2015 Ford Fusion
| The Good: – Interesting styling – Cabin tech and safety – Ride and handling |
The Bad: – Pricey with options – Not particularly quick – Fancy tech can be distracting |
Rarely does a midsize sedan generate as much interest as this one. While the last Fusion came and went with a whimper in the Middle East, Ford raised the stakes in the midsize segment with their new-generation sedan, not least of which is due to its new styling.
Sporting a front-end that looks Aston Martin-esque if you squint, in the dark, during a sand storm, the latest Fusion looks like nothing else in its segment. The rear look is derived from the forgotten Mondeo, and the car generally looks handsome for it, but the side profile looks a bit bulky. It helps that most trim levels come with sizeable 17-inch alloys, with some even getting 18-inchers.
Inside, there’s a clutter-free cabin design with fair use of soft-touch materials over the dash and upper door trim as well as properly padded armrests and leatherette upholstery in our top-spec tester. There’s also a fair amount of hard plastics, but they’re largely relegated to below-chest-level panels.
It’s fairly spacious, even in terms of rear legroom and headroom, but rivals from Honda and Toyota offer slightly more rear space. Still, that’s only a problem if you have overly tall relatives riding regularly, and the boot is massive. There’s also the obligatory numbers of open cup-holders, door pockets and seat-back slots, as well as a large open cubby ahead of the gear-shifter.
The dash design is clutter-free because all the controls are consigned to the good-sized touchscreen for the SYNC multimedia system and climate-control, the touch-button panel below it for redundant stereo and a/c controls, and tumorous clusters of buttons on either side of the steering wheel to control dual full-colour LCD screens on either side of the speedometer as well as the stereo and a/c. Yes, we felt as overwhelmed as you did after reading all that, but it gets easier over time to use, even if no more simpler. The resistive touchscreen and touch buttons are a bit distracting while driving, but the steering-wheel buttons and much-improved voice controls offer a welcome alternative, even if a bit tedious to operate. Interestingly, the gauge-cluster LCDs have an Arabic option. In an odd move, the navigation system is a dealer-installed aftermarket setup that uses the same central touchscreen, but doesn’t match the look and feel of the SYNC system.
The Sony stereo and dual-zone auto a/c themselves are both pretty good performers. Further available features include a basic sunroof, rear a/c vents, fog lamps, USB/AUX ports, rear camera, Bluetooth, capless fuel-filler, electric parking brake, keyless unlocking with a numeric keypad, and all the usual power accessories. And there’s tons of safety features, including standard front, side and curtain airbags, and options such as blind-spot monitors, lane-departure warning and prevention systems, and class-exclusive rear inflatable seat-belts. Heck, it can even park itself at the press of a button. All that, and yet our top-spec test car had only basic keyless entry, simple cruise control rather than adaptive, and no HID headlight option.
The Fusion’s standard engine is a 2.5-litre 4-cylinder making 175 hp at 6000 rpm and 237 Nm of torque at 4500 rpm, fairly competitive figures, but it has to haul around 1558 kg of mass, likely due to Ford’s emphasis on solid safety-related elements. As such, the Fusion is slightly heavier and therefore slightly slower than its main Japanese rivals, netting a time of 10.4 seconds in our 0-100 kph test back in July. It’s lazy off the line, but picks up speed with more urgency once the revs get going, helped along by the 6-speed automatic.
Our moderately-aggressive driving netted a fuel consumption figure of 12.4 litres/100 km, no more than a Camry driven in a similar manner. A calmer driving style should garner better results. But we actually loved hustling this car around corners, given its rather good suspension tuning and respectable steering feel. The wheel firms up as speeds rise, making it easier to take advantage of the grippy 235/50 tyres wrapping those 17-inch wheels. There’s minor understeer at the limit, partly due to the standard stability control nannies, and there’s never any untoward tail-out behaviour if you overdo it, making for a very neutral and safe drive. Even the ABS-assisted disc brakes are decent, with a fair amount of pedal feel.
When not hustling, the Fusion is an easy car to drive. The steering lightens up at low speeds in city-driving while offering firmer stability at highway pace, with a class-leading quiet ride that’s also very smooth, if occasionally feeling a wee bit floaty on undulations. We’d go as far as to say it can match up with a Lexus ES in terms of comfort.
Okay, so the new Ford Fusion is not the best midsize sedan ever. It’s not quite quick enough to take top honours, and neither is it setting any records in terms of space. However, it is spacious enough for most purposes, handles well and to top it off, also happens to be the quietest, safest and techiest car in its class by a long shot. It’s somewhat expensive with the all the options we spoke of in our test car. But the lower-spec variants are still well-loaded, and with pricing that falls bang in the middle of its peers, the Fusion is worthy of being among the top choices on your list, if only because it looks like an Aston Martin. Sort of.
| Price Range: Dh 80,000-120,000 Current Model Introduced in: Body Styles: Engines: Transmissions: Setup: Suspension: |
Brakes: Front: discs Rear: discs Curb Weight: Length: Wheelbase: Top Speed: Test Acceleration 0-100 kph: Observed Test Fuel Economy: |
Comments
Vinod
Driving it for the past 2 months. These are my observations:Ride quality suffers a little bit on 18″ wheels, due to the low profile tires(you will notice it only in unpaved roads).Very smooth on tarmac. Lack of low-end torque is evident, but it gains speed quickly.needs a little more power for sure. Steering is very quick and direct. Sport mode adds up a little fun, even though it doesn’t do anything with the suspension and steering. If you are of medium height, 5″3 – 5″6″, you can sit very high in the driver seat, taking the power seat all the way up, which gives a very good view through the wind-shield(in case you want). Front passenger seat is very low, which is really irritating, but once in, it is comfortable. Back seats are very comfortable.I have done 6500 kms, getting an average of 9.0L/100 KMs. Long term quality issues needs to be seen. Overall a very good car.
Faisal Khatib
That’s very interesting to read. My full option Mondeo has a powered height adjustable seat for the passenger as well.
Hassan
Hi,
I was recently in NY on vacation with a friend and we did 7 day trip from NY to florida and back (2000+ miles ) in a similar car with the same engine specs, it was an ecoboost engine, basic radio and cd features, overall it was a really good comfortable highway cruiser, and i agree at 90 miles an hour it was really solid, stable, composed and and very quiet, and would rival a lexus in its performance, the only thing was the passenger seats could not be height adjusted, and occasionally felt the car was underpowered, but it sas pretty fast at the higher rpms, overall had a good time in US with it, and would recommend it to poten1tial buyers, also i might even think of getting one soon!
Fawaz
My officemate drives this car, he says the ride is not as smooth as Kia Optima.
Vinod
may be it is because of the low profile tires in 18″ wheels. In 17″ wheels ride is very smooth.
shyam
I don’t like the rear, looks like it was copied from kia cerato. Front copied from Aston.
prado
i say wait for the new camry….
Geoff
I was looking for a car in this sector, but with more power. I test drove the Fusion, but it’s underpowered for this market. When is everybody gonna wake up! The KIA Cadenza for AED 117k is a 3.5L V6 with 286 bhp, 0-100 in 6.8 secs. As good or better than the Lexus ES350 (I owned one) in every aspect, but half the price. KIA is a different animal since Peter Schreyer was head hunted from Audi. Now he’s VP of KIA and Hyundai. Test drive the Cadenza to realise it’s incredible value for money! Everybody, do your homework before you buy.
Sarath
I own this car since Oct’14 done 12k+ km on this, I love it more than my previous cerato and civic, bcoz of the safety aspects, superb interior space, impressive handing on corners, ya i know underpowered a bit, but as said in the review the weight contributed to it due to ford safety stuff! I really feel am NOT driving a tin can, as compared to the toyota counterparts. Also most importantly the free service and excellent CS of the Altayer guys. seriously lacking with Al J.Al Majid service.
Ali Siddiqui
Hi, mash, did you got chance to test ecoboost version?
vivek
https://www.drivearabia.com/news/2015/07/05/first-drive-2015-ford-fusion-ecoboost-uae/
Rajesh
Hi All,
I am in decision making of buying this car. Can any one who own 2.5 Lt version SE have any reasons that I should walk away from this car and get some thing from a Japanese counter parts.
Your Suggestion will help me. But honestly I loved the way it look and the tech it offers. I can walk over that this is a slow car because I will be using my car with my family and weekend trips.
With Thanks,
Raj
Vinod
I have 2.5 L fusion for last 8 months.
Engine low end torque is pathetic and gearbox is reluctant to shift down during overtaking. The car always feels under-powered. sport mode slightly improves things, that’s it.
If you really want fusion, go for the Ecoboost engine.
otherwise try Mazda-6 or Honda Accord.
Rajeesh
Hi,
I recently bought this car and done 3000kms. My first drive was a trip to jebel al jais, Ras al Khaimah and the car acted like a real sport man. I like this car in all aspects whether it’s interior or exterior. I love the auto parking, voice command, dash board styling, touch screen, Sony music system. As everyone mentioned, torque is a little behind compared to Camry and Accord but it gains quickly once you cross 70-80kmph. Breaking has plus and minus points because from higher speed breaking always gives you vibration free stopping but in low to medium speed sometime you can’t stop quickly as per your calculation. Camry and Altima does well in this area.
Pros: styling, technology, space, fuel efficiency
Cons: power, breaking
Vinod
Hi,
Unfortunately my fusion met with an accident 🙁 . In a roundabout ,hit on the side, classical round-about accident. Car has spun three times and at some part it was on 2 wheels !!!.
Thanks to god, nobody got hurt, car also survived with a heavily damaged right passenger rear door and some dents here and there.Managed to drive it all the way back to sharjah. Now i can vouch, this indeed is a safe car :)))
Ali
Hi
I have 2014 Ford Fusion 2.5 SE and have done 51,000Kms in almost 1.5 years. I must say it is a brilliant car and way ahead of any of its Japanese/European counterparts in terms of everything – from tech to driving pleasure. Ford has struck the right suspension balance between ride and handling, therefore this car drives like a sports car and rides like a Lexus, if you like. I did a 0-100 test, in which I got about 9.3 sec. Finally, a pretty confident-to-drive car. The only worry when you buy this is its resale value, maybe this new model holds well.
Ramy
Hi
Iam willing to buy a Car soon .
I like the honda accord and very interested for the ford fusion as well.
Would need your advice.
Thanks