Introduction: The Ford Fusion was introduced in 2005 as Ford's newest vehicle for the important midsized car market. Ford used to use the Taurus for this important segment which originally sold very well to tie the Honda Accord for the #1 most sold car(not vehicle since the F-150 truck dominated this). Unfortunately Ford never continued with the success of the first Taurus and allowed the car to age eventually losing even the Taurus' iconic jellybean shape for conservative. Ford decided to use the Fusion name for this new midsized car even though a completely different car uses the same name in Europe. The Ford Fusion is the first of the cars introduced by Ford of America to use the 3-bar grille. The Fusion saw enough success to be redesigned for the year 2010.
Now for my side, I was not all that excited to drive one of these vehicles since I never heard anything significant about the Fusion other than it being better than Ford's past vehicle attempts. Considering how badly Ford allowed its car lineup to decline this was a pretty low bar to settle. Still, the Ford Fusion could not possibly be worse than some of the other American cars I've driven so I was ready to see if Ford could actually challenge Toyota and Honda for that important midsized segment.
Performance: The Fusions I drove had the 2.3L Duratec 23 engine that produce 160hp and 156 lb.ft of torque. Well...I must say the Fusion unfortunately with its 4-cylinder was very underpowered. The engine selection was not suitable for this car since you can easily tell it was sluggish. I heard this engine was pretty much the same one used for the Mazda6 but that engine was far more suitable for that car than this engine is for the Fusion. Most clocked the 0-100 time of the Fusion to be 9.2 seconds, it doesn't feel that quick sadly. Since you think the car is slower than it is, you'll be hearing some of the drone this engine has to offer and its not exactly pleasant.
My Score: 3/10 - The engine is inadequate for the car, if it feels underpowered then it probably is.
Handling: After seeing the disappointing performance of the Fusion, I can safely say this portion is much more positive. This Ford Fusion shares the same platform as the Mazda6, as a result the chassis is much better than average allowing the Fusion to do much better cornering. Ford however did make the car rather soft thus not allowing the Fusion to pull off this handling with as much dignity as the Mazda. The wheel for the Fusion is heavier than the Mazda making it produce more feel but it doesn't connect as well due to how soft the car is.
My Score: 7/10 - Good chassis, good steering feel...but tempered with a soft suspension.
Interior: The Fusion's interior is not exactly a beautiful one. Depending on which colour you select might determine how good or bad it looks. The black interior does not do the Fusion any justice making it seem very bland and boring. The beige interior is much more upbeat and clearly makes the interior seem merely generic. The build quality is surprisingly solid despite being built in Mexico, normally car companies put lower quality control for their plants there.
My Score: 6/10 - Pretty bland and uninteresting especially in black but built surprisingly well
Styling: As mentioned earlier the Ford Fusion is Ford's first attempt to place the 3-bar grille on every single vehicle in their lineup. I don't think the first Fusion did a good job in making the 3-bar grille look good. From the front it looks like a Gilette razor, from the rear its slightly more interesting with neat tail lights. Other than that its nothing special, the razor like grille might a turn off.
My Score: 5/10 - A generic car with a silly grille but a neat rear end.
Value for money: The Fusion was priced to compete against the likes of the Accord and Camry, but due to Ford's past with this segment the Fusion is a tad bit cheaper by a few thousand. The result is a car that handles reasonably well but is hindered by either being cheap or boring in another area. It does look a bit different due to the 3-bar grille but that doesn't do enough to justify buying one. It however sadly is the best compared to GM's Malibu(pre-08) and Chrysler's awful cars.
My Score: 6/10 - Ford didn't overcharge here, but in order to get the best results asking for a bit more for a better car overall wouldn't hurt.
Overall: 27/50 - A possibly good car hurt in several segments. Even worse, the Mazda6 its based off of is a better car in every way. Fear not, Ford actually has taken things seriously and has definitely addressed each one of my complaints with the 2010 Fusion(a review quite some distance away since there's a few older cars to get to). If you really wanted a domestic midsized from the year 2005-2007, then the Fusion is a good choice but not 2008 since GM's Malibu improved a lot.
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