meyersnole

This is me minus the -24 thing... no way I could tolerate that. Even with the seats on high.

I have always heard there are 2 major issues with driving to E or below. 1) The fuel pump is cooled / lubricated by being submerged in fuel. If it is run dry it can overheat and destroy itself (a costly repair). Most of the time I see fill the tank when it reaches 1/4 to keep the pump submerged. 2) All fuel has impurities and moisture. Running dry can put that moisture and sediment into system. Are these just widely spread fallacies?

Lot of great information Rexracer. Maybe I just got a bad set of tires, but I tried the Continental's on my Acura because the got such good reviews, replacing a set of Michelin Pilot A/S and was very disappointed. Yes they lasted longer, but for some reason became very noisy. And yes, I rotated them every 5-6K miles. Also felt more comfortable pushing my car in the Pilots then I did the DWS, but the Pilots did wear much faster so I guess that is the trade off. I really do not drive this way anymore, as mentioned by QDP this car just is not designed for screaming around a corner. Not sure what you can do with the suspension / tires that is going to make up for an 800 lb battery sitting right over the rear wheels. Not super knowledgeable on the tires, but I think it would be a tall task to go from a 17" low rolling resistance tire to a 18" with a wider stance (more contact surface) and improve efficiency.

I have had my car since March, the only real issue that I have had is that the handles above the door had plastic pieces pop off when people grabbed them. The dealer replaced 3 of them. Not sure what to expect as this is my first Ford.

Going to pin this through the end of the month.

Just reread this post and noticed your timeline. You may want to consider doing this in the 2013 calendar year so that you can deduct some of the cost from your taxes. As of now, the deduction will not be available in January. http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/1528-electric-car-charging-station-tax-credit-expires-on-dec-31st/?p=9538

Resistance is the enemy here. The longer the run the lower the gauge of the wire should be, and yes the goal would be to keep it as short as possible. http://electrical.about.com/od/wiringcircuitry/a/extensioncordchart.htm Edit: Make sure you have it sized properly, that is a lot of current drawn. I am pretty sure the manual recommends against using an extension cord.

Not sure if there is a max, but I have found that the more files that you add the system, the slower everything seems to run. Even after you clean up the tags to get it to index in a decent amount of time. I put a 1 TB hard drive on the system and it worked, but removed it because I do not like the lag it caused. I think I am using a 16 GB thumb drive with about 9,000 songs on it with reasonable results.

Jeff -- I think we are saying the same thing. You mention these are 17s, so if you put the equivalent sized tire on there then you have no variance in the size of the tire. So the only thing you are messing with is the weight... and efficiency (and maybe aerodynamics). Yours might even be lighter. Changing size, in my opinion, you need to be a lot more careful. Having said that, if you are only going up or down one inch you should be able to make up the difference in the sidewall of the tire. Just have to pick the right one. Oh, and on the dealer comment catalinu. Did you talk to a salesman or mechanic? It annoys me how much stuff salesmen just make up. I had one trying to tell me that larger wheels improved gas mileage. Did not even try and discuss that with him... just nodded and moved on.

They are special. They are light weight and have a lot of surface area for efficiency. There are also special tires, low rolling resistance tires on the rims. Depends on what you mean by will not work... there are 2 concerns. 1) Efficiency. What kind of change will the tire have on the cars energy consumption. This is a choice of trade offs. Just remember if you are doing it to save a few dollars on a tire, but lose it gas mileage it may not be the right trade off. If you are doing it because you can not get the type of tire you want for some dynamics, it may be worth it. 2) Safety and dynamics. And this is most important. The cars brakes, suspension, etc are set up around these tires. Remember that the car is processing about 2 Gig of data every minute. If you change the size of the wheel, it may be a little more important then just your speedometer being off by a mile or two. ABS brake failure is the most often cited concern. There can be stability control concerns as well. If you have self park feature... etc. If you can find a rim that is designed for the car (at the volumes that this car is produced, I do not expect any custom parts for the energi) or you have a mechanic that you trust you can seek advice from them on how to downsize the rim. In the end, it is recommended that you stay with in 3% of size of the original.

So, this is a new question (smaller rims). There is a long discussion here: http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/568-upgrading-to-larger-wheeltires/ You can use a tire size calculator to compute this yourself, but you are probably better off going to a tire dealer to discuss. https://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Tire-Size-Calculator

The only suggestion I would make is to be sure that you have the stalk in the correct spot for it to function. Is it possible that you bumped it?

Great topic TCMALIBU 9 Acura TL, BMW 528 before that Yes, this car has exceeded my expectations. I put 9, because I have a hard time putting anything at perfect and there was some compromise. Having said that this car will engage your inner car emotion but in a different way than a German Luxury car will. Instead of hunting for that perfect road where you can test the suspension, brakes, acceleration, and trill of a high g turn you will instead become fixated on increased range, maximum efficiency stops, and a nearly silent ride. It is quite impressive feat to get so much efficiency out of a vehicle that is every bit as big as my TL and almost as large as my old 5 series. If your commute is 10 miles (one way), you will go months with out visiting the gas station (I drove over 2500 miles before my first fill up). And when you do, you can push the button with the much cheaper fuel (~0.40/gal cheaper).

This is a common story, oh what will you ever do when the battery stops working in x years. As mentioned above, we know we have at least 8 years / 100,000 miles (more in some states like California), but even then you can expect the technology to improve as well as the economics. When the Prius first came out, I remember asking the same question. It appears that now that people are actually having to replace them they are spending around $3,000ish... kinda like your transmission failing. Except when these are replaced I would expect better performance than the original part at a fraction of the price (I think the part is currently around $9,000 today) with better battery chemistry and hopefully less weight/size. Maybe even options... like reclaim some of your trunk for the same range or spend a little more to get an equivalent sized battery with 3x (or more) the range. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1077652_replacing-a-2001-toyota-prius-battery-pack-what-it-cost

I enjoy the articles on green car reports, and thought that this might be an appropriate article to share here. For those of you on the fence about installing a 240v charger, you might want to put together that pros / cons list and work it out. As of now the tax credit for charging station is set to expire at the end of this year. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1088784_electric-car-charging-station-tax-credit-expires-on-dec-31st?fbfanpage

Really think this is a cost thing. The extra money is not just in the materials but also the design (even if its a dummy) to our engine. For now the batteries are pretty expensive and limit the profit margins. You only have to look at the Cadillac ELR to see what normal margins can do to the price. (I think that GM made a huge mistake trying to profit off this car too soon.)

I have been pretty impressed with the Sony system in the Titanium. It is a little mid range bias and a bit booming on the bass, but it is far better then a large number of factory systems out there. When I bought my car I was down to comparing the toyota avalon to the fusion, the sound system was one of several factors pushing me towards the fusion. I must admit I never really seriously considered the SE version of the Fusion, so I can not compare the difference. But I am happy with the Sony.

Nothing like the moment when you figure that out... @#$#@% Why didn't they say something (as you take it apart again). At least its usually faster to put it together the second time around.

Mine made noise at first but now are pretty quiet. Actually quite impressed that they are still working well 8 months later. Probably replace them with a set of Bosch Icons when its time to replace them.

Just simplify it. The engine is not your ordinary engine... its designed for efficiency. It works differently then you would expect. The transmission is not your ordinary transmission... its designed for efficiency. It works differently then you would expect. I barely burn any gas at all :victory:

Thanks Murphy! These are definitely going on the wish list. I may just wait for Spring though, as I also don't like the cold. About how long did it take you to install them? (Including reading the directions (I will also probably end up reading them a few times over))

Just to add a link to Jeff's comments, the motor type is call Atkinson Cycle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkinson_cycle

Take out your pencil and a single sheet of paper.... :happy feet:

Looking forward to seeing the pictures

Hi Kalistis I agree that the engine does sound a little loud, but some of what is catching your attention is that you are not hearing what you expect to hear. The Fusion uses a CVT, Continuously Variable Transmission, to achieve higher gas mileage. This does not work the same way a fixed gear transmission works. You will get different rev patterns which may take some time to get use to, as you are correct it is not shifting gears.