Test drive Ford Fusion 2002 - 2005 hatchback

Confusion of feelings

In the dispute about the characteristics of the new Ford universal (see No. 9, 2002), one of the colleagues abandoned in the hearts: it had to be called not Fusion, but Contrance, contradiction. Five months later, we had the opportunity to test the provision abilities of the godfathers of the new items ...

In the world of music, the English -speaking word Fusion means a mixture of rock and jazz. Fans of this style, mainly behind the ocean, are enough. Europe is more calm about this variant of musical eclecticism, but in no case rejects it.

The comparison is always lame, and yet, trying to conduct some conditional parallels when describing the exterior of the new car, we get the following: individual external elements of Fusion are very similar to similar details of the Ford Maverck SUV (let's leave the main donor of Fiesta), but at the same time before We are nothing more than a bicrobial hatchback-universal, not even dreaming of off-around. It seems that the designers of the European Ford branch, enjoying the results of their labors in the field of off -road equipment, decided to continue surveys in the field of cars, while maintaining the style and, of course, adjusting the size and technology for the aspiration of medium consumers. As a result, it turned out to be a quite pretty car with a rather original exterior for today. Point in favor of the Ford Europa design studio.

However, the ancients left us a lot of postulates about the appearance, one of which reads: they meet on clothes. Remembering this, we plunge into the study of the car from the inside.

The salon here, from the point of view of color scheme and shapes, is quite attractive. The driver's seat is quite low, approximately at the level of the knees of a standing person, and has, as they say, developed side support.

But it would be better if this support was not very developed. The fact is that if you didn’t hit the right place exactly and from the first call, the options are possible: the driver's seat pillow has a roller in the middle, tapering towards the back, which creates a lot of problems if you sit down with a distortion. As for the purpose of the roller, he hides the epicenter of the heater of the seat, including automatically, depending on the temperature of the surrounding air. Find a button or lever that can turn off forced heating did not seem possible.

According to personal sensations: from this function there is only inconvenience. Having warmed yourself in the cabin, especially in the presence of insulated trousers, you begin to experience flour. This is the case when pairs of bone breaks.

Looking around, yelling, adjusting the seat for yourself and setting up the mirrors, you can perhaps set off. The motor starts easily, even after frosty, with a breeze, night. The handbrake is where it is supposed to be. The pedals are somewhat small, but convenient, with the right moves. The location of the KP lever, apparently, is suitable for people of medium height or fans of sitting close to the steering wheel; For long -legged ones, forced to push the seat, the lever is far away.

The steering wheel likes the hands and does not interfere with the dashboard, the design of which, alas, seemed to us not quite thought out: the lower edge of the rim framing the information block of the car, when the driver was sitting back, covers the bottom of the scoreboard with outstretched hands and closes part of the indicators.

It is quite convenient to control the steering wheel switches, but the smokers clearly upset the location and shape of an ashtray, which is intended more for the passenger than for the driver. The cigarette lighter, on the contrary, will have to, in order to use it, will have to, cunningly dodging, go around the KP lever with his hand, thus penetrating the holy of the holy on the territory of the driver.

Touching. Stall. We get started ... It turns out that Duratec with a working volume of 1.6 liters per 100 horses, an analogue of which is installed on Focus, must be promoted at the start. With a slight press on the gas pedal and a sharp inclusion of clutch, there is a risk of stall.

The gearbox at Fusion is urban, even too urban. Despite the fact that the motor is spinning very well, I do not want to bring the shooter to Red Line once again. If the first two programs were slightly longer, there would have been no questions, especially since the baby and torque are enough for the baby. There are no complaints about the work of the KP lever. But with a vertical landing that provokes the design of the car, it would make sense to either bring the lever closer to the driver's seat, or endow it with a small slope.

In general, Fusion, which really is a new alloy, makes the impression nevertheless dual. The design of both external and internal is quite attractive, but the materials used look cheap. The layout of the cabin is more successful than the opposite, and the equipment seems to be sufficient, but for some reason there is no electric package in the standard.

After communicating with this car, a strange feeling of uncertainty remains: everything is, everything works, almost everything is convenient, but there is no completeness, integrity. Maybe the alloy did not fuse to the end? However, we do not insist on the objectivity of the assessment: we are too accustomed to other traditions and other ideals.

Technical characteristics of Ford Fusion 1.6 Elegance 5D

Body station wagon
Number of places, people. five
Equipped mass, kg 1199
Dimensions (length/width/height), mm 4020/1721/1534
Base, mm 2485
Maximum speed, km/h 178
Acceleration time to 100 km/h, from 10.9
Control consumption of fuel, l/100 km:
- City cycle 9.0
- Zagorod 5.3
- Mixed 6.6
Engine:
- Type gasoline, dohc
- working volume, cm3 1596
- Power, L.S. at min-1 100/6000m
- torque, NM at min-1 146/4000
- Power supply system
Transmission mechan., 5-speed
Tire size 195/60r15
Wheel suspension:
- Front Mcpherson
- The rear dependent
Brakes:
- front disk
- The rear drum
Price (in Europe, without taxes), $ 14612

Text: Igor Lagutin
 

A source: Magazine 5 wheel [03/2003]