2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid on the street.

I never own a Ford. But I admit that I am impress with the Fusion.
I also driven a rental Mustang, it is fast but just another piece of j***.

 

The news on the gasser Camry is that it will have the new 2.5L 2AR engine in it in March 09. If it also gets a 6 speed AT along with it then the fuel economy on the gasser should reach 32-34 highway ( EPA ) even without a hybrid addition. I'd figure about +10% bump in real world FE for a good attentative driver.

The 2AR is also rated @ 179 hp. Slick trick there.

 

It'll be very interesting to see if Toyota will stick with the 5AT unit or go to the 6AT unit on the updated Camry with the new 2.5-liter I-4 coming March 2009. Isn't that the same engine that just went into the Highlander "crossover"?

One thing I do want to see is Toyota offering their new Valvematic valvetrain on this engine. We could see very good fuel economy because unlike VVT-i, Valvematic's control of valve timing is much more sophisticated.

 

No it's the updated RAV4 that received the 2.5L 2AR engine last Oct. The new I4 in the Highlander and in the Venza will be the even newer 2.7L getting 189 hp and about 29 mpg Hwy.

 

There is nothing wrong with a 9.6 second 0-60 MPH. If anyone thinks otherwise, time how long it takes in normal driving to get from 0-35. Most likely between 9 and 10 seconds. Even if you are lead footed and do it in 6 seconds, you are on track for a 10 second 0-60. And, No, an extra 2 or 3 seconds to get up to Interstate speeds is NOT going to kill you, or even endanger your life. And certainly getting to the next red light faster isn't saving you anything.

There IS something wrong with building cars with fast "0-60" as a prime design feature. All that "in case I need it" or "fast acceleration is fun" capability wastes a lot of fuel and is never NEEDED *. A lot of people buy the "+2 cylinders" model because it gets to 60 a second or two faster than the base engine and the mileage hit is 'only' 2 or 4 MPG. Think instead that the MPG hit is 10 to 20 PERCENT. That means 10 to 20% MORE fuel use, 10 to 20% MORE cost to the buyer. And each individual's 10 to 20% adds up to a National +10 to 20%, i.e. BILLIONS of gallons annually. All for the sake of the ABILITY to get to 60 MPH a little faster, even though the capability is very rarely used.

* I have owned 5 cars. My prior vehicle was 13+ seconds. The slowest, I don't even know but I bet it was at least 15 seconds. The 'fastest' could presumably do 0-60 in 7.8 seconds. Never tried it, the torque over steer would likely require a professional driver to hit that number. It was a 120 HP 2.2L turbo charged engine in a 4 door (1986) midsized sedan that gave me 35 MPG Highway. 2 MPG better than the 2009 I4 Malibu. The new 'good MPG' is still worse than what I got 22 years ago in a similar sized car.

I have NEVER been in a situation where having more power would have 'saved' me. And I've NEVER been in a situation where I couldn't get where I needed to go, at speed limit.

 

Why is this impressive? My wife's '86 Civic Si got 40 highway and it was about the same size as the 2011 Fiesta. An 80's Geo Metro could get 50. Not that I would complain if the average MPG in this country improves, I just can't be impressed by something that doesn't even best 25 year old designs of similar size.

AND, Ford is going to build it in MEXICO. How does this save jobs in the U.S. (other than the Ford execs)? I want to see a long term Big 3 plan that builds cars in the U.S.A.. Otherwise, what do we care if they go bust?

 

I believe there's a reason for Ford to build the new Fiesta in Mexico: they plan to not only export it to the USA, but also export it to Central America and the northern part of South America, too.

I believe the new Focus will be built at the same plant that is building the current North American model.

 

The problem with them building them in Mexico (or any other country for that matter) is I have no pride for any company that spends about $1 Billion to build and open a new plant with the intention of closing another plant to eliminate jobs. It's bad enough when they do it and have various cities/states giving up free land and tax breaks, and its almost unethical to move out of the country to sell them here as American cars.

 

The US content is clearly shown on the window sticker. It's not entirely accurate though as Canadian content is counted as "American".

Until American's are willing to pay more for small cars they will continue to be built in low cost countries. Assembling in Mexico is the only way Ford could bring the Fiesta to North America. No car company builds a B-Segment car in the US.

• The Ford Fiesta will be built in Germany, Mexico, and Thailand.
• The Toyota Yaris is made in Japan, Thailand and France.
• The Honda Fit is made in Japan, Thailand, China, Indonesia, and Brazil.
• The Hyundai Accent is made in South Korea, Venezuela, China, Turkey, and Sudan.
• The Chevy Aveo is made in South Korea, Poland, Ukraine, Colombia, China, and Mexico.

 

Ironically the Ford Focus was brought back to manufacturing in the United States (Michigan) when the Fusion was put into production. The Fusion is a $20,000 + mid-size model that competes against.

Toyota Camry (Kentucky)
Honda Accord (Ohio)
Chevy Malibu (Michigan, Kansas)
Nissan Maxima (Tennessee)
Dodge Avenger (Michigan)
Mazda 6 (Michigan)
Hyundai Sonata (Alabama)
Ford Fusion (Mexico)

 

Ford may have a quiet home run on its hands, if the company can survive until the 2010 model year. The automotive press is just beginning to get its hands on the hybrid version of the latest Ford Fusion midsize sedan, and early reviews say the car is attractive, easy to live with, and nearly as fuel-efficient as a Toyota Prius.

Ford claims the Fusion hybrid will get at least 39 mpg city/ 37 mpg highway when the EPA numbers are calculated in the coming weeks," Autoblog notes. But a group of auto writers was invited to Los Angeles to test drive the car recently - and every single one of them beat those estimates easily.

"Ford hybrid applications manager Gil Portalatin used his intimate knowledge of the car to set some benchmarks the day before," they report, achieving "46 mpg on the first segment of the drive route and 43.5 mpg on the hillier second part. Among the journalists on hand, Car and Driver's Steve Siler recorded a 43.6 mpg result on the first part," and Autoblog's own writers "achieved 43.1 mpg, which is a very impressive number for Ford's new mid-size sedan."


Ford Fusion Hybrid Posts Prius-Like MPG Numbers - U.S. News Rankings and Reviews

 

Not quite. The Focus replaced the Escort

• From 1981 to 2002 the Escort was made in Michigan and Mexico
• The Focus started production in 2000 and was made in the same Michigan and Mexican plants that made the Escort
• The Fusion started production in 2006 at the Mexican plant that made the Focus. For 2 years the Mexican plant made both the Focus and the Fusion
• In 2008 Focus production was consolidated to the Michigan plant as Focus production slowed and Fusion production raised.

The mid-size cars you list are not only made in one facility. For example the Honda Accord is made in Ohio and Mexico for the US market.

 

I agree that the Fusion Hybrid will do well. It costs $8,000 more than a base model but is much better equipped and gets significantly better mileage.

I predict it will sell at about the rate of the Civic hybrid.

 

i am still confused over the mileage estimates. i saw 40+ mpg, and now i am thinking it was test drive results. in fact, i kinda remember statements that claim slightly BETTER milieage than a TCH

 

Very impressive with > 43 mpg, it will cut into the sales of Prius.
My TCH gets 40 mpg in summer and down to 37.5 mpg in winter.

 

Ford has publicly stated the the Fusion Hybrid will get at least 6 more mpg that the Camry hybrid. The Camry is rated at 33/33/34 mpg by the EPA. If that claim is true the Fusion should be rated ~ 39 mpg combined.

 

sorry talking TCH (Toyota Camry HYBRID)

 

As was I. The Toyota Camry Hybrid is rated at 33/33/34 mpg by the EPA. If the Ford Fusion Hybrid does get 6 MPH better mileage than the Toyota Camry Hybrid, as claimed by Ford Motor Company, the Ford Fusion Hybrid will be rated at 39 mpg combined by the EPA.


EDIT: Did you think the Toyota Camry Hybrid was rated at 40 mpg by the EPA?

 

The TCH is rated at 33 combined with 08 EPA rating, pre-08 is higher.
The average mpg for TCH from Greenhybrid is 37mpg, beats the EPA by 4 mpg or ~10%.

If the Fusion Hybrid gets 39 mpg combines EPA, the three journalists got 43 mpg and that's 10% more the EPA. Does it sound reasonable?

 

How long has the Fusion been in development? Anyone have a good date the effort was initiated?