TurboTi

That's at least half of it, the phone. Mine streams just fine, Motorola android, first generation.

Flatlander: steering feel: check tire inflation all around. gas tank: just keep driving it, learn how far you can go into your reserve by how much you put in when you fill it up, and how comfortable you are driving with low fuel.

Jchris: If you can't wait for your order, try to find one off the lot. If you can't do that, you're missing out on a great car.

I encourage all of us to jack up our cars and crawl underneath to check for oil leaks or other problems. I will be doing my own maintenance, so I'll be checking it out when the time comes...

Patience, folks! I know, easy for me to say, I have mine. But when I was waiting for mine, I wasn't too worried about it. Several weeks for a custom order, several more for early order problems. If your's is a early order problem, reorder, or find a dealer order similar or better already delivered.

Ike, we want to see your car anyway. Come on, cough up a pic!

Imp, I have climate control available to the right of the speedo. Temp and fan speed, I believe. Perhaps on the hybrid, they switched out the climate option for the efficiciency leaves. It seems the manual is not quite updated to reality, or else there is a software update on the way...

As one of the "select few" who have received their custom orders, I would say enjoy life at all times to the fullest extent possible, Fusion or not. The Fusion is a wonderful effort, and for those of you still waiting, it IS worth waiting for.

Yes it counts, ghent, you win. I don't think it will register any higher than that.

Definitely a bigger vehicle than my ex-Toyota. But not as big as my Ram. The truck will teach you all about precise lane positioning at elevated speeds on mountain roads.

nma dole, that don't count, you haven't covered any mileage yet! On more realistic terms, my last tank, which covered blasts through the mountains and commuting going up and down fair sized mountains netted over 24mpg average. Just over 1000 miles on the Titanium so far.

For the second time, I took the Fusion up on this pretty tight mountain road near my house. Only this time, the road was wet, and covered with wet leaves. I was going at about a 7/10's pace. How'd it do? Very good for that long and heavy a car with all-season rubber. I didn't shut off the traction control, and I don't think the stability control can be shut off. On some corners, I would be ready to accelerate and I put my foot back in it at the apex, but it seemed the car would pause for half a second until the computers determined I was pointed safely straight. By then I was already through the corner, and the boost would come on, and off I'd go. Body motion is well controlled and the ride seems just right to me. When these tires wear out, I will probably put some max performance summer rubber on, though. These tires (Continental Contiprocontact M+S)have too many sipes and voids in the tread blocks for my taste. Anyone know how to shut off the stability control? The hands of safety are gripping a little too tightly.

Yeah, I thought that would get your attention. The other morning on the way to work, I was explaining to my girlfriend how to reset the instant m.p.g. readout. I happened to be at the top of a hill. By the time we got to the bottom, it was over 102! Yeah, I know, it went down from there, that's ok. Now if I could just convince my employer to build an elevator/ramp for me and my car that led back to my house, I wouldn't need any gas at all for the return leg! I can dream, right?

I'm 6' 3", 200 pounds, and I don't have anything really to complain about in the legroom. It seems the front seats go a long ways back to me. In fact, I normally drive with the front seat all the way back, and the steering wheel all the way extended back towards me and in the lowest position. The wheel position works for my girlfriend too, but of course she has her memory position for the mirrors and the seat. The passenger bubble size is one of those things that is decided early on, it is based on the competition segment and styling needs. I could use more room, but it would look like a prenant guppy. The rest of the car could be bigger to match the enlarged interior, but then it would cost more, be more ungainly to drive, and use more gas. I usually have some kind of space issue no matter what I drive, so I'm used to it.

Camride: Yeah, I've used sport mode on the tranny. Very interesting. I find that even in drive, the trans works pretty well for an automatic. I am surprised at the level of transmission interaction. For instance, in drive, with cruise control on (non-adaptive) the engine will downshift to 4000 rpm to hold the speed. I'll watch for it today, and if it does that again I'll just shut it off on hills. Braking on hills: at freeway speed, going down a hill, no cruise, drive position, the tranny downshifted to help control the speed behind slower traffic. Sport Mode: I like using this on mountain roads. If you don't select a lower gear, it'll still go up and down through the gears, but it holds onto them longer, and seems to downshift and be ready to go in the right gear on corner exit without flooring it. Sometimes I'll manually select a lower gear and hold it, but the paddle shifters are really to hard to use with all the steering wheel flingin around. So Sport mode is better, but obviously it'll cut into mileage a little.

Last fillup with the Arco pre-paid card was 14.5 gallons, I recall. I will be doing maximum range fillups, I have better things to do then stop in at a gas station more often than is necessary. I will be looking at my gas tank capacity in the owners manual, and the amount I put in on refills, and will get the two numbers within a gallon or so.

Passat has some nice qualities. Interior? Hope you like plastic. Style? Not even close. I could neve own anything that plain.

Ford is reporting what a federal agency quoted. They are not inventing numbers.

Indeed. You can get better mileage than the epa. But it wouldn't be any fun. Ford is not alone, they submit their cars to the epa just like everyone else. If you couldn't match epa numbers in a Ford, you wouldn't match epa numbers in a Toyota.

There is going to be such a wide variety of results in downloadable phone db meter apps and techniques, that the results would only have some merit only if you had several hundred responses. Now, If the same person using the same technique on the same stretch of road at the same speed with the same weather conditions went from car to car with the same db meter, then you would have something you could compare. I was looking for something like that for research for my sister, she wants a quiet car. All I could tell her is my Fusion is quiet, and the Buicks and Chevy Cruise are quiet. But I'm sure there's more. I would say there's not much difference from Fusion model to Fusion model, except the hybrid would be a tick quieter if it was running on its batteries. Fusions are quiet. That was a priority for Ford. Open the driver door and you see sound insulatin stuffed inside the fender gaps where there used to be air.

Wow! A lot of options out there. I was right about the bitrate on Sirius. I like to listen to a very wide range of stuff, there was some cool French Canadian stuff I was listening to the other day. But the stuff was so damm compressed it sounded like crap. It is actually irritating to listen to! So I'm still on the fence. I think if we can get a lifetime package so we don't have that pesky monthly fee, then it would probably be worthwhile. BUT. Is the lifetime only good for the car you have when you buy it, or can you transfer it to a different car? I love the Fusion, but it is NOT the last car I will ever buy in my life. For me, a wide variety is best, but quality is important. I'll also look into TUNE IN and SPOTIFY and whatever else I can find, but I also like how the Sirius is built into the dash. I did use the gps in the dash the other day, and on wide view, there was a bunch of traffic problems indicated, so that would be handy to have.

I think different stations have different quality levels. The popular ones are almost there. But I was listening to everything, even the obscure stuff. I was listening on a day with bad weather, does that have anything to do with it? Also, B8B, how much do you spend on the service?

Ok, so I've been listening to every station, rating the content and the quality. So far I'm up to the 40's, in the Rap and R&B. So far, I've only found a few that are worthwhile, the LOFT, hip hop nation and a couple others that are related. Biggest disapointment? Sub-standard audio quality. I'm not exactly joe golden-ear, but some of the stations have a VERY limited bandwidth/data stream, the result being it sounds like you are listening to your music through a cellophane speaker with a 1/2 inch magnet. At first I thought it would be cool to buy the service when it expires, but now I'm not so sure. I will be doing a lot of sat rad listening over the next few weeks to get a better idea. Anyone else want to chime in on their impressions and how much they spend?

Air bag systems for cars are well documented on the web, there is a coolness factor which depends on the owner, and it is relatively simple for a good experienced installer to install the electric air pump, the tank for compressed air storage, the control and the airbags instead of the factory coil springs. My guess is with the factory shocks, the ride and handling would be similar to factory. Would I do it? No. I already think the car looks bitchen bone stock:

Ok, here's my Mustang, so the Fusion is complementing it for the moment. But it's a Cobra, so I'm trying to not rack up excessive miles on it: I love it, it's a very fun car, lots of power, but I'm having a hard time justifying keeping it. There are only so many times a year when I go out for a joyride! But I have things I can do with the money it's worth...