there, let me just tell you it goes through snow like butter! I was pleasantly surprised last year during a few snow storms up here.

[Bill Hamilton]

Originally Posted by cobramach1

And whatever you do don't take an AWD Fusion for a test drive on a rainy day and drive through major water puddles. You'll definitely buy one then! If you hit standing water on just one side of the vehicle, the car won't even pull to the water like a normal vehicle would. It just goes straight through! It's the best traction control system I've ever driven. And though you have no need to go through snow down there, let me just tell you it goes through snow like butter! I was pleasantly surprised last year during a few snow storms up here.

Sad to say but I hear that Michigan is losing two people for every one they gain right now. Maybe when everybody moves from up there to where I am now, I'll get myself a warm jacket and a 4WD Fusion and move up there when it won't be so crowed. I really hate what I see and hear on the news what's happening up in your area.

Not to get political, but it really bothered me to see the Cash for Clunkers Program and only 34% of the new cars sold were big three out of Michigan while most all the cars turned in were USA products. That was a big waste of all our taxpayer dollars and didn't help your area enough.

[cobramach1]

Yeah, without changing the op's subject and getting off topic on one reply it is a shame. Believe it or not I actually moved here for a job and my wife was lucky enough to find work and then also get hired on full time. My job is pretty stable, but her's is so-so though her boss really likes her so I think she is ok too, but in this economy one just never knows. We're both thankful we both have jobs is all and that all of our needs and even some wants are being met right now as many aren't as lucky. It's a sad dilemma and a very repressed economy up here. Though the news keeps saying we're at the bottom, I just don't see it. We may be at the bottom, but I think we're going to be at the bottom for about another 2-2 1/2 years up here before the MI economy turns around. I suspect it will be on an upswing in about 3 years. That's a long time though and everyone keeping what jobs they have for that time is easier said than done.