Cobra348

Ummm, I've heard of retro styling but push-button gear shift? That's straight out of the '50s Chrysler products! To me, though it still looks like the exterior styling isn't finished on it. Mixed feelings.

What product and/or method would you recommend for cleaning a grease/dirt smudge right over the driver door on the headliner? I just noticed it the other day and it probably got there when the local mechanic swapped the Winter tires onto the FFH. I looked in both here and the Fusion Forum and saw recommendations on the Meguiars spot remover cloths but thought I'd ask if anyone else had other ideas? The area seems to be a grazing type of smudge rather then produced by actually grabbing the area. Thanks! PS - Winter has already set in ... cooler weather and the Winter tread has already dropped 3 MPG off a tank and .4 from lifetime! Bummer

Yeah. the other morning the hard frost was cleared LAST from the windshield. The mirrors and rear window were clear long before the front! I do love the heated seats and steering wheel! Glad I got them!

I can't speak to number 2, but this morning it was 30 and the FFH had a nice heavy frost all over. I remote started which kicked the ICE and climate control into high gear. ICE did run even though the HVB was full ... for about 8 miles. I had max defrost on only to clear the glass, then went auto on the climate and used seat and steering heaters. Based on my experience today I think this is normal operation in the colder temperatures.

It was also what his bullets were made from.

Back in the days of text gaming - MUCKs, MUDs, MOOs - I was a WizOp (gamemaster) in a MUCK I had written the story line for. While my in-game characters were pretty easy-going, my WizOp Cobra was not. He was the puzzle development master and for a couple of rather misguided players, the last stop before being booted out the door. While I've given up gaming in general, I do keep up on Ultime Online (UO) as I spent 12 years in that game and played the predecessor Ultima on my Atari in the '80s. The numbers in the screenie - very simple - birth month and year. Yeah, I'm that old.

The Fiesta and FOcus gas models made me sit up until I looked ... they are the SFE packages and in the Fiesta, that's a 1.0L 3-cylinder turboboost engine that is something like 123 HP vs 120 in the 1.6L 4-banger Fiesta. For the Focus, I'm not sure what engine is in the SFE. But both of thee must have something going for them somewhere.

Actually any of the defrost buttons activate the heated outside mirror (windshield, rear or max).

meanest - Bugatti Veyron and Lambo Aventador? And this is news ... how? <chuckle> Interesting.

The FFH runs Verdi Regency rims with factory Michelin tread for non-Winter, so right now the factory 17" rims are tread-less. :) Guess where the GY stuff will be mounted? My Fiesta is the same way ... two rim/tire sets.

Oh, good grief.. Last time I was in Hot Springs was the New Years they took the gambling out of town and shut down the casino (was a stern-wheeler on the lake), took all the slots out ... way back in the '60s. I was stationed at Little Rock at the time.

Jeez this was close ... Buffalo, NY (#49) is 156 miles from me to the West. Albany, NY (#43) is 177 East of me. How can I miss - being between two such congested - but not THAT congested - cities? I'm a winner all around I think.

The ones with the car ...

I know some will shudder as they do not like Goodyear, but I have had excellent service out of their tires ... and the road hazard warranty has saved me a bunch when I've used it. Now for my question ... I am considering the Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice WRT tires for use on the factory rims for Winter. Has anyone had practical experience with these on the FFH or similar vehicle? The local Goodyear Manager uses them on her Mustang, but that's got a slightly different drivetrain configuration! :) What I'm looking for is the most brutal Winter conditions you've used them in and anything you didn't particularly care for on them. I have not pulled the trigger ... in fact it appears Tirerack has the same thing for about $100 less than the store - including rebates. So I'm waiting to see if they'll price-match or if I should drop-ship to them! <chuckle> Any input - pro or con is appreciated. Tire size will be OEM 225/50-17. Tirerack Goodyear Ultra Grip link

Exterior styling is improved, but for me and the miles I drive a hybrid is the way I decided to go ... and I can't see me jumping from the Ford ship I'm on.

I love it! dadgum whippersnappers! :)

Adaptive cruise wasn't available or you didn't opt for it on the car? I cannot figure out how in the heck I ever drove without the adaptive part. Just highway cruising, I set it to 4 seconds gap and forget it ... knowing it'll kick off at 25 or so if it gets that low. I agree on holding to posted limits for the most part. Depending on the roads I might go to +5 MPH over limit but that's about it. Agree on the A/C. When we had the hot spell here (that never seemed to end) I'd use A/C to cool interior with the cooled seats on, then shut off the cabin air. Worked quite nicely if you have the cooled seat option.

See? There are advantages (disregard Washington, DC - it's hopeless) to living 'South of the Border' so to speak, eh? :) :happy feet:

I sent my girlfriend the original post and asked her input. Interestingly, she and I came to the same conclusion as here. One thing she did state was that because her Camaro has no CD, and she prefers Sirius over AM/FM, the lack of radio, etc in favor of only bluetooth is not something she would be willing to have happen. She''s a huge music junkie (several K tracks on her PC) and would be unhappy if at least radio in some musical form was available. In Winter she swaps her Sirius account to her Equinox which also does have a CD. Me ... I listen to Sirius ... from the 50s thru 90s to NPR and some other stuff. I also use the CD when that gets repetitive or I'm just not wanting it any more. I use my phone for other uses, dislike Pandora and Rhapsody any way. So I liken the infotainment situation to Windows. Although you may have the latest and greatest Windows, there is still a command shell based on 30+ year old technology called DOS. I've had trouble calls to tech support and that command window was used in every session for something or other. So technologies merge ... you use whatever floats your boat.

Yup - hardcopy and e-books. I have several hundred ebooks (courtesy Smashwords), about the same in paperbacks (with a dozen waiting to be read), and some hardcovers that I treasure - early Asimov, Herbert, McCaffrey, Tolkien and more - some over 50 years old.

There is a reasonably steep hill on one of the city streets here. I use it to recharge the HVB by using ACC to control my descent, thus kicking in regen. One area is as you describe ... the pavement drops off and then rises again. If I guide around that spot, nothing happens, but if I hit it during the regen run, I get the same feeling and in fact the traction control light comes on and off quickly. It does feel as if it is unintended acceleration but it is the lack of traction for a fraction of a second. I can reproduce it very easily ... and it's a straight run ... no turning needed to reproduce.

I dare machoman ... put that phone down for 24 hours. no pandora/spotify+bluetooth. Use the radio/Sirius like 'old fashioned folks'. Look at the television for your weather, if you can dope out the remote and channel listing. Learn the underpinnings of what you praise and you will appreciate what all the 'old fashioned folks' like me and others here have done to make your life easier. Not only do I PREFER to use Sirius and sometimes AM stations for traffic reports on the highway, but I still have vinyl records and a turntable to play them on. They're all converted to MP3 for my CDs but then I'm 'old fashioned'. BTW, have you noted that vinyl records are making a comeback somewhat? I do get what you're saying ... however after 40+ years in IT, I sort of dislike the old technology seemingly brushed off as useless or whatever. It made your phone possible.

I had concerns about swapping in the sway but was assured - and it's been dealer passed too - that as long as the geometry was not altered it was okay. If you go that route, I suggest keeping the OEM bar. BTW, the Steeda unit has grease fittings on its brackets/bushings so it will need checking after about the first 5K miles on it or so. However it's a full replacement for the bar and uses the factory ends to complete the installation. Under the hood is drop-fit and can be done in the driveway. Full instructions and parts are included as 2 of the bolts on the upper part of the towers get replaced with slightly longer ones to accommodate the mounting bracket thickness. For the hood struts, a slight rerouting of a wire harness and small chopping of some plastic was the only "hack". It was needed to get the right hood strut on its bracket: TBH, since cars got more complex than the carbureted ones I'm used to, I just get things done at a trusted shop. But Steeda supplies good instructions - with some pictures. The under-hood stuff can be done in the driveway as I mentioned, but the sway bar requires a lift. DONUT SPARE: I think that in that thread for the donut spare I linked in there is a discussion of using that setup with 17" rims and 18" rims. If I recall correctly, with 18" rims you will really want to use the donut on the rear, so if a front goes flat, swap the rear 18" to the front, then mount the 16" donut on the rear. Steering will be fine if doing that. The 17" setup should not experience too much of a geometry/steering issue though. BTW, that pic was taken only 4 days after getting the car. I had all the parts rounded up by delivery date and simply spent quality time with the local Goodyear folks to get it all done in one stop.

IMO I think they helped. I installed them because of what I felt was "wallowing" on a loaner gas model. I know "butt dyno" says the steering is improved from OEM.

Just about 6 months and almost 16K miles on my first hybrid as well. There's a wealth of info here, but the one that stuck in my mind and I followed right off was to grab the manual, sit in the car with it running and go through all the screens and buttons ... at least twice. During this session there will be a warning that the car will stop due to inactivity ... but simply press the OK button and continue. I added some things to my car - for ease of mind, tighter handling, etc. All up to you if you choose to do so as well. What I added was a 16" donut spare to replace the mobility kit - from this thread. If you do this (new parts) via the dealer, use the invoice part# for the pieces, get the tread from TireRack. Otherwise see if you can find the pieces from a '13 gas Fusion in a junkyard or used parts place. I also added Steeda strut tower brace and rear sway bar (replaces OEM) to the car to decrease flex and understeer that is common in FWD vehicles. I also added the Steeda hood struts as long as I was "under the hood" so to speak - eliminating the need for the support pole although it is still there just in case. I'll be getting some heavy Winter tread to use on the factory rims - we get a bit more snow in my area than in yours. I have a set of rims from TireRack with the factory Michelin tread on them for non-Winter usage. The car is a dream to drive and a devout Camaro owner I know remarked this past weekend how well the car handled the twisty roads up in the Adirondacks - at speed. Coming from her, that's a real compliment! Enjoy the car ... ask questions, lots of knowledge in here - written and in someones head!