marklally

I have a 2013, I gave up on the navigation system long ago, I have updated it twice, the same errors exist on the updates as the older cards. I feel that if it was ever wrong, it will be forever wrong. Sync it with your phone and use that navigation, or you will be forever pissed. Yes it was 1K blown all to hell. You should be able to buy a phone charger that plugs into the 12V port that will keep you phone charged.

Thanks for posting your observations of the current collision warning system as it compares to the old system. It's very disappointing to hear that Ford did not take this opportunity to improve the false warning frequency; this is a major oversight in my opinion.

Thanks for the info, please keep the observations of your 2017 coming.

A camera may be present in your car as I assume that you have the lane assist feature ? (given that your car is a titanium), but my SE does not have a camera, as I don't have lane assist (but I do have adaptive cruise control). I believe that the camera and the radar have not worked together until the 2017 model year. My understanding is that this is what makes the auto-braking possible. I'm still hoping that some 2017 owners share their experience with the collision alert system.

Good news, I have confirmed that the 2017 Fusion does indeed have auto-braking when equipped with adaptive cruise control, the auto braking works whether the ACC is engaged or not http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/ford/fusion-4-door-sedan/2017 My current FFH has adaptive cruise and collision warning. This system quite often gives false collision warnings because it detects that I am closing fast on a vehicle that is in front of me, but it does not realize that such vehicle has already turned out of my path; it is quite annoying. I keep the system on because I do realize that one day it may not be a false alarm. My question to the current 2017 owners is : Does the fact that a camera is also a part of the system now (in addition to the radar) , does the new system eliminate or at least reduce the frequency of the collision warning false alarms ???

From your description, it's sounds as if this system has no meaningful (to me) improvement over the system that is in my 2013; if this is the case, I guess I will be waiting a while longer to trade. Thanks for the reply.

I have a 2013 FFH SE that I am seriously considering trading for a 2017 due to the fact that I absolutely loathe "my ford touch". I also really like the fact that they got rid of the conventional shifter ( I always thought it was a huge waste of space) and gave it more storage. I have told myself that my next car would have a true auto-braking system and I thought a first that the 2017 did not have this system available ( I'm still not convinced it does). Ford seems very vague about the capabilities of the auto-brake system on the 2017 Ford Fusion. My questions for those who own a 2017 ( or anyone else who knows for sure), Is the system capable of applying the brakes if the adaptive cruise in not engaged? Is the system capable of bringing the car to a complete stop? What are the known limitations of the system? It seems that in the Ford advertising, auto-braking is treated as just a foot note. Any answers will be appreciated.

Please keep the updates coming.

No, I'm not concerned. The system that I am talking about would require an additional sensor to compliment the radar that the adaptive cruise uses ( a camera most likely). The system would also require a great deal of code, but I'm confident that Ford could develop a good system, considering how well the adaptive cruise works using just the radar.

I did see that I spelled " braking" correctly once and once incorrectly, my bad. My current Fusion has adaptive cruise, and yes, I am very aware that it will brake automatically when cruise control in engaged. It's because of this fact that I know that I want a system that will do this even when the cruise control is not engaged. I was once in a situation when the car applied the brakes quite hard before I was even aware that there was a potential collision (I was distracted by other traffic), It was at that point that I contemplated what might have happened, had I not had the adaptive cruise engaged. This is why I want my next car to have an active auto braking system that is always on. The current collision alert system has only been a distraction to me so far, it has alerted on MANY occasions; only once has it sounded off when there was a potential collision, and I was already aware and in the process of braking; every other time is was detecting a car that was turning out of my path and was not a potential collision at all.

Okay, I see that the good looking front end comes on the S thru Titanium trims, so the Fusion is back in the running for my next car. Ford has seemed to fix the cars biggest flaws also, like "my ford touch" and the real estate stealing gear shifter; I could never understand why car manufactures are still wasting space with these useless objects (unless it's a manual transmission of course). My only two hang up's now is (per the configure tab) the fact that they force you to endure leather seats to get adaptive cruise, for me, this is a deal killer. The only thing that also gives me pause is that the car still does not have auto braking collision avoidance. The adaptive cruise system ( which has been available for four years now) seems to have about 75% of the needed hardware and software to run such a system (i'm guessing a camera will be needed also) it makes me wonder what is taking so long for Ford to come out with this. Ford has already committed to making this standard equipment and Subaru and Mazda have already made it available. Does anyone out there know when Ford will be releasing their own REAL collision braking system?

try this: www.oemautopartsco.com/products/myford-touch-sync-2-to-sync-3-upgrade I looked at this, if included a whole new center stack with tactile buttons and a intuitive HVAC control layout, I would buy it. At 2k, it's too pricey for me to just upgrade to sync 3. As far as the new 2017 front end. I like the headlights ( as long as they incorporate some LED driving lights). The main grill shape is okay ( current version is better) but the egg crate design looks very cheep, and you can see the radiator. The lower part really turns me off, the oversized fog light bezels look very cheesy, the grill opening between the fog lights is the biggest mistake in my opinion.

I was strongly considering trading in my 2013 because of my utter distain for my ford touch ( I normally keep a vehicle until the wheels fall off), but I am very disappointed by the new front end, what where they thinking ?

I'm pretty sure the HVB uses cabin air to cool, so nothing in the trunk should interfere.

Install the sway bar ASAP, it's a night and day transformation.

I haven't heard an answer as to what the root problem is, but the fix seems VERY simple to me... Program the controller to keep the LVB at a proper state of charge; this seems to be such a no brainer, I just cant understand why Ford has not done this. I will say this again, it would seem that whom ever is in charge of deciding these parameters is treating the LVB like it is a lithium ion battery also. I really do wish our Ford rep would investigate this and chime in on the conversation.

I live in a rural area, so my trips are usually 20 miles of more; I also use the climate control sparingly and I drive very little at night, so I would say that I am less demanding on the LVB than a great deal of people. I am normally a person that drives a car until the wheels fall of, but as I could not imagine living with the "my ford touch" system for that period time, I decided that I would be trading this car for a newer one when they improved the interface system to one that is acceptable. Because of my experience with MFT and what ford has decided to do about this BS situation and even though I have been driving nothing but Ford's since I started driving ( I am 50 now) I will be looking at the competition the next go around. The 2016 Malibu hybrid looks very interesting.

The battery SOC was at 50%, hence the BS message. The new programing installed today is what will allow it to go to 30% before activating the BS message. The car is driven regularly and I do not sit long in the ACC mode very often at all. I charged the battery today to a full charge since Ford's answer to the problem is to lower the BS message threshold. I just find in incomprehensible that Ford considers a LVB SOC at just over 30% to be a normal condition. What I can't understand is why Ford would not want to keep the LVB at a high state of charge, it's just a matter of programing and for the life of me, I don't see the down side.

I took my car to the shop today because of the BS message on the display almost every time I cut the car off. The LVB was replaced about a year ago at the same time the TSB for the D/C to D/C inverter controller was preformed. As stated earlier by someone else, the new update is not to keep the LVB charged at a higher rate, but instead, to lower the threshold for the BS message from the old 50% SOC to now only 30%. This is actually on a printout I received from the Ford dealer. I know from my old mechanic days that having a lead acid battery at a low SOC significantly degrades the life span of the battery. Is the LVB in our cars a different chemistry that the typical lead acid battery??? It would seam that the engineers who designed this system are treating the LVB as if it was a lithium ion battery also. Can someone PLEASE explain to me how this is a good idea ?

I agree that CR shouldn't have written off the whole car because of the MFT; but given the fact that you can't get what should be standard on a car of this class, like a back-up camera or navigation system without buying the MFT, I kinda see their point.

The Continentals PureContact's are apples to oranges compared the the GY LS2's. I really have to wonder why Ford put the Goodyears on these cars to start with ( this means all titanium trims), given how much better our cars handle with the Continentals. I'm thinking that every car magazine that tested a Titanium Fusion would have given it a much better rating if it had come with the better tire from the factory; I'm guessing that if Tire Rack is selling the LS2's for eighty something dollars that Ford was probably paying less the 60 dollars for the Goodyears. I can't give a definitive rating on the gas mileage difference yet, given that it has been raining here most of the days that I have owned the Continentals, and we all know that heavy rain plays havoc with our gas mileage, but guessing from the few dry runs that I have had, I would say the mileage will be better than before. Between the new tires and the new rear sway bar and front strut bar I installed, this is probably the best handling and best riding car I have ever driven, it's hard to tell that the car is actually driven by the front wheels.

I installed the Continental PureContact 235/45/R18 about a week ago. I run 34psi as per the sticker on the door. I was torn between buying the Pirelli P7's or the Continentals but settled on the PureContacts because of the better wet traction rating. I have since driven in both heavy rain and dry conditions and I am very pleased with my decision. Between these tires and the Steeda rear sway bar I installed a few months ago, the transformation has been incredible. To have a car that looks this good, rides this smooth, handles this incredible and still averages over 43mpg is amazing. If the infotainment/HVAC control system is this car wasn't such a horrible blunder, this would be the perfect car.

Yes, I didn't expect that the ride to be any worse on good roads, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the ride on uneven payment didn't seem to degrade either, but to be fair, I haven't hit any potholes yet. The car does understeer quite a bit less now and this suits my driving ability much better; the car can be tossed much easier now, just as Waldo suggest. I believe I have about 10k miles left on my OEM LS2 goodyears, for tires that are rated so poorly, on my car they seem to do a very good job, when they do wear out I am leaning towards the Continental PureContact's or the Pirelli P7's; both have very good ratings, I wish there was some reviews on this forum as to how both of these tires do on our particular cars. I didn't expect that the strut tower brace would have a great deal of effect on a car that is so stiff to start with, but for the price of the unit, I figured that it was worth it to me for even a small advantage.

I installed the strut tower brace and the rear sway bar on mine the other day, it's a huge improvement. I couldn't expect a car to handle any better than this while maintaing such a good ride.

A few days ago I installed the Steeda strut tower brace and larger rear sway bar; I can not speak as to how the two items perform individually, but as a pair, I can attest to the fact that the improvement is amazing. I took my girlfriend on a winding road this morning that we took just last week and she stated that she felt much more confident this time, even though I made sure that we where taking the curves at the same speed as before. I felt the my FFH was a great handling car as it came from the factory with the 18" wheels and the LS2 tires, but now it is better than I could have ever hoped for, I just love it. I have tried to determine if the ride is any harsher on different road surfaces, but after much testing, I just can't say for sure one way or another, so I guess that I am saying that the answer is "no" to that. I installed the strut tower brace myself in about 5 minutes, but since there was now central location to jack up the rear of the car as a whole, I took it to a local garage and we installed the rear sway bar together on the rack; I would not recommend trying to install the sway bar by yourself on the ground, it would be very frustrating, but doable. The strut tower brace is $120 dollars and the rear sway bar is $150 dollars, money well spent in my opinion.