"bwp240" (bwp240)
04/17/2015 at 14:10 • Filed to: Test Drives
2
10|
"bwp240" (bwp240)
04/17/2015 at 14:10 • Filed to: Test Drives | 2
| 10 |
Update (4/19/17): I have come to realize that I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote this review. It was my first review and I was trying to force it into the Jalopnik grading system. I realize now that was silly. I am leaving this review up for those that want the information, but take the values with a grain of salt.
Here is the long anticipated follow-up from when I asked you the Oppo community to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Full Disclosure: Ford wanted me to test drive one of their cars so badly that they gave me a $50 incentive to find a dealer that would sign a bunch of paper work and then let me drive one of their cars or throw me out.
I was pleased with the comments. Many suggested that I should try an F350 Super Duty, but like some of the responses to those comments, I really don’t want to drive something the size of my apartment, unless I actually live in it. I did ponder driving the 4 banger Mustang just to verify that it wasn’t a Mustang II; however this comment by sn0wslay3r really caught my attention.
Ecoboost Fusion? Take the 2.0 liter from the Focus ST and put it in a Fusion; seems like fun to me.
What? I looked it up and sure enough, it is more or less the same engine with a bit less boost and horsepower.
Now I am a sucker for performance sedans and power trucks so a Fiesta ST motor and a Fusion sounded like a combination of greatness. However, when I looked at the inventory of the local dealer there was a problem. It was gone. The whole dealership, gone! It turns out between when I asked you for a car to test drive, the local dealer had changed names and took down their webpage.
This ended up being a good thing though because I went on my search for a 2.0L EcoBoost Fusion and found this fine specimen at a Ford dealer about 20 minutes away...
FUCK EVERYTHING!!! I AM DRIVING THAT! OMG RAPTOR YES PLEASE! FUSION CAN GO TO HELL!
So I drove down on a Monday morning and walked inside. A salesman greeted me, I presented the form and he filled out all of the pertinent information. I then asked to test drive a vehicle and the conversation when a little something like this...
Me: Can I test drive the Raptor?
Salesman: No
You see Raptors are rare now, especially in middle of nowhere Indiana. The salesman told me that they had numerous inquiries about test driving, but were not letting anyone drive it unless they were super serious.
After which I said very well, you had a Beige Fusion 2.0L EcoBoost with brown interior on the lot, may I drive that? He agreed and went to get it.
^ That’s the car I wanted to drive, but apparently all of my details didn’t effectively communicate and he brought me the one below instead.
It is kind of a bummer because I liked the brown interior, but what I really wanted to drive the car for was its engine and drive train. So here we go...
The 2015 Ford Fusion Test Drive Review
The car is a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with front wheel drive and a 231 hp EcoBoost 4 cylinder engine (on 87 octane).
Exterior: 10/10
The exterior of the Fusion looks great. It looks like they didn’t take any inspiration from Aston Martin at all. The round designs give the car a nice flow. Nothing about the exterior looks out of place.
Interior: 9/10
The interior structure of the car is excellent. Almost everything is placed where it should be. Not too many things were in awkward places, except for the steering wheel tilt lock which took me 5 minutes to find. However, there did seem to be some empty-ness to the car as it didn’t come with features such as a big screen infotainment system I always see advertised. Interior colors were homey and comfortable.
Acceleration: 9.5/10
The 2.0L EcoBoost engine shines in this thing; however, I have to knock off half a point for the turbo-lag. The turbo-lag is very noticeable and the is a substantial time between the foot being floored, spooling and go. This is not a performance engine, but it thinks it can be. The car is very responsive once the turbo-lag passes instantly accelerating to GT car levels. I was able to dive the car into corners and accelerate out with plenty of power, much to the salesman’s displeasure.
Braking: 10/10
My current car is 15 years old, just about anything has better brakes. So I have nothing good to compare it too.
Ride: 10/10
For a sports 4-door the ride is excellent. Lucky for me I picked a bunch of lovely pot-hole filled county roads to conduct the test drive on. The car absorbed each pothole gracefully, yet the suspension still seemed stiff enough for hoonage with little body roll.
Handling: 10/10
Again the sporty suspension allowed for little body roll to power through corners, but also was soft enough to absorb the bumps in the road. My biggest complaint about the handling is that for me the steering wheel is too small. It felt like I was trying to drive with a saucer.
Gear Box: 8/10
There really isn’t anything bad to say about the gear box. It is a normal gear box for the average family sedan. It isn’t sporty, but it isn’t a slouch. Manual shift mode gives you enough play for some fun, but you can’t redline it and drive like Lewis Hamilton.
Audio: 9/10
The car’s engine sounded great as we were driving down the peacefully 2 lane roads. The road noise from the tires was minimal and there was no audible tones from the turbo, but it did sound fierce. Or is this the section where I was suppose to talk about the radio?
Toys: 7/10
Like I said earlier, the car didn’t have many toys. No navigation, no SYNC, nothing of that sort. It just came with the basic features found in most passenger cars. However, I was here to test the engine and drive train. I can play with the toys should I look to buy one.
Value 9/10
From the dealer’s website, this car can be had for $26,151, which isn’t too bad for a mildly equipped 4 door sedan. The sticker price is $29,495, at that price I would expect a lot more toys and features.
Total: 91.5/100 - Respectable
Pros: 2.0L EcoBoost is a great pairing with this car. The car is sporty while having all of the practical applications of a 4 door sedan. Enough fun for hoonage, but enough practicality for a DD
Cons: Steering wheel is too small and substantial turbo lag.
Verdict: Good sporty sedan, if I am looking to replace a daily driver in the future it should be considered. Ford needs to mate this engine with the six speed from the Focus ST and make a Fusion ST - DO IT NOW!!!
I would like to thank !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! who were nice enough to let me test drive this car and fulfill Ford’s desire of making me drive one of their products. I also stole many of the photos of the car since I didn’t take very many.
If you want to see more photos of the Raptor, the Fusion I wanted to drive, and other things I found check out my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
6speedmanual
> bwp240
04/17/2015 at 14:23 |
|
“I would like to thank McCroklin Ford of Middletown, IN who were nice enough to let me test drive this car and fulfill Ford’s desire of making me drive one of their products. I also stole many of the photos of the car since I didn’t take very many.”
I was wondering about the weird quality difference between some of them. ;)
|
bwp240
> 6speedmanual
04/17/2015 at 14:30 |
|
Yeah, they brought a different car than I originally wanted to drive, no big deal. I just forgot to take better pictures of the car’s interior and stuff. I had many pics of the other car, but it didn’t cross my mind until after I drove this one to get pics, oh well. Maybe next time I should just mount a GoPro to myself lol.
Steve Zissou
> bwp240
04/17/2015 at 14:53 |
|
91.5???? You’re a very gracious grader I’d say.
Vimto
> bwp240
04/17/2015 at 15:28 |
|
I own a 2013 Fusion SE with the same engine. I agree with all of your points except the one on audio, I think the engine is too quiet and when you do hear it it isn’t a very pleasant sound. But the sound system more than makes up for it IMO
|
bwp240
> Vimto
04/17/2015 at 15:49 |
|
I will admit that I wrote this piece about 4 days after I drove the car for 10 minutes so there is a bit of “telephone” effect. The engine sound was decent for a passenger car, if it were a real performance trim it would be a bit disappointing. I never tried the sound system as we kept the radio off, but windows down flogging around back country roads was quite fun.
|
bwp240
> Steve Zissou
04/17/2015 at 15:53 |
|
Well I drove to the dealer in a car with no right turn power steering and only drove the Fusion for about 10 minutes. So I’ll say my baseline averages are substantially lower than most and I had a small sample size lol.
wantafuncar
> bwp240
04/17/2015 at 16:41 |
|
I assume the car had very low miles. I drove a ‘14 Fusion EcoBoost for a week as a rental last year.
I was very impressed with the car. It is much sportier (for a family sedan) than I would have guessed. Burnouts were no problem, handling was excellent (for a family sedan)... I would buy one.
It did have turbo lag, but I did not think it was as bad as you describe. Maybe it needs to be “broken in” more? Just a thought - I have no actual idea if that is possible.
I think Ford hinted that the RS drivetrain may end up in a Fusion.... I would love to see & possibly own a Fusion RS
Hooker
> bwp240
04/17/2015 at 17:37 |
|
See that? That’s SYNC. It didn’t have MyFord Touch, but SYNC it did have.
Good writeup though, thanks for the perspective.
Manic Otti
> bwp240
04/17/2015 at 19:00 |
|
No 3.5L Ecoboost, no deal.
Clay...Bill Clay
> bwp240
04/21/2015 at 13:59 |
|
I concur with basically your entire review. Got a ‘14 SE 1.6 manual back in December and it has been an absolute joy. Love the styling, the interior is a comfortable place to spend time, its quiet and smooth on my daily 35-mile commute, and I just got 37 MPG on my last tank. And on the canyon roads around here, the handling is very impressive; not a FiST, GTI, or WRX, but excellent for a family sedan. My only (minor) complaint is that I actually prefer the more basic driver instrumentation in the car you drove over the twin info screen setup in mine (I have MyFordTouch and satnav).
Just a minor correction, the car you drove did come with SYNC, but not MyFordTouch. All Fusions come with SYNC standard.