Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium (2017)

Test Drive Notes Library

Pros
Good looks. The Fusion stands out in a sea of Camrys and Accords. If you’re looking for a mid-size, family car with some style, you’ll like the Fusion.
Very good handling. It’s almost sporty. Steering is precise and cornering is surprisingly flat. It’s got a good balance of handling and comfort.
Ride. Very good ride. Comfortable and composed over lots of types of road surfaces.
Quiet: In electric mode, the cabin is nice and quiet. Not so much in gasoline mode.
Mileage: We got a combined 38 mpg. And it’s a large car. That’s impressive. In fact, it alters your perception about mileage. When we looked at the instant mpg reading and it said 29.1, we felt a wave of disappointment. Only 29 mpg? I must be driving with a heavy foot! The disappointment lasts until you realize that you’re driving a comfortable, full size car in the city, on a cool morning, and getting over 29 mpg. EPA rates the Fusion at 42 mpg overall (43 City/41 Highway).
Range: After a fill up, the Fusion Hybrid’s range (how far you can go before needing to fill up again) was listed at a phenomenal 489 miles. We like electric cars, but this kind of range reminds us that hybrids still give you the best of both worlds…actually better than either world alone.
vSync 3: We love that’s it not Sync 2. It’s vastly improved, from what we could tell in our week-long test. Most importantly, it’s now not something you'll hate about your car. The controls are logical, and easier to use without driving off the road, or smashing your fist against the touch screen.
Price: Our loaded Fusion Hybrid Titanium stickers for just over $35,000. It’s a large car with great mileage, power leather seats, European-esque handling, a 12-speaker sound system, adaptive cruise control, pre-collision warning, pedestrian detection with automatic emergency brake assist, blind-spot monitoring and a bunch of other stuff.

Cons
The major flaw in the Fusion Hybrid is the harsh thrum of the gasoline engine. You start out in electric mode and everything is serene. Then the gasoline engine kicks in, and you hear something that sounds like a distant cousin of your old Ford Pinto. It’s not that it’s an awful sound, or that we couldn’t live with it for all the benefits of this car. But it’s noticeably crude on a car that’s otherwise very refined. And compared to a Prius, for example, it’s low pitched, gravelly and thrumming. You really notice when the gasoline engine is on or off. Job one for the next version of the Fusion Hybrid is to either make the gasoline engine quieter, or beef up the cabin sound insulation. .
It’s a pretty large car. If you’re looking for small-car maneuverability, you might think carefully. Plus, the interior doesn’t quite match the exterior in terms of size—some of the size is devoted to style. Rear seat room is certainly adequate, but not as roomy as you’d think for a car this long.
Visibility is limited by sleek styling. Fortunately, there’s a rear camera (standard on our Titanium version) and blind spot monitoring (optional) to assist you.
Reliability, historically hasn’t been as good as Toyota’s.