Before we get too confused, I’d like to make just one thing clear: we’re not talking about the UK Ford Fusion here – the Fiesta on stilts that’s driven only by OAPs. No, this is the US Ford Fusion, the large four-door saloon, and we’re testing it in hybrid guise.
Shouldn’t it look a bit more, well, futuristic?
Admittedly the Toyota Prius’s styling feels more radical and perhaps more in keeping with the cutting-edge tech within, but then looking ordinary is probably part of the point here: the Fusion isn’t attempting to attract early adopters, it’s trying to convince traditional families that a hybrid can work for them, too. Still, it does look a bit plain, like a 1990s Aussie Ford Falcon with a Saab-like mask grafted to the front.
What’s it like inside?
It’s very comfortable (especially with our car’s optional leather seats) and spacious both in the front and the back, and most of the plastics have that feel-good squish, not the unyieldingly brittle surfaces we’ve previously experienced in Ford’s US products.
Shame that the auto gearstick moves from P to D with such a cheap-feeling snick, and that the hybrid system cripples the boot: it’s already disappointingly small, then you realise that the hybrid system’s sandwiched up against the rear seats, so you can’t drop them – we failed to get a medium-sized adult mountain bike in there, and we removed both its wheels and seat!
How does it drive?
Very well. It’s amazing, actually, how different the Fusion feels compared with UK Fords. The DNA is just completely unrelated, yet, just as our Fords work brilliantly on our roads, so this Ford works brilliantly in the US. The Fusion is more of a relaxed, Merc-like experience than its sporty-but-supple Brit cousins. The steering is nicely weighted and progressive if slow, the chassis very supple if a tad rolly, the responses of the throttle and brake pedals somewhat sleepy. But in California’s 25mph zones and on the lazy rolls and coarse surfaces of its freeways it is perfectly judged.
