237 is better than my WRX puts out stock. I wonder if the HP inflation will ever plateau. I sure wish my WRX got 37mpg rather than 25, so ford seems to know what it's doing with the 4 cylinder turbos these days.
Could not wait to get to the Ford display at the Cleveland Auto Show to check out the new fusion. There were 2 on display. One on the turntable and one on the floor. LOCKED? How could this be! Could not even get inside the thing. Come on ford I just finished sitting in a 2012 corvette convertible and a $112,000 benz! That being said the fusion looked better in person than on line and will be waiting for it at the dealerships. Nice lines and good power/fuel economy. Ford is stepping it up.
Test drive the Fusion before buying the Camry or Accord. The quality and driving characteristics are superior. If you like performance, the ecoboost option is sweet. Honestly, the car is a winner, I get a new car every year, had the Fusion sport and loved it.
I would agree that it's pretty much a race for numbers. My first vehicle was a 76 Dodge Aspen with a straight six that I think was rated at 95hp. Second car was an '82 Thunderbird with the 3.8 V6. 118bhp. That's 2hp more than the '86 Concours I had at the time. I think my '01 F150 V8 is rated at 260hp. It's a much heavier and air draggy vehicle and has no problem getting down the road at 80mph.
Holy X3/Rav4/Sorento/CRV Batman... That's actually not bad looking at all though... We have three 2009 Escape AWD with the 4 banger in our fleet... they have been VERY reliable... and average a shocking 25-27mpg in mixed driving... They were just under $20k too...
They say these are supposed to be available this spring. I'll be looking for a new car when I get back to SF at the end of March and really like these (they are currently branded as the Kuga here in Europe) I remember reading something once about how Ford wasn't going to bring the Kuga to the US but I'm glad to see that they changed their minds.
The CC is a fine looking car, but I sat in one at a car show last year. I'm only 5'8", and getting into the back seat, I whacked my head on the roof arch. It's so short back there, it negates the idea of a back seat. Seriously, a Porsche 911 has better headroom in back. Nice idea, but form has trounced function.
My company has about 3,000 ford few-zens in the co. car fleet, and they've been great cars. I have 42k on my 2011 now, and it's been flawless. Not my choice to drive it, but given free gas, maint./insurance, I"ll take it. I should be right at the 60k mi. replacement mark when the 2013's come around.
Go for the new fusion with the ecoboost I-4. I have driven the 2012 Camry and was not impressed with the performance. Its still the bland camry of the past.. The new 300c is impressive compared to the old one, though.
I spoke with the car's designer at the Detroit Autoshow. After noting that they ripped off Aston's front end, he said 'well, it's its own thing.' Nah. You ripped it off. It looks good, I admit. But ya ripped it off. I did hear a rumor that Aston Martin was suing over the similarities but that must have only been rumor.
Yes the laws are quite different in the UK. But, yeah, it would probably have to be an identical copy down to curve angles and proportions to have any legs, esp. with the kind of lawyer-power that Ford can throw around.
Remember Jeep/Chrysler suing GM over the Hummer's grille? I thought the suit was silly and the courts eventually agreed. They could have saved tons of money and asked me first. Stupid US automakers.
One of them did. Its like European royalty, doesn't really matter. I don't bother to keep track of who owns what. Eventually they will all belong to the Chinese.
Got any links on that??... Not being a wise-ass... its just that usually things have to be exact replicas or create confusion in the public's mind before designs end up in court...
Interior doesn't look to shabby either. My next car will have push button start. Seems trivial, but after having some rentals with the push button I really liked it.
Buy American.. Ford is the real deal and their cars are on par with the best that anyone is making and at a price that one can afford. It's that combo of an affordable price and an a state-of-the-art vehicle. And they are holding their Value as used vehicles. Who woulda thunk this just 4 or 5 years ago...Good for FORD!
