akirby

Show me the rules or guidelines as to when speed should be listed as a contributing factor in an accident report.

Exactly!!! My point was that most accidents are caused by driver error (failing to maintain lane, following too closely, failure to yield, etc) or mechanical failure. Not because somebody was driving 60 in a 45. And a lot of fatal accidents would not be fatal if folks wore their seatbelts. If you go around a normal 40 mph corner at 55 mph and you run off the road and crash it's not because you were doing 55. It's because you lost control of the vehicle. If you were doing 100 on a 40 mph corner then yes - speeding would be the cause.

The Fusion and I presume the other newer vehicles all have 3 memory presets for seats, mirrors, etc.

True that. Atlanta is actually raising speed limits on portions of I-285 from 55 to 65 or 70 for that very reason - to reduce the speed differential from the slowpokes who actually do the speed limit versus everyone else who drives 75-85. That said - this whole "speed as a contributing factor" thing is bogus. It's a subjective attribute that gets applied haphazardly and AFAIK with no clear rules or guidelines. Speed in and of itself is hardly ever the cause of an accident or even a contributing factor to the cause of an accident. Unless you take a corner too fast then it usually comes down to simply losing control of the vehicle due to inattention or equipment failure or reckless driving. And a lot of the fatalities are fatalities because stupid people don't wear seat belts and they get ejected. Speed is always a "contributing factor" - if you nothing is moving then there wouldn't be an accident. Higher speed can make the accident worse and it reduces your reaction time to something happening in front of you but I don't consider that a root cause or contributing factor in most cases. Going 60 in a 45 around a gentle curve on dry roads is not going to cause an accident. Losing control of the vehicle or driving too fast for conditions (wet or icy roads e.g.) or a mechanical failure can but that's not because you're doing 60.

Not years but you know there were a lot of folks who saw it at the NY auto show back in March and decided to buy one and have been patiently waiting for it since then. That could easily account for half of the first month's sales.

I love the haunches in the rear quarter panel and the way the rear of the roof flows into it from that high 3/4 front shot.

I disagree. This is far more likely to lure Camaro buyers than the current one, although the majority of Camaro buyers want a Camaro - period - and wouldn't consider a Mustang regardless of style or performance. Same goes for Mustang buyers. The EVOs was just a concept for styling purposes. That styling could be applied to a Fusion coupe just as easily IF Ford decides they need one. Mustang is a pony car and needs to stay that way even globally, otherwise what's the point?

The more I look at the side profile the more I like it. It's very different from the current mustang while still being instantly recognizable. I say job well done, especially if the performance lives up to expectations.

It's certainly not bad, but you have to wonder if this was the result of a lot of pent-up demand and early orders. If it drops back to a steady 5K then it's not quite so impressive. If it stays at 10K or rises then that's a different story.

Wait - only 10K in its first full month on sale? That's not as big of a home run as I expected. Let's see what it looks like in 6 months.

This sounds like the Escape where they may have lost some traditional customers but gained a whole new customer base that would not have considered the old one.

Why do we need to "predict" the sales data? Why can't we just wait and get the actual results once a month? Anyone buying or selling stock based on one month's performance is crazy.

That's the part that's unclear. Some buyers claim to have gotten it locked in, others say it can't be done.

Up until a couple of years ago most dealers could not lock in any incentives prior to delivery - you had to take your chances and hope they were as good or better and if a coupon expired you were SOL unless you got a new one. Recently Ford started allowing most dealers to lock in incentives at time of order so you got the choice of incentives at order time or delivery time. Have the dealer check on this option as it's been used quite frequently with other dealers.

Probably but it would be a new model whereas Ford has had Focus (and Fiesta?) STs in Europe before. Weren't the Focus and Fiesta developed in Europe as opposed to the Fusion developed in the U.S.? Focus and Fiesta ST also used existing drivetrains whereas the Fusion ST would most likely get a new one (2.3L EB?).

The funny part is that google image was tagged as "Lexus IS250 vs MB CLA"

You don't like this look?

Didn't the Focus and Fiesta STs debut in Europe first? I thought most of the hype on those started in Europe.

I would be shocked if we don't get a Fusion ST with more power within the next year.

About 6 months after I got my Fusion I asked my wife to drive home since I had imbibed a little at dinner. She was waving her purse at the door handle waiting for it to unlock without touching the handle. After I stopped laughing I reminded her to touch the inside of the handle to unlock it. And she had already driven it a couple of times.

Or an old Taurus for that matter....

Had to drive the 08 Edge the other day. It was horrific. I first had to remove my keys from my pocket and press a button to unlock the door. Then I had to put this "key" into a slot in the steering wheel and turn it to start the vehicle. I then had to remove said "key" and press another button to lock it. I also had to manually dim the brights every time a car approached and manually release the parking brake. It was exhausting. I don't know how she does it every day. :)

That would be my guess then. I've heard that was a major contributing factor in the Escape fires - cross threaded coolant reservoir caps that eventually caused overheating which then led to the fires.