dalesky

I think we all agree, if we live in a 'cold' state, Winter can really suck, and not just because of the mileage hit on our cars! When I moved South I sold or gave away 7 snow shovels and 1 large snow blower, not to mention a rubber squeegee made for mucking out barns, so that I could move the melting show and ice from my garage floor. Of course it would end up on my driveway, and freeze solid so then I had to use the large ice shipper to remove it from the drive. Such fond memories! Did I mention that Winter usually was close to 6 months long?

Still got my Mustang GT Convert, and I will replace it only with another one. Who gives a %hi$ about MPG with a GT?

Richard, I was not responding to anything you wrote regarding acceleration, but rather to another comment from someone else. Sorry for the confusion. Also, not meant to be critical or defensive, just my opinion based on my driving. Years ago I had a boss who said that there is no such thing as brutal honesty. It's one or the other, but not both. Honesty does not require being mean spirited, so I hope my posts fit that model. Your posts are definitely always in the spirit of the forum. I find that this forum is a great place for supportive and honest posts, with little to no negativity, and no sniping.

I love reading how members react to their cars. I have never had a car that had so much "emotion" attached to it. Have to admit that I like having a car that rewards my good driving habits, and I could really give a #hi% about whether I am accelerating too slowly to suit someone behind me. I don't drive it like grandma, but if I have the opportunity I do hypermile it at times, and the results are highly satisfying. As I have mentioned in other posts, my mileage since the update a couple of months ago has increased noticeably, and stayed at or very near the EPA figures. I also frequently exceed those figures on trips of under 25 miles. It is often a surprise that the car has done that well. I don't agree about acceleration tho. The combined torque on this car is more than adequate to keep up with many sedans and SUVs. I know, I have tried full accell a nmber of times, and pulled away from lots of cars. I was not, nor were they, drag racing. I'm just saying that I feel the power is very adequate for a hybrid. Tried a Prius? Not the same. Freeway mileage is not this car's forte. City mileage is though, so since I drive few freeway miles, I absolutely am satisfied, and understand if someone who drives a lot of high speed miles isn't.

I was reading through some material from a recent car show (2 weeks ago), and noticed a couple of interesting things. In the Ford all model brochure, every single vehicle shown also had the EPA mileage figures showing, prominently and separately from other text. I noticed that most manufactures did not do this, and in fact some put nothing about mileage for most vehicles. And, And, Ford is making great looking cars as well! Every time I see a “P”, especially the new small one or the V, I think about what mediocre cars they are, with the exception of mileage and reliability. Ford should have gone full speed ahead years ago with their hybrids. They don’t compromise any areas of what make cars fun to own and drive. Even their Transit Connect business van stands out. Others of course were often all about more power, while not trying to improve mileage apparently. At least, there was no attempt to show that there were improvements. As long as gas prices are down the adverts in the paper don’t show mileage either usually. Which vehicles sell best when prices for gas are low? Trucks and large SUVs. Here on the forum, most of us are very happy with the fact that we are driving a car that really gives up nothing in the way of features, and lets us save some significant money when buying gas. I have been amazed the last 2 months, that I can almost effortlessly hit 50MPG or even close to 60. Admittedly, I live in a warm climate and it is very flat most places. I also don’t drive during busy traffic times most of the time. Still, even with quite a bit of stop and go, once I get on a roadway with a speed limit of 55, my whole trip will average close to or over the EPA figure. Also in this literature I came across an interesting article about how the EPA tests cars, and the fact that they really test only between 10 and 15 percent of all vehicles that are submitted to them. The rest, and we don’t know which ones they were, are calculated and submitted to the EPA by the car manufacturers. All of the cars tested by the EPA, as most of us know, are tested under conditions that are not actually on a road, with other cars, and with varying weather conditions. There are no tests for a car with 4 people in it. There are no tests for rainy conditions, or snowy roads. No tests for the effect of weight at all, which is more significant the lighter the car is generally. They don’t have different types of drivers, some with an “egg on the pedal”, some with a “lead foot”. Some who tailgate, some who coast as much as possible. The more consistent we are with how we drive, the better our mileage. That’s really my point. We have a car that is designed to give great mileage, and it is largely up to us to work at achieving it, or not. It’s up to us. Kudos to Ford for what they are doing.

Try mounting 4 'spare tires' and see it that changes anything! Seriously tho, since Ford has both 17 and 18 inch tires, I think it would make little to no difference with size the car uses. Great question tho.

I have not noticed any issue with loudness. I think they are very quiet actually.

I like using the lane minder system when on cruise control. It does a good job of alerting me, and honestly I don't know how it works sometimes. Seems like magic. On curves it can be quite noticeable. Auto headlights, auto high beams and wipers- what a package!

Don't tell me that the mileage ratings aren't real world! Oh the humanity!! At least the seat heater is helpful. I miss the steering wheel heater on my previous car, which was amazing.

Listen, all you folks in Minnesnowta and environs North- if the worst you get is an upper 30s average just think of what many other regular sedan drivers are getting now. And, you still have a great driving car, right? Just trying to do my bit to cheer you up. If it helps, we did have one night last week where we had a little frost early in the morning. :-)

Those figures seem wildly optimistic, and remembering how cars are tuned for the EPA loop, I don't have much faith in them The pics of the vehicle seem electronically produced, not of an actual car. I know it's not in production, but you can say anything you want to before you have an actual car to drive. I haven't read any actual test info on this vehicle either. In contrast, the Subaru Crosstrek "hybrid" gets a whopping 33mpg highway! Not the same type of vehicle or hybrid either. In fact it is unique in the world of hybrids, and I don't think it should even be called one. Considering what the mileage on our Fusions is, when not using any assist, this SUV from VW seems pretty pie in the sky.

oops

Got the update some time ago (couple of months) and in the past 3-4 weeks I have been easily exceeding the 47mpg figure. I am getting mid to high 50's with some regularity, and I am not trying to hypermile the car. I think I have gotten better at driving a hybrid, after 6 months, and I am not using air at all lately, or heat for that matter most of the time. Still, a 15 to 18 mi trip and a 58mpg average? I know some members have read how much I like this car, but now it seems magical at times. I also can easily get no ICE at 60 or better mph. Most of the time I admit my mileage is around 46 mpg or less, but if I drive very sensibly I can count on some pretty nice mileage. I still don't love the voice nav, but I have the SYNC update loaded on a flash drive and I'm hoping after I install it that will improve.

Got the update some time ago (couple of months) and in the past 3-4 weeks I have been easily exceeding the 47mpg figure. I am getting mid to high 50's with some regularity, and I am not trying to hypermile the car. I think I have gotten better at driving a hybrid, after 6 months, and I am not using air at all lately, or heat for that matter most of the time. Still, a 15 to 18 mi trip and a 58mpg average? I know some members have read how much I like this car, but now it seems magical at times. I also can easily get no ICE at 60 or better mph. Most of the time I admit my mileage is around 46 mpg or less, but if I drive very sensibly I can count on some pretty nice mileage. I still don't love the voice nav, but I have the SYNC update loaded on a flash drive and I'm hoping after I install it that will improve.

It's a scfi cop show, set in 2048 I believe. There are a lot of fusions in the show, mostly blacked out with flat black paint and some interesting window treatments. The sound they make is kind of a growl, but not like a V8. May be simulating a turbo four, but there are hints of electric vehicles also. Haven't noticed that Ford is a sponsor.

Nicely done! Great sleuthing. Modern cars are so complex that the average service writer probably has little idea of the many integrated systems. This whole area of venting and purging, pressure and evaporative systems is amazingly technical. What would be nice for this forum would be a technician from Ford who maybe monitored topics or was available in one thread for complex issues like this "pump" noise one. I am going to suggest that to one of the Ford folks on Facebook. Again, thanks for the info.

I had this problem early on (almost 6 months ago now) and was advised to put the window down, hold the down button 2 seconds, release. Put the window up, hold 2 seconds, release.] This procedure has worked for me. It is not recurring lately, so I am not going to have the dealer assess or fix it. Good info tho on the TSB. It has only happened on my front windows BTW

Yes, let us know what you find out. I have heard it just than one time, when the car was quite new. BTW, yesterday, after a nice leisurely drive I came home and saw mileage of 51! I love this car.

I subscribe to that newsletter also and like it a lot. Also greencarreports.com is good. I participated in their new car survey this year and also one for J.D. Power this year.

I find MFT to be quite intuitive, but after saying that I have to say I am a tech person by nature and profession. I have a lot of patience for electronics, and think the learning curve is worth the time. Luddites need not apply for for many of the latest features on a car. On many cars in fact. My father in law sold his Lexus 2 years ago because of the amount of tech on it. It was simpler than the FFH I have now

Honestly, Consumer Reports is not all that and a bag of chips sometimes. To rate a car poorly for what is basically a communications device defies logic to me. Practically every other reviewer except CR likes this car a lot, and highly recommends it. Honey Badger don't care what they say!

The significant impact to NOT carrying a spare is real, and likely to be expensive. I like the tradeoff! Honestly, mileage is good enough that I am not going to worry about some additional weight vs an impact on mileage.

Many of my friends do not drive fast or accelerate quickly. They don't want or even notice a larger engine usually. I think for some it is an economic issue, where the money spent on gas just doesn't matter to them. Sure, they are impressed with my Fusion, but they want other vehicles. Maybe if some decent sized SUVs were available as hybrids they would sell. Maybe if the trunk space was not so compromised it would help too. As a country of drivers we are just inculterated to want speed, power, size and more of each of those every year. Can anyone think of any car model that gets smaller, not larger every new model? Not gonna happen is it? Engine sizes are finally getting smaller and 4 cylinders are becoming a standard. Turbo charge them and the power is impressive. Mileage improvements are starting to be a large factor. A hybrid does not prevent fast starts, tailgating, or speeding. Those are not major reasons why more people won't buy a hybrid. Let gas prices reach European levels and hybrid sales would skyrocket. Let diesel fuel costs go down to below gasoline and diesels would sell in far greater numbers too. Yes, to some degree a price differential is a factor, but many buyers realize there will be a payback with a hybrid that will result in savings overall if they keep the vehicle long enough. What I'm trying to say is that the issue is very complex, and there are no simple or single answers, but a lot of reasons, depending on individual needs, beliefs and ability to think about what is best for each buyer. The influence of advertising is huge, or manufacturers would not spend the amounts that they do to tell us what we "need" If we are being honest, how many of the people we know buy a vehicle based on good research, honest need, and with any concern for the planet?

I don't think tires are warranted by the car manufacturer

Nissan dealers stock them. New stock