patcic

Correct, that was my Plan B.

I want to thank everyone for their hard work in coming up with a spare tire solution for the Fusion Hybrid. I had a side wall blow out recently (no way to re-inflate) after hitting a pothole in Detroit and while waiting for the tow truck, told myself I would never allow this to happen again. I confirmed that the 2013 Focus and 2013 non-hybrid Fusion use the same donut spare tire with wheel part number CV6Z1015B that others have posted in this forum (I assume this would be true for the 2014 models as well). I went to my dealer and they brought around a used 2013 Focus, pulled the donut spare out and put it into the spare tire compartment in my Fusion and it fit just fine. I then went looking for a used donut spare and found a complete 2013 Focus donut spare tire (tire size 125-80-R16) for $100 + $30 shipping on eBay. I then followed the advice of this forum and found a 2001 Windstar jack, shipping included on eBay for $35 (Windstar models 1999-2003 are the same jack). Now, there were some early posts about possible concerns that the donut tire wheel rim would either not fit around the regenerative braking calipers or that once installed on the car the smaller tire size and the increased number of tire revolutions would cause problems with the car's traction control, braking or other systems. I called a Ford engineer friend and he said there should absolutely be no problems with what I was planning to do. Ford would not create a different or larger set of brake calipers for the Hybrid and he assured me the wheel rim should fit. He said the worst thing that could happen while driving with the spare tire on the car was that the computer system may notice the smaller tire and shut down the traction control. He said it would not damage the car mechanicals in any way. I jacked up the car, installed the spare on the passenger side front axle and took it for a spin. I got up to 40 mph with no issues at all other than a slight pulling when braking to the side of the car with the spare on it. I pulled out the Styrofoam tray in the wheel well in the trunk, put the donut tire in and jammed the jack next to it, nice and snug. I haven't heard it moving around at all. Problem solved! Thanks again to all who contributed to this issue. Shame on Ford for not giving buyers an option for a real donut spare. I hope this info is helpful to others here. Good luck!

I just got my FFH and have 300 miles on it. It's a base model built in early to mid January. I am coming out of a 2012 MKS, am in sales and I drive about 25,000 miles per year. What a difference in ride! Very quiet, more comfortable seats and it handles road imperfections with ease, very muted. The MKS was harsh, noisy, hard seats - not refined at all but this FFH is amazing! I am getting 41 to 42 mpg in 50/50 mixed driving - very impressive and very satisfied! It's relaxing to drive.