2010 Ford Fusion



I don't usually pay much heed to Motor Trend's Car of the Year award. I prefer to make up my own mind. Is the Ford Fusion the Car of the Year? Motor Trend says so; I just say it's a damn good car.

Ford has one hell of a designer in Freeman Thomas. I find his designs, or the designs he oversees, to be subtle, but intriguing. The Fusion, and it's been around for a few years now, just grew on me. Every time I looked at it I noticed something else, another line here or there that just had me go, "yeah."

It's kind of amazing that a four-door sedan can go from being a granny-car to a sports sedan.

Fit and finish, with one little exception, was superb. That one exception? At the right edge of the dash, where it meets the A-pillar cover, there was a little bit of insulation sticking up. How the heck that got missed at the end of the assembly line, or when the dealer did the pre-delivery inspection I'll never know.

There aren't too many cars that I can just get into and feel comfortable; the Fusion was one of those that just felt right. Don't know why.

There are three engines available - a 175 hp, 2.5-liter 4-cyl; a 240 hp, 3.0-liter V6; and a 263 hp, 3.5-liter V6. The one I drove had the smaller V6 and it was a great performer. Ford has done great work making their V6 sound and feel much better than it did a few years ago. There is virtually no difference between the two V6s in fuel economy.

Fusions run from a low of $19,420 up to $28,675 for a Hybrid. The Fusion SEL that I drove lists at $28,105, and that includes destination and delivery.

Now I'm waiting for the SVT version with a 3.5-liter EcoBoost and AWD. Wow, would that be great or what?

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