Test drive Ford Fusion 2002 - 2005 hatchback

Mixer

The off -road appearance for many is more important than all -wheel drive. However, this is not the only advantage of a conglomerate named Ford Fusion.
If it is no longer possible to shake the public inside the same class of cars, then you have to invent a new class. In recent years, we have already managed to accustom us to rapid sheds-universals with powerful engines, to bubbles, bubbles of golf class, but now Ford is introducing a new concept-Urban Activity Vehicle, a vehicle for vigorous driving on vigorous driving city. The new model was also invented by the speaker. After all, Fusion is an alloy, a merger. In music, for example, this can be a synthesis of jazz and rock. In Culinary, Fuzhn is the cook's ability to combine products incompatible at first glance: say, meat and fish. In the automotive industry with a Ford light hand, this is a fusion of the compactness of the car, the spaciousness of the station wagon and the appearance of the SUV.
FASTER, HIGHER, STRONGER. When I saw Fusion alive, I was somewhat disappointed - it seemed so little to me. In considerable pictures, he looked like a solid obstetric of the off -road, and nearby - just a parody of a jeep. He would still have a spare wheel on the back door, and there would be a spilled Grand Vitara in profile. But if you think about it, then this self-deception is also a find in its own way. If the designers made the windshield line more gentle, smoothly flowing into the hood line, then we would have stood in front of us. And so - the bodies of the body characteristic of the SUV plus huge wheels in the arches expanded with overlays, and the car owner feels the owner of a completely male car, only remotely resembling Ford Fiesta, from which Fusion grew up.
By the way, the fusion is 10.3 cm longer than the fiesta, 4.4 cm wider and almost 7 cm higher. And if these centimeters are not too visible outside, then they are felt inside, and even very much. Due to the vertical, juper planting, the living space in Fusion turned out to be simply huge. A high ceiling above the heads of the driver and the front passenger. At the back, even the holder of basketball limbs will not rest on the back.
The interior of Fusion is similar to the Fiesta salon, only here everything looks strict and even somehow harsh. Plastic and upholstery are dark gray. The steering column is regulated only in height. The designers strengthened the dashboard with four vertical lines that make it the impression that it is supported by belts. Of the tanks laid down in the class for trifles, Fusion can boast of a retractable trough under the front passenger seat and a small container above the central console. The latter, by the way, very successfully closes with a lid - and your eyes are not corrugated to strangers, and does not harm your eyes, reflected in the windshield. But the trunk of Fusion can be envied not only by the low-profile segment B, but also other representatives of the golf class. Its volume is 337 liters, and with folded rear seats - 1175 liters. The carrying capacity is as much as 463 kg. Moreover, for the convenience of loading these kilograms, the fifth door opens an absolutely flat platform - the rear bumper and the floor here are on the same level.
Above the waterline. The front seats in Fusion are adjusted in height, but even being at the bottom point, you significantly rise above the road. This is not only convenient for maneuvers in a dense stream, but also informs the driver and passengers of a certain illusion of security - kangaroos and bumers of trucks are not at the level of your head, but significantly lower. Although why the illusion? According to the designers, the fusion is not only well tailored, but also sewn tightly. If the same Fiesta above the front wheels - in a place that most often clings during urban operation - three body elements converge, then Fusion both bumpers are so reliably flowing into the wheeled arches that you can not be afraid when parking and scratches. The edge of the hood is visible perfectly, and huge wheels-in the standard configuration on Fusion are 15-inch alloy wheels-allow you to fearlessly maneuver near high borders.
They say that the appearance of Fusion designers spied on sports shoes. Indeed, in such sneakers you can turn into a laundry. The drive at the car, despite the formidable appearance, is exclusively front. A high clearance and strong suspension will allow you to not be afraid of bumps: a twisted beam with thick rubber bushings from behind, in front - an additional enhanced reptile stabilizer and more rigid springs.
City off -road. A 1.4-liter turbodiesel with a capacity of 68 hp can be installed on Fusion. or a familiar Focus model 16-valve gasoline engine with two configurations: 1.4 l with a capacity of 80 hp. and a hundredth volume of 1.6 liters. The last option was in my car.
From the scene, Fusion starts very briskly. Two programs are enough to integrate into the city stream, you only need to twist the engine.
First of all, we, of course, drove along the road broken by trucks to the construction site. The fusion cheerfully went out on the bumps, but the organisms of the driver and passengers did not experience any discomfort. The suspension was pierced only once, when we landed in the incomprehensible how the well appeared on this country, the cover of which was lower than the level of the road for twenty centimeters. But here we turned onto the street on which no one was disturbed by a five -centimeter layer of snow. Fusion immediately twisted, and after seconds he went sideways at all. The rubber is winter, the speed is small ... Apparently, a relatively high center of gravity at a short base affected. ESP for Fusion is an option, but 385 euros that they ask for it would give without hesitation.
   
We got out of the city. It's time to check whether the designers managed to cope with the vibration that Western journalists found during the tests of pre -production Fusion samples. They say that at high speeds from this vibration in the intra -sulfate of the rear view, nothing could be seen. After 140 km/h, the wind rustled in the wheel arches, but there was not even a hint of vibration. Two more points were pleasantly surprised. Even in the highest, fifth gear, Fusion was confidently accelerated - on the passport acceleration from 80 to 120 km/h takes 20.4 seconds. Plus, Ford designers managed to configure the off -road suspension of the car so much that even at solid speed, he confidently prescribes the maneuver specified in him.
CONGLOMERATE. In the West, Ford Fusion has been sold since last fall - there it costs only $ 800 more than Fiesta in the Ambiente configuration. Russian buyers will be able to evaluate the collapse from Ford Motor Co only at the end of this summer. A new mix is \u200b\u200balways a certain risk. After all, the synthesis of sounds can turn into cacophony, architectural forms - eclectic, herring with honey - vomiting. In our opinion, the recipe for a new car from Ford turned out to be very successful.
Text Dmitry Gronsky, photo of the author

Model/Modification Ford Fusion
Manufacturer/country Ford Motor Co/Germany
ENGINE
Type/number/location of gasoline cylinders/4/in -line
Working volume (cubic cub) 1596
Power, kW (L.S.) at about./Min. 74 (100) at 6000
Moment (Nm) at about./Min. 146 at 4000
TRANSMISSION
Front drive
Mechanical gearbox 5-speed
Brakes, safety
Front/rear disk/drum
ABS, assisting electronic systems EBD
Safety pillows Intelligent Protection system
Dimensions/mass
Length/width/height (mm) 4020/1708/1503
Wheel base (mm) 2488
Tires 195/60 R15
Equipped/complete mass (kg) 1151-1199/1605
The volume of the fuel tank (l) 45
Maximum speed (km/h) 178
Acceleration to 100 km/h (sec.) 10.9
Fuel consumption (mixed cycle, l/100 km) 6.6
The price in Moscow has not yet been determined

Additional equipment (price in Europe)
Climate control $ 1200
Heating of the front seats pillows $ 190
Telephone preparation $ 90
Luke $ 560

 

Source: "Autopilot"