On Friday, December 17, automotive expert, Brian Moody and his wife packed up the luggage, two kids, snacks and booster seats for a chilly, three day, 1,100 mile trip starting at Ford’s World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan and ending at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Follow the Moody family as they put things like seat comfort, rear seat space, fuel economy and even the sound system to the ultimate test.
Day 2:
Some people become better looking and more charming the longer you know them, others – well, not so much. Thankfully, the Ford Fusion is really growing on us. Day 2 has the mighty red Fusion back on the road headed from Knoxville, Tennessee to Tallahassee, Florida and we’re really starting to appreciate some of the little things that are included in the Fusion SEL. The more we drive it, the more we like it.
Our car does not have a navigation system, instead we’ve been using our smartphone to navigate, check email, listen to music and make hands-free phone calls thanks to the Sync system. Not opting for the navigation system will save about $1,800. Getting it does have merit, but for those on a budget there are other ways to figure out how to get from here to there.
Our test car is equipped with the optional 3.0 liter V6 which adds $1,450 to the bottom line. Other options on our Fusion SEL include Red Candy Metallic paint for an extra $295 and the Moon and Tune Value package which includes a sunroof and 12-speaker Sony surround sound audio system. It adds $995 to the price of the Fusion SEL and is completely worth the money. Thankfully, heated leather seats, Sync, Sirius satellite radio, dual zone climate control and a tilt steering wheel with audio and cruise control buttons are all included in the SEL’s $25,000 price at no extra cost.
While the 3.0 liter V6 delivers a healthy 240 hp, it still manages to earn a respectable 20 mpg city, 28 highway estimate from the EPA. On one leg of our trip, we actually got 32 mpg thanks to plenty of highway driving. Our overall average is about 27 mpg including both city and highway driving.
To provide a complete picture of the Fusion, we’re actually going to swap our Fusion SEL V6 for a Fusion SEL with a 2.5 liter, four-cylinder engine when we arrive in Orlando. We expect overall mpg to go up slightly – check back soon for day 3 with the four-cylinder Fusion.
