2016 Ford Fusion rental review

[Robert Hall]

I've been a fan of the current Fusion's slick styling since it came out, but I hadn't had an opportunity to drive one until this past week, Wed through Sunday, from Hertz at the Pittsburgh Airport.  Dark red, gray 'cloth' interior (not a fuzzy/fabric-y cloth, but more artificial feeling).   Got to drive it in city traffic in downtown Pittsburgh and Cleveland, suburbia, plenty of freeway driving on the I-70,77,79,90,271,376, 470, 480, etc.., winding twisty Ohio two lane roads, small towns, etc in a variety of weather (dry and sunny to wet w/ rain and light snow). 

 

Pros:   Comfortable overall, soaks up the miles

 For a 2.5 4cyl, seems to have adequate power for freeway driving and passing...found myself doing 80 frequently on 70 mph roads

 Handles twisty winding roads well---though most of my time on one of them--US22 in Ohio---was stuck behind slow moving tanker trucks

 Clear, well lit gauges that are easy to read

 Love the '50s style windshield wipers

 Backup camera nice to have, since you can't really see the rear edges from the driver's seat

 Ample outside mirror size, nice to have the small inside spot mirrors

 The electric parking brake works ok once I figured it out

 Good gas mileage

 Huge, two level glove box

 

Cons:  

-short but tall trunk opening, swallowed luggage, but allowed water to drip in with a wet decklid open No --no steering wheel adjustment at all, limited or no seat height adjustment (the steering wheel angle was odd for me, my forearms ached after a couple hours of driving).  Not used to manual seat adjustment, I'll admit

-A bit loud under mid-to-full throttle

-too many tiny look alike buttons on the base radio (on each side of the backup camera screen)

-Base steering wheel rim is hard plastic

-The '15 Malibu had a nice center console cell phone cubby--the Fusion instead has a deep center stack slot that is open on the sides, stuff can fall out in the floor..  though I prefer how the cup holders are side by side in the Fusion instead of in two places on the Malibu

-All the windows seem to have express down/up, and can be tricky if you want a window half way open

- Front end is pretty low and I scraped it on curbs several times (the front slopes down and I'm admittedly used to SUV ground clearance). 

 

I think I'd find an SE or Titanium more to my tastes.

 

The other midsize competitors I've driven recently was briefly a '15 Camry last year, a '15 Sonata from last October (driven in N California), and a '15 Malibu I drove almost 1 year ago on some of the same roads.     I think I could happily live w/ a Fusion or Malibu as a daily driver for a few years--could do a lot worse.

 

Of those, the Sonata had the nicest interior overall, IMO. 

 

One last factoid--I was driving in Ohio and Pennsylvania w/ an Arizona driver's license in a rental car w/ a Florida plate.  Found that funny for some reason...

 

Sorry if this was probably rambling and semi-incoherent...I'm still exhausted from flights and 3 time zones last night (1 1/2 hrs for PIT to Chicago Midway w/ hour & half layover then 3+ hrs to PHX) last night and emotionally numb...

Edited March 27, 2016 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Suaviloquent]

Oh yeah... I remember the purpose of your trip.

 

But my review of the Fusion is pretty much the same. It's not rambling to me!!

[regfootball]

nice write up.  The Fusion is a solid car.  It's not cutting edge, but it does provide a lot of value and solidness in the class.

 

You didn't happen to try to quantify the mpg you got with the 2.5, did you?

Edited March 27, 2016 by regfootball

[Robert Hall]

I didn't calculate the mileage at fillups, but do recall seeing the average reading of something like 28 when I was playing w/ the display..

 

The 2.5 seemed adequate all around, though a bit loud under full throttle.   It is interesting that Ford offers a 1.5 Ecoboost, 2.0, and 2.0 Hybrid and Energi versions also....anyone have experience w/ these other engines? 

Edited March 27, 2016 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[regfootball]

I had a short drive in both the 1.5 Fusion and 1.6 Escape, they in fact are more refined and drivable than the 2.5.  It's just enough of an upcharge though, that i can see why the rentals would have the 2.5 mostly.

 

The 2.5's mpg is pretty average to just below average nowadays too.

Edited March 27, 2016 by regfootball

[Thed]

I had a short drive in both the 1.5 Fusion and 1.6 Escape, they in fact are more refined and drivable than the 2.5.  It's just enough of an upcharge though, that i can see why the rentals would have the 2.5 mostly.

 

The 2.5's mpg is pretty average to just below average nowadays too.

 

For as old of an engine as it is, I think it's somewhat impressive. It's a Duratec 25, which is a carryover from the last-gen Fusion as a fleet engine for low maintenance costs and lower base cost. It is based off of the Duratec 23 that was in the first-gen Fusion from day one. The engine platform is almost two decades old now, I'm surprised (but at the same time not surprised, because Ford) that it's still in production.