meyersnole

Have you changed the tires yet? What did it do to the fuel economy?

mergy, you have really had some bad luck... hope it is all smooth sailing from here on.

Welcome to the boards... you are right there is a lot of information stored in the forums, so try using the search... but if you can't find it don't be afraid to ask.

Looks like I picked a bad time to do some trips for these rankings. 2 trips up to Pennsylvania has dropped my lifetime MPG from 220s down to 83. The good news is that this car is really impressive with 43MPG average going through the mountains. I got 46 on my trip to the East side of the state -- even going though DC traffic.

Welcome to the community Rob!

There is a pretty strong consensus on this matter... http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus http://epa.gov/climatechange/basics/facts.html

I had about 8,400 song in my library. My guess is that there some pretty poor programming going here. Combine that with the limited ram and cpu and performance is poor. I am pretty sure that having that all loaded slowed down the entire system. I now have a subset on usb drive, but do not use it very often.

Good point. The CAFE is to be 54.5mpg for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025, and this is done on a slope -- 2013 target is 28.5 (for this class) and 2014 is 29. So they need to sell more hybrids and energi's to meet their goals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy#2011_agreement

Did they say why? I know the first dealer I went to was very unknowledgable and uninterested in the plug ins (at least a few of the sales people), but they did not seem upset about having them. They just did not see why someone would spend so much for them.

I have not noticed that issue, I have had 3 & 4 people in my car numerous times.

This thread may help you.... http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/642-external-hard-drive-for-music/?p=2150 If you don't want to read the whole thread, skip to http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/642-external-hard-drive-for-music/?p=2294 In the end, while it was workable the system was noticably slower. I ened up just going with a 32G thumb drive and ensuring that it was its tags were formed properly as described in that second post. In my opinon there are a ton of really nice things that ar 75% complete. Hopefully Ford continues to fix these issues. I also think the system could have used more RAM and processor for the way the implemented this code. No one optimizes anymore... it works.. ship it! UGgghhhh!

Not sure if this promotion is still going on, but many of us allowed Ford to direct market to us. I was able to obtain my $750 coupon by requesting a brochure. To answer dlb92's Q, I doubt very seriously you would be able to use another's coupon, as they look those things up in the system and assign it to your order. But that is just a guess on my part.

Check out this PDF http://www.ford.com/services/assets/Brochure?make=Ford&model=Fusion&year=2013 Just ignore the chrome pedals

I honestly started the trip thinking I would be thrilled if I got 40, given the size of the car. Remember that I got these numbers with the stereo going, A/C blasting, and using the passing lane when I could -- nothing extreme (basically the speedlimit plus 4 or 5mph). I have gotten in the habit of allowing the cruise to accellorate in ECO mode, and always try to max my brake scores (with mixed results (91% lifetime score)). Given my results I am surprised there were so many complaints about the EPA numbers, but I am guessing that has to be the tires/wheel size. As to your question on hill assit, are you using cruise control? I would think the car would handle it just fine with out it. If you are not using cruise, then I probably would use hill or pop it in L, which ever makes it easier to maintain speed.

Well, some of that is going to depend on options like tire size but in theory it should do better not carrying around the extra battery weight. I have wondered how much the 18 or 19 inch tires cut into the fuel economy though -- my guess is quite a bit. However if you use the same 17s with the same tires, my guess is that it would do better. I think when you go to the 18s you may also lose the low rolling resistance tires too... double whammy.

Just took my first road trip. I am impressed. The trip was from Raleigh NC to Bethlehem, PA. For that trip I spent 9:35:02 driving with 483.2 total miles, and the car managed to do 195.9 of those in EV mode. This yielded an impressive 46MPG, burning 10.48 gallons of fuel. On the trip I had the A/C running the entire time, speeds were up to 75mph and of course much slower as I made my way through the DC area. For the trip home it was almost as impressive traveling 9:22:47 and 483.1 miles, but only 174.9EV this time. This dropped my MPG to a still impressive 43.6MPG consuming 11.07 gallons of fuel. I did not bring my charger on the trip, and did not see any real options to charge there. It felt good to drive to breakfast this am in EV mode. On the downside, this has KILLED my lifetime averages, I was well into the 200's and now have dropped to only 104.5 driving 4335.7, 3278.4 in EV (661.6 from regeneration). I have another trip planned at the end of August where I am driving back up to Pitt and back, which will drop my average even more. However, the next few weeks its back and forth to work in EV mode!

Sure.... but couldnt you just use the 2 computers in ad hoc mode? Again, confused by this feature. I guess if you could only connect to your network through a USB cable, then ok...

Well, I know why the design changed.. the sight lines in the first car would be horrible. And, ever sit in Camaro? Having the door come up to where you can't rest your arm out the door is a big turn off. Never been a huge fan of the Chevy look... but the Volt is a better adaptation of it then most of their cars. My opinion of course. My previous car was a 3rd generation Acura TL, and while the Acura is much better looking it does share some similarities with the Volt in the body design -- So that may be why I like it. http://wot.motortrend.com/files/2011/03/2004-Acura-TL-front-view.jpg

One of the reasons Ford chose to deliver their hybrid, phv, evs on existing platforms is to share the development cost with their gas brothers. So, while it may have cost over 50 mil to develop there are a lot more fusions and focus gasoline cars to share that expense. Also don't forget about CAFE. These vehicles help keep the fleet averages down.

Yeah... I asked that in another thread. I think it is pretty worthless. Ford describes it as a good way to create a hotspot from your phone to other devices in the car. Hmmm if you phone is broadcasting a hotspot, why do I need the car to do it?? Having said that, I set it up in my car... because, well, I could!

Run flat tires are quite pricey. I think they are also heavy (gas milage killers) and do not provide a nice ride. http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/05/run-flat-tires-why-you-should-or-shouldnt-buy-them.html If you don't run the tire down too far (change when you hit the wear bars) and you don't run over something you are not likely to have failure like the good old days.

It is a cellular signal. And its part of the SYNC package. Ford has this to say about SYNC Your complimentary subscription* will remain active 36 months from the vehicle sales date. You must renew your subscription every year at no charge to continue using these services. When it's time to renew, we'll remind you of this both in your vehicle and when you log on to support.ford.com.

I actually think the Volt is a great car. There are lot of things about it I wish I could say about the Ford. However, it was just too small for me. Not so sure about very easy to get 31 from the Fusion, even with out the a/c... I have never come close to that number, but I drive a section of road for about 4 miles at near 60mph. I am sure that is what is killing my range. I am pretty sure if you drove the Volt like you drive the Fusion to achieve 31 miles, you would see much larger then 40 miles range. Personally I like the Fusion better (I bought one) but I don't think the Volt is a bad car. Honestly don't think its all that ugly either, but everyone has different taste. Now you can look at what the EPA has to say here: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=32655&id=33398 Basically the Fusion is slightly more efficient in electric mode, and a fair bit more efficient in gas mode -- and burns cheaper fuel while achieving the efficiency.

Count me in one of the people who finds negotiating the price of vehicles unpleasant. From all of the price conversations on the board, I do not regret going xplan. I plan to keep the car 6-8 years, so even if I could have gotten a few hundred dollars more, in the long run it simply would not be worth the stress (to me). My dealer did not try to play any games with me on extra paint protection, extended warranties, pre paid maint, etc... so the dealer experience was very good. And next year when the tax credit comes into play, the car will be very good value to me. Now as mentioned, we are at the end of this model year, so you probably can do better on 2013 then the xplan if you don't want to wait for a 2014. Either way, if you do decide to purchase the car I think you will join the rest of us realizing how nice of a car this really is. Best of luck!