Instrumented Test
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Movie-star looks, athletic chassis, pedestrian powertrain
It’s no secret that the latest Fusion is the most competitive mid-size sedan from Ford in a long time, and, of the many variants on offer, the combination of the 1.6-liter EcoBoost (that’s “turbocharged and direct injected” in Blue-Oval-ese) four-cylinder with the six-speed automatic transmission has played a key role in the achievement.
That’s not surprising. This particular Fusion has a number of virtues. It’s quiet even by the standards of a generally quiet class, particularly at freeway speeds. It’s a smooth operator on most surfaces, and, given its pleasant road manners, surprisingly agile. It offers stop-start technology, shutting down the engine at stoplights, which is a feature unique to the 1.6 automatic among the various Fusion choices. And this contributes to very respectable EPA fuel-economy ratings of 25 mpg city and 37 highway. But for all its positives, this engine/transmission pairing isn’t much fun. So what’s the problem?
The Automatic Factor
Consistent with Ford’s transition to smaller engines (there is no longer a V-6 in the Fusion powertrain inventory), the 1.6 employs turbocharging to extract more power from less displacement while shooting for high marks on the government’s efficiency tests. While this is to some extent a fool’s errand—the EPA dyno rollers bear little relationship to the operating realities of America’s streets and interstates—it’s the common response across the industry to the lofty efficiency requirements mandated by various global entities.
Teetering on the tightrope between acceptable performance and high mpg, the 1.6 turbo delivers 178 horsepower at 5700 rpm and 184 lb-ft of torque at a reasonably low 2500 rpm. Assigned to towing a substantial mid-size sedan, these aren’t prepossessing output numbers, but if the driver keeps the turbo spooled up—the antithesis of driving for high mpg (we averaged just 22 mpg)—there’s enough snort to make the Fusion a reasonably effective ally for dissecting day-to-day traffic.
Effective, however, only applies once the car is moving. Getting the 1.6 Fusion automatic swiftly out of the starting blocks requires some skilled brake-torqueing to get a chirp of wheelspin—the better to minimize engine bog—but even then the driver’s danger of acceleration blackout is nil: In this case, 0 to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 16.2 seconds at 86 mph. In a recent comparison test versus the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and Volkswagen Passat, a Fusion 1.6 automatic was slowest of the group.
A 1.5-liter EcoBoost four that will come online later this year is likely to deliver similar performance as recorded here, as it offers the same horsepower and only slightly less torque than the 1.6, which will remain in the fold as a manual-only proposition. The 1.5 will be mated solely to the automatic transmission. (If you’re wondering why Ford will offer both the 1.5 and the 1.6 EcoBoost fours, it’s odd but easily understood—blame China and the Ford Escape.)
But beyond the lack of haste, and a bit more frustrating, the automatic’s upshifts are deliberate, and throttle-induced downshifts—when you want to get up and go in a hurry—are more so. In Sport mode, the driver controls gearchanges with a thumb switch on the upper left side of the shift lever. But while the transmission will hold a particular gear at the rev limiter (6500 rpm), up- and downshifts are still too relaxed, and the thumb-switch control is simply not satisfying. Nor is it as effective as paddle shifters. The function of the engine stop-start feature is less intrusive than most, although it can become a little tedious in stop-and-go traffic. But in any case, what we have with the 1.6 automatic is a chassis that’s faster than its powertrain.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED: $29,255 (base price: $24,515)
ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline 4-cylinder, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection
Displacement: 97 cu in, 1596 cc
Power: 178 hp @ 5700 rpm
Torque: 184 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 112.2 in
Length: 191.7 in
Width: 72.9 in Height: 58.1 in
Curb weight: 3474 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 8.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 22.9 sec
Zero to 110 mph: 31.6 sec
Rolling start, 560 mph: 9.0 sec
Top gear, 3050 mph: 4.3 sec
Top gear, 5070 mph: 5.9 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.2 sec @ 86 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 121 mph
Braking, 700 mph: 175 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.80g
FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 25/37 mpg
C/D observed: 22 mpg
*Stability-control-inhibited.
Continued…