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2010 Fusion SE 6 speed

8K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  PatrickMinton 
#1 ·
Yesterday, I visited a local Ford dealer, planning on looking at the new Taurus if they had it. They didn't, so I looked at the 2010 Mustangs, looking for a GT with the Track package that has gotten so much attention lately, including a Car and Driver comparison test win. No luck there, either, but every '10 GT that had a manual also had the 3.73 final drive.

Then my attention turned to the 2010 Fusions in the dealer stock. There was a Hybrid or two, at least two Sports, and a black Fusion SE with a 6 speed manual and a sunroof. The first thing I noticed about this car was the grille. The new three bar grille design dominates the front of the car, in a good way, I think. The 17 inch wheels on the car I drove were of the style copied closely from the European Mondeo, and look pretty good.

It was inside the car that most of the attention has been paid, anyway. Inside this car, it is not so easy to believe you're in the second cheapest Fusion model. The eyes fall on a variety of accents in faux aluminum and real chrome moving from the dash to the console, rather than the usual festival of nothing. Velour being out of style these days, the Fusion interior cloth is similar to that used in some other mid size sedans, a durable feeling cloth that actually has a slightly coarse texture to it. The new Fusion interior gets one thing right the Malibu doesn't. When your elbow comes in contact with the door armrest, it comes up against something relatively soft. Actually, that's something that a 40K Chrysler Sebring convertible got wrong.

One ergonomic glitch to the cabin, though. In fiddling with the lighting for the instrument display, I accidentally turned on the interior lights, meaning the map lights, mainly. It took a bit to figure out what had happened, and the salesman thought that at least one door was, somehow, still open. Once we figure this out, we were off.

The first time I drove a Fusion, I knew I was in danger of running off with this car the first time I put hands on the gearshift lever. Not much has changed here, even though the Passat I drive makes a short shift kit redundant. The six speed was very accurate, and I'm sure the salesman didn't notice me dropping three gears on a heel and toe downshift. The engine is very quiet, only really making itself known when the accelerator is mashed to the floor. While most people will appreciate this, I'm not so sure I do.

Here's where I'd have to disagree with our motoring press, though. They complained about a soft ride, but that was not what I noticed with this car. It was firm, but not harsh, and a perfectly good idea when most of my test drive was on back roads, much of if on older, crowned macadam roads of the sort where you can barely get by with a school bus on the other lane.

I did get to put it through a few corners, finding good path accuracy, and steering that filters out some of the bad news, while leaving a decent amount of feel. Beyond that, well, we have reached the point with modern cars that if you find the limits on public roads, even in a car like this, there are flashing blue lights in your future and probably with guns drawn.

There was one quality glitch in this car, unfortunately. The top part of the shift lever knob actually came off in my hand at first touch. Other than that, I saw nothing to worry about on the matter of quality. I told the salesman that it was a good functional replacement for my current car, should I choose to replace the Passat with another mid-size sedan. It is a good car for someone who wants or needs four doors, enjoys the act of driving, and still enjoys a car with some style.
 
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#4 ·
Yesterday, I visited a local Ford dealer, planning on looking at the new Taurus if they had it. They didn't, so I looked at the 2010 Mustangs, looking for a GT with the Track package that has gotten so much attention lately, including a Car and Driver comparison test win. No luck there, either, but every '10 GT that had a manual also had the 3.73 final drive.
I'm pretty sure the 3.73 RAR package only comes with the track pak which inlcudes the upgraded brake pads and sport mode on the ESC. I drove a '10 Black GT premium manual with the track pak recently. However, it was on straight, busy, pothole ridden roads, so I didn't really get to stretch it's legs too much and can't really conclude if it made a big difference or not. I was surprised at how well the car rode over rough roads, even with the solid rear axle. They did really well in tuning NVH without taking the enthusiast noises, like engine/exhaust out.

I also test drove a Milan Hybrid and was really surprised at how much power and grip it had for a hybrid. The seats were also very supportive and borderline sporty. It had very little body roll too (impressuve considering the heavy battery and motor weight). If I were to get a new Fusion, I think I would get a black Fusion Hybrid, debadge it and try to tune it (if that's even possible). No one would even think it was a "green" can until I popped open the hood, yet it could be a capable performer while returning 40+mpg.

edit: The 3.73 RAR package is the Track Pak, from the Ford Media website:

3.73 Rear Axle Package (GT Coupe with Manual Transmission only)
-Performance 3.73 Axle Ratio
-Dual Piston Front Calipers with Performance Brake Pads
-Recalibrated Electronic Stability Control® (ESC)
(http://media.ford.com/press_kits_detail.cfm?presskit_id=1982&item_id=5605&press_section_id=2878)
 
#5 ·
edit: The 3.73 RAR package is the Track Pak, from the Ford Media website:

3.73 Rear Axle Package (GT Coupe with Manual Transmission only)
-Performance 3.73 Axle Ratio
-Dual Piston Front Calipers with Performance Brake Pads
-Recalibrated Electronic Stability Control® (ESC)
(http://media.ford.com/press_kits_detail.cfm?presskit_id=1982&item_id=5605&press_section_id=2878)
Uh, actually, no. The Track package that has been mentioned in the press is not mentioned in either the Ford website's build and price area, or in the press release. The information Car and Driver had on it in their comparison test was that it was $1495, and included stiffer springs, shocks and anti-roll bars, as well as Pirelli PZero summer tires. Of course, it also included the items from the 3.73 rear axle package. The features comparison on the Ford website lists Track Pack separately from the axle packages, look under Power and Handling. Add it to the car I built on the website, and we're looking at a $40K Mustang.:D

Frankly, the Milan and Fusion hybrids are likely fast enough that they need no tuning to catch 90% of the dozing public off guard on the road. A Mazdaspeed 6 powertrain, on the other hand, would likely take care of the rest, and would more or less bolt right in.
 
#7 ·
Nice write up, thanks. I have a Fusion SEL V6 rental reserved for my yearly visit to Ontario Canada this summer.Requested the SE with the 6spd MT but no luck.
My brother whom I will be visiting does have the 2010 Fusion SE 6 spd MT, so maybe I can trade him for a couple of days.
 
#8 ·
Nice write up, thanks. I have a Fusion SEL V6 rental reserved for my yearly visit to Ontario Canada this summer.Requested the SE with the 6spd MT but no luck.
My brother whom I will be visiting does have the 2010 Fusion SE 6 spd MT, so maybe I can trade him for a couple of days.
Ford is the only domestic offering manual for their sedan..
 
#9 ·
We've heard this before. Every manufacturer of medium-sized sedan Nissan Altima at least since the first serious about ten years ago, claims to have broken the mold with a sporty look, the answers to all your sporty gear handling vanilla out there. It will not, say, having trouble finding them affordable sports sedan in a parking lot full of Camraccordsonaltimas. :joyous:
 
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