mrjones944 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Anybody hear whether or not the new fusion will be revealed at the detroit autoshow??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 (edited) it is what inside info pointed to, but it was not confirmed yet by Ford. Ford has a NAIAS preview on the 11th, so we should be wiser afterwards. Igor Edited December 5, 2007 by igor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF1011 Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 If this refresh is significant (hopefully more than just new bumpers slapped on), I think it will be significant for the company as a whole. The Fusion now still seems very fresh to me, at least visually. To get a freshened one already is excellent. Yes, I'm aware that it has been standard practice of the industry to do refreshes at these intervals for years, but it has NOT been standard practice at Ford. I think this finally shows that Ford really IS committed to keeping their new products fresh. Yes, they've done a little better recently on other vehicles, but I think this is where we finally start to see a sustainable trend. Hopefully it will get an entirely new center stack. That seems to be the biggest sticking point with its critics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danglin Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 If this refresh is significant (hopefully more than just new bumpers slapped on), I think it will be significant for the company as a whole. The Fusion now still seems very fresh to me, at least visually. To get a freshened one already is excellent. Yes, I'm aware that it has been standard practice of the industry to do refreshes at these intervals for years, but it has NOT been standard practice at Ford. I think this finally shows that Ford really IS committed to keeping their new products fresh. Yes, they've done a little better recently on other vehicles, but I think this is where we finally start to see a sustainable trend. Hopefully it will get an entirely new center stack. That seems to be the biggest sticking point with its critics. I agree with you completely. Along with the center stack, will need to be an upgraded gauge cluster, with LED backlighting, and ditching the Green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarentsBlueV50 Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 What the new Fusion/Milan/MKZ needs more than anything is dynamic stability control. These cars are not eligible for the highest safety ratings by IIHS and the feds (even though crash test scores are high enough) without this feature. It is standard on all of the competition and it is unconscionalbe that it has taken Ford so many years to add a safety feature that should have been standard from the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonofford Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 What the new Fusion/Milan/MKZ needs more than anything is dynamic stability control. These cars are not eligible for the highest safety ratings by IIHS and the feds (even though crash test scores are high enough) without this feature. It is standard on all of the competition and it is unconscionalbe that it has taken Ford so many years to add a safety feature that should have been standard from the beginning. Agreed. Moreover, it's going to be required on all cars in the next few years anyway, so just do it already. No excuses. Still, I do think the interior needs updating. The green lighting looks wretched and the brick is very ugly. The materials are otherwise OK, though I would be happy to see them upgraded as well. It would be nice to be leading the way rather than always playing catch-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 What the new Fusion/Milan/MKZ needs more than anything is dynamic stability control. These cars are not eligible for the highest safety ratings by IIHS and the feds (even though crash test scores are high enough) without this feature. It is standard on all of the competition and it is unconscionalbe that it has taken Ford so many years to add a safety feature that should have been standard from the beginning. I don't disagree they need it, and rumor has it that it's coming next year. But why does everyone say this and then TOTALLY ignore the fact that it has AWD? Not saying they're the same thing but obviously Ford chose to spend limited funding on AWD rather than 4 channel ABS and Stability Control. It's not like they just chose not to do anything at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyalbutconcerned Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 it is what inside info pointed to, but it was not confirmed yet by Ford. Ford has a NAIAS preview on the 11th, so we should be wiser afterwards. Igor Word is it will be there with 235hp or so. Hybrid might show up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjones944 Posted December 7, 2007 Author Share Posted December 7, 2007 Word is it will be there with 235hp or so. Hybrid might show up too. Its too bad it wont show up with 265hp in the form of a 3.5L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I'm still hoping that Igor's predictions posted at Autosavant are borne out. The final two engines are the reason for excitement, however. Ford will offer two Twin Force engines, positioned as alternatives to both the four and the six cylinder engines while delivering excellent mileage. The smaller of the duo will deliver between 170-200 horsepower, and in preliminary testing, is approaching a fuel efficiency rating of 30 miles-per-gallon in the city and 40 miles-per-gallon on the highway. And while the final rating will likely be a bit shy of the nice numbers above, the Fusion with this engine will still deliver mileage in the compact-car territory. The displacement of this smaller Twin Force engine has not been revealed yet, but most likely will be a 1.6 or 1.8 liter. The larger of the Twin Force duo will be a version of the 2.5l four cylinder delivering over 260hp, and over 30 miles per gallon highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueblood Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Word is it will be there with 235hp or so. Hybrid might show up too. I hope you're wrong for Ford's sake.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I hope you're wrong for Ford's sake.. What is it with this horsepower fixation? How can fuel mileage be maintained with each manufacturer trying to best each other with horsepower figures. What counts with me is decent power and fuel mileage. Make it best in class fuel mileage and that is more impressive if passing power is there also. The V6 Fusion is a fast car with 0-60 times of as low as 7.1 sec. and very acceptable passing power from 221hp. If Ford can tweak the power up another 15 hp or so and improve the fuel mileage a couple notches, what is wrong with that? Why does it have to have at least 265hp? If Ford can pull more fuel mileage out of 235hp, I will take that. The average customer in my view wants competitive fuel mileage with decent, smooth power and of course RELIABILITY. The 3.0 Duratec is bulletproof which is very important. My company car has this engine with 90,000 miles and not one problem with engine and gets 22mpg in mixed driving. My personal car has same engine and never misses a beat. Most reliable engine I have ever owned. As for the I4, this engine is most important as you see many more I4 Fusions on road than V6 Fusions. If the new 2.5I4 is more refined, has more power, and has better fuel mileage, then Ford did good job and will be competitive. Add in the turbo models and you have a very competitve bevy of engines with V6 power and I4 fuel mileage. With all those engines to choose from, I don't see how Ford is not very competitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suv_guy_19 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 What is it with this horsepower fixation? I'm getting really tired of the constant call for more power. Its getting unreasonable. 200 HP should be enough for almost any mid size sedan, especially with automatics growing more gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papilgee4evaeva Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I'm getting really tired of the constant call for more power. Its getting unreasonable. 200 HP should be enough for almost any mid size sedan, especially with automatics growing more gears. Especially in a segment where the vast majority of buyers won't be taking these cars to any tracks any time soon. Unless you gotta take the kids to the baseball diamond because they're late for the game. +1 also to FordBuyer in that you see more I4s than V6s in this segment. Now, there's nothing wrong with a performance variant in the lineup (I'd love to see a Fusion SVT done right)... but the whole lineup can't be the performance variant. Otherwise, there would be no performance variant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueblood Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 (edited) What is it with this horsepower fixation? How can fuel mileage be maintained with each manufacturer trying to best each other with horsepower figures. What counts with me is decent power and fuel mileage. Make it best in class fuel mileage and that is more impressive if passing power is there also. The V6 Fusion is a fast car with 0-60 times of as low as 7.1 sec. and very acceptable passing power from 221hp. If Ford can tweak the power up another 15 hp or so and improve the fuel mileage a couple notches, what is wrong with that? Why does it have to have at least 265hp? If Ford can pull more fuel mileage out of 235hp, I will take that. The average customer in my view wants competitive fuel mileage with decent, smooth power and of course RELIABILITY. The 3.0 Duratec is bulletproof which is very important. My company car has this engine with 90,000 miles and not one problem with engine and gets 22mpg in mixed driving. My personal car has same engine and never misses a beat. Most reliable engine I have ever owned. As for the I4, this engine is most important as you see many more I4 Fusions on road than V6 Fusions. If the new 2.5I4 is more refined, has more power, and has better fuel mileage, then Ford did good job and will be competitive. Add in the turbo models and you have a very competitve bevy of engines with V6 power and I4 fuel mileage. With all those engines to choose from, I don't see how Ford is not very competitive. It's called being competitive, thinking like yours is why Ford's sales aren't where they should be. If Ford is dead last in power in it's segment, that's a problem, especially for the so-called "sporty alternative" to the Camry and Accord. Not all of us enjoy driving gutless cars, why is that so hard to understand? The 3.5 is supposed to go into the Fusion, it NEEDS it just to keep up, why anybody would want Ford to fail is beyond me.. Hell, why not just dump the V6 option altogether? After all, nobody needs more than a 100 horse 4 cylinder right? Why don't they just use the coming 1.6 from the Fiesta to power the Fusion, and on that note, leave the interior alone, nobody ever got where they were going quicker with a nice quality interior. No need to re-style it either, as we know with the Panther and Ranger sales successes by letting them rot, Ford should do the same with the Fusion. Btw, I believe the Camry with the larger engine and 50more horsepower than the Fusion gets better mileage, probably due to the fact that an overworked engine has to strain more to move the car, therefore getting worse fuel economy. I want Ford to be #1, not #7 or 8 like you seem to be happy with.. Edited December 8, 2007 by Blueblood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regfootball Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 i'd like a car with 6.0-6.5 second capability and good mpg. fusion does not have that combination yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 i'd like a car with 6.0-6.5 second capability and good mpg. fusion does not have that combination yet. What? No mid sized vehicle on market meets above figures. The V6 Camry I believe does 6.6 and needs all 268hp to do it. And who cares if it does? The Fusion V6 is plenty fast and beats the V6 235hp Sonata in 0-60 times and quarter mile. The Fusion is not LAST in its segment. And the Fusion easily outhandles the Camry which is worth something. Only real weakness Fusion has is gas mileage and even there it will still get 30mpg highway. Just drive at a sane speed without death wish. Anway, the 2009 Fusion will get the extra power to break 7 seconds if that's what you are into and better fuel mileage to boot also. So what's your beef now? Some of you keep harping on suppose Fusion weakness even though you are aware of 2009 powertrain upgrades. Every Fusion review I have read likes the power from the V6 and Car and Driver for the upteenth time has recorded a 7.1 second 0-60 time which is as fast as 80's 5 liter Mustang V8 with 5 speed manual. Very few Camry and Accord customers buy a V6 and they are very marginally faster than V6 Fusion. All Ford really needs is a Fusion ST with 265hp and it will be just as fast. Ford would probably only sell 10,000 or so a year anyway. What makes you think Ford will not do that anyway? I really doubt if Ford makes enough 3.5 liter V6's to put them in all V6 Fusions. Proably have enough for a Fusion ST though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 What is it with this horsepower fixation? How can fuel mileage be maintained with each manufacturer trying to best each other with horsepower figures. What counts with me is decent power and fuel mileage. Make it best in class fuel mileage and that is more impressive if passing power is there also. The V6 Fusion is a fast car with 0-60 times of as low as 7.1 sec. and very acceptable passing power from 221hp. If Ford can tweak the power up another 15 hp or so and improve the fuel mileage a couple notches, what is wrong with that? Why does it have to have at least 265hp? If Ford can pull more fuel mileage out of 235hp, I will take that. The average customer in my view wants competitive fuel mileage with decent, smooth power and of course RELIABILITY. The 3.0 Duratec is bulletproof which is very important. My company car has this engine with 90,000 miles and not one problem with engine and gets 22mpg in mixed driving. My personal car has same engine and never misses a beat. Most reliable engine I have ever owned. As for the I4, this engine is most important as you see many more I4 Fusions on road than V6 Fusions. If the new 2.5I4 is more refined, has more power, and has better fuel mileage, then Ford did good job and will be competitive. Add in the turbo models and you have a very competitve bevy of engines with V6 power and I4 fuel mileage. With all those engines to choose from, I don't see how Ford is not very competitive. I think the argument to put the 3.5L in is because the Taurus is getting better FE #s than the Fusion's V6 in a bigger, heavier car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I think the argument to put the 3.5L in is because the Taurus is getting better FE #s than the Fusion's V6 in a bigger, heavier car. I think Ford is balking at putting 3.5 into Fusion for two reasons. Number 1 is supply. I don't think Ford makes enough or has capacity to make enough to put it into Fusion also. And if they did there could be some conflict with the Taurus as its sales are bad enough already without putting same engine into it as Taurus. If Ford did truly improve the present 3.0, then you know it will go into Fusion. I still say 3.5 should go into special Fusion ST model. Limited sales means Ford can comfortably have enough supply to go around, and ST model will not conflict much with Taurus. Also, those who want a super quick Fusion sport sedan get one. Now Igor tells us Ford will do ST model with 260 hp turbo I4. Guess we will have to wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I think Ford is balking at putting 3.5 into Fusion for two reasons. Number 1 is supply. I don't think Ford makes enough or has capacity to make enough to put it into Fusion also. And if they did there could be some conflict with the Taurus as its sales are bad enough already without putting same engine into it as Taurus. If Ford did truly improve the present 3.0, then you know it will go into Fusion. I still say 3.5 should go into special Fusion ST model. Limited sales means Ford can comfortably have enough supply to go around, and ST model will not conflict much with Taurus. Also, those who want a super quick Fusion sport sedan get one. Now Igor tells us Ford will do ST model with 260 hp turbo I4. Guess we will have to wait and see. I guess as you said, we'll have to wait until it debuts. Didn't Ford just open or announce the opening of a new 3.5L plant (not a new one, just a retooled one)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjones944 Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 I dont know why an engine that brings it on par with the rest of the competition has to be reserved for a limited edition sport model when everybody else offers a power level at that level in a basic model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Harbinger Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 (edited) It's called being competitive, thinking like yours is why Ford's sales aren't where they should be. If Ford is dead last in power in it's segment, that's a problem, especially for the so-called "sporty alternative" to the Camry and Accord. Not all of us enjoy driving gutless cars, why is that so hard to understand? The 3.5 is supposed to go into the Fusion, it NEEDS it just to keep up, why anybody would want Ford to fail is beyond me.. Yes! I want Ford to be #1 in meaningless statistics that have no effect on 99% of drivers. Without winning the Horsepower War, they will never attain financial success! ---- Postscript: I like power and think it's cool that you can get these great, powerful, efficient V6's in midsized cars, and I hope Igor is right that the 3.5 will be in the Fusion in something like 6 months ... but 260HP vs. 235HP is hardly going to make or break the vehicle. Edited December 11, 2007 by Noah Harbinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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