2008 Ford Fusion - 4 Cylinder Family Sedan Comparison - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

MT Associate Editor Allyson Harwood discusses Fords entry in our 4-cylinder family sedan comparison

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00:00 This is the 2008 Ford Fusion.

00:07 It is equipped in our test with the 2.3 liter 4, which puts out 160 horsepower and 156 pound

00:14 feet of torque.

00:15 As equipped, this comes with the SEL trim package from Ford.

00:19 That's basically the top line that you can get with the 4 cylinder.

00:22 Its base price starts right at around 21,000 and as equipped goes up to right around 26,000.

00:29 That additional cost will give you extra options that include navigation system, sync, six

00:34 disc CD changer, leather, and several other nice features that really do make this a decent

00:41 car and a really good value for the money.

00:43 You get a lot of interior features.

00:45 You also get a park assist feature, which is not that common on sedans at this price

00:50 level.

00:51 So all in all, it's a good value for the money.

00:54 What's interesting about the Fusion's styling is, on the one hand, you have a really edgy

00:59 front end.

01:00 You have a sharp, dramatic grill and angular headlights and you have sort of that angular

01:04 look in the back as well.

01:06 But overall, the vehicle is not nondescript.

01:09 It's nice looking, but it can tend to blend in with the crowd.

01:13 So it's a weird place for the Fusion to be, but it is overall a decent looking car.

01:17 And that quality and that elegant style does translate into the interior as well.

01:23 It's a really nice combination color scheme inside and some of the materials aren't fantastic,

01:28 but again, at this price level, it's competitive and it is a very good looking interior.

01:33 Many of the Fusion's chassis components are shared with the Mazda 6.

01:37 And what's nice about that is it translates into a really composed, confident feel in

01:42 twists and turns.

01:44 That actually made this one of the best handling cars in that type of environment.

01:48 Probably I would say in the top three or four, which was a really pleasant surprise.

01:53 On the other hand, what the Fusion has in handling, it sort of lacks in power, but not

01:59 by much.

02:00 It does have a decent amount of power, but you really see that that 2.3 liter runs out

02:05 of steam on grades and when it's trying to pass on the freeway.

02:09 Ford has responded to this by, well, its plan is to give it a 2.5 liter next year and that's

02:14 going to add some power.

02:15 I would guess around 10 to 15 horses and that'll definitely make a big difference.

02:20 And another unfortunate thing about the Fusion is this transmission is a five speed automatic,

02:25 but if you want to shift it yourself, you really only have the choice between drive

02:28 and low.

02:30 So you don't have as much control over that power and that transmission as we would like

02:34 and that's a real shame.

02:36 At the track, the Ford Fusion went from 0 to 60 miles an hour in 9.2 seconds, completed

02:41 the quarter mile in 17 seconds at 81.8 miles an hour, and went from 60 to 0 miles an hour

02:48 in 127 feet.

02:52 It circled our figure 8 course in 28.4 seconds at .57 G average and pulled a maximum lateral

02:59 acceleration of .82 G average.

03:01 All in all, this Fusion is a really good bargain.

03:06 You get a lot for the money, a lot of creature comforts.

03:09 It's elegant looking for this price range.

03:13 It does have a lot of really nice interior features and it handles well.

03:17 It is quite composed in twists and turns, but you will notice when you go up hills,

03:23 when you're trying to pass, that it doesn't quite have the steam that say the Camry does

03:26 in the same environment.

03:27 [music]

03:29 (music fades)

2008 Ford Fusion - 4 Cylinder Family Sedan Comparison

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