So I had a problem the other day. While driving my car just… bugged out. The actual ‘driving’ experience didn’t change… no problem with the brakes, the engine, the cruise control, or the EV mode. But almost all of the accessories seemed to change.

I noticed it when the audio system changed. I was listening to the radio (FM) and it switched to the A/V input. At the same time the Auto Climate Control turned off and the temperature, which was set at a comfortable 69, set all the way down to LO. It only took me a moment to put those settings back to right and finish my drive, but I noticed the Lane Assist feature had also turned off. It had been almost five months since I played with that feature that I forgot how to turn it back on (figured it out the next day).

When I got into the car that evening for my drive home, I noticed two other features had been reset. I leave my fog lights on all the time, and they were off. I later noticed that the auto high beams setting had been turned off too.

Eventually I got everything set back up, but it strikes me as particularly strange. I’ve put almost 13,000 miles on this car and it’s never had a hiccup anything like this before. This one issue seemingly affected the audio, the climate control, the lane assist, the auto high beams, and the fog lights.

Does anybody have any idea what may have happened?

I got my car back in early February of 2015. Lane Assist was one of the features I wanted mainly because it was ‘new’. I had never owned a car with a feature anything like this and it sounded interesting. During those first few weeks of ownership I played around with it just as I did all the other new features (yes, I let the car bounce between the lines in a lane a couple times!). I really liked how it would simply ‘nudge’ the car back into its lane, but never felt that it was going to be something I’d use all the time.

Eventually it became one of the many background technological ‘things’ that the car had and I left on all the time. Only rarely would it actually be put into use and most of those times were when it was windy out.

I never gave it much thought… until last week. Last week for some reason the car turned the system off. I haven’t played with the Lane Assist for almost five months now and forgot that it COULD be turned off. I only noticed it was off because I didn’t see the lane lines on the left side of the dash. When I tried to remember how to turn the Lane Assist back on, I couldn’t figure it out. I looked in both the dash menus and the MyFord Touch menus, but couldn’t find the setting. Obviously I couldn’t find any ‘on/off’ switch there and finished my drive without it. The next day I was hoping it would have just turned back on, but no beans… it was still off. So I drove to and from work without its assistance. Only when I got home and did a quick google search did I find the button on the end of the turn signal stalk. It came back on without issue and has worked fine since.

For that trip and a half though it wasn’t there. And you know what? I really missed it!

I didn’t realize just how often in my drive that I would feel that little ‘nudge’ to get me centered in my lane. I say centered as I don’t feel that I’m ever close enough to wandering out of my lane, but I do tend to ‘hug’ the fog line. Going around curves is where I feel it most often, and missed it the most when it was gone. The system is obviously not perfect. Yes, it can miss the lines even on the best of roads. Yes, it can sometimes see a line where one doesn’t exist (mainly when one lane is splitting into two or two lanes are merging into one). But even when it nudges and vibrates the wheel I never feel that I have to ‘fight’ it… I just have to use slightly more effort. I’m never afraid the system will push me into danger or prevent me from moving out of danger. With those shortcomings I’ll never fully rely on the system. Ultimately I’m still driving my car and am in control, but it’s a sweet comfort when it is on and I was acutely aware when it wasn’t on at all for a day and a half.

BTW, my brother purchased a new Chevy Traverse last month. He was excited that it came with Chevy’s Lane Departure Warning system. When he told the salesman about my Fusion’s Lane ASSIST (mentioning that it would nudge you back into the lane), the salesman told him that no car does that. HA! I love that even with Chevy’s system on his Traverse, my brother is still jealous of mine! And after driving around in the Traverse, I’m reminded how much I LOVE that my Lane system doesn’t beep at me.

These modern cars have so many beeps that it’s becoming annoying. If Ford’s system beeped, I’d turn it off and leave it that way. The wheel’s vibration (feeling like you are running over rumble strips) is the perfect indicator of what exactly is happening.

Hey beejaycee, welcome to the forum and to your new HyTi (Hybrid Titanium).

A buddy of mine has a Volt and we'll often talk about how mixing the features of our two vehicles would produce one of the best cars ever. To answer you questions, so far as I know there is no 'more aggressive' regen braking option. Where the Volt's system is desgined to get you the most return on your regen, the FFH was designed to mimic the feeling of a regular automatic transmission. To get the most out of your regen you'll actually have to use the pedal. And I don't believe there is an option to have the doors automatically lock when you walk away. You'll have to tap the door handle to lock the doors on your way away from your car.

Enjoy your new ride!

With everyone wanting their own color represented, is there any way that the forum could display one of several random pics? I had a blogger blog once and did that with a gadget/widget.

I found this site 2 days after I purchased my car.

A couple observations. I now have over 10,000 miles in Ginger. Her Summer fuel economy is impressive and meets my desire (i.e. better than the Focus); between 41 and 46 mpg. My last fill up was my best. 522 miles, 11.422 gallons, 45.7 mpg. Using the AC does have an affect, but not nearly as much as wind or even rain. While the heated seats (and steering wheel) in the winter allowed me to heat the cabin less, the cooled seats don't seem to give as great an effect. I believe it's because the cooling effect doesn't spread as easily... it stays focused between my thighs and lower back.

I have been keeping track of the FFH's reported fuel economy as well as my hand computed fuel economy for 16 fill ups now (about 8000 miles). Enough that I can start playing with the numbers.

A quick reminder, I do try to fill up at the same pump at the same gas station whenever I can. I try to fill up in the same manner all the time. While there are differences of opinion on the methodology (stop filling at the first click, pump at full speed, slowly increase the pressure, top off for two clicks....) I believe consistency helps alleviate those differences.

Out of 16 fill ups, the car's reported mpg has been high 12 times. It's ranged from only 0.5% high to 9.4% high. When it has been lower, it's been 1.8%, 0.3%, 2.5%, and 1.1% low. When I average all the differences up it's an average of 2.8% high. When I computed these numbers for the Focus I did so on an old spreadsheet. I'd keep the receipts for every fill up and update the spreadsheet as needed. Once I had it's reporting error (it was about 5% off!) I stopped recording it and just used the car's computed mpg. Now that I've been using fuelly for 24 fill ups it's become habit... so I'll keep using it and keep updating the numbers as necessary.

The car is saying I have a lifetime average of 41.4 mpg. Fuelly is saying 39.1 mpg for the same period. That's about a 5.9% difference, but the car's average wouldn't include remote starting the car in winter, while fuelly does.

Putting all of these numbers into one big pot and stirring them up equates to me being very happy. I'm happy with the overall fuel efficiency (better than the Focus), and I'm happy with the reporting error (2.8%).

One general question I have... how exactly does a car figure out it's mpg? The obvious math seems simple enough; miles driven divided by gallons of gasoline used. The miles driven is easy enough to measure with the odometer, but how does it calculate gallons of gas used? Is there a flow sensor measuring how much gasoline is pumped? Is it computing based on how much gasoline is in the tank? I ask because I'd like to know where the errors come in. Obviously there are many weak points when doing the hand calculations... which station, which pump, which pumping method, temp at time of pumping... but what are the weak points for the computer? I'm not asking because I want to work on eliminating those weak points. I'm just curious.

Both are made in the USA so you can't go wrong with either.....

Hmm... I thought Weathertech was made in the USA too. While I was out shopping today I took a closer look and noticed this: Made In Germany

I have the weathertech deflectors and have had no problem with them. It did take about a week to get fully seated and not activate the window down safety feature.

One thing I noticed in the pics posted by thavil and Cobra is the area near the mirror. The weathertech seems to flow down and cover that area. I've noticed water flowing over that area in the rain and wonder if the AVS ones are going to give you the same protection.

I added a pic to highlight what I'm talking about.

 

CCalvinN, you probably are aware of this but beginning with the 2015 FFH you can configure the right side information display to display your fuel history. I configured mine that way. I then configured the tach and engine temp in the MyView but I recently switched the tack to be the "Accessory Power" (Indicates electrical power demands from your vehicle’s accessory systems).

Tex,

Yeah, I'm fairly sure we're talking about the same thing. The fuel economy or fuel history shows a running bar graph over a period of time. I have mine set at the 30 minute mark as my commute is just about an hour.

As for the left screen, my MyView is the empower with Trip 1. As I always reset Trip 1 at fill up I like comparing the miles driven with the miles to empty.

I believe the HD radio is part of the MyFord Touch system.

Well, I took delivery of my 2015 HiTy this morning. I am a bit overwhelmed at this point. The salesman was very patiant in going over everything multiple times, but my head is swimming with everything this car has and does. I am sure over time I will learn it and get used to it, but right now I have kind of an empty feeling of did I get too much of a car?

Take out the differences in driving a hybrid compared to a plain-jane car, and you still have a lot of customizable techy things to get used to. I believe if you try to get used to it all and get the absolute most out of each and every feature all at the same time it will be VERY overwhelming. What I suggest is taking each techy piece that catches your eye (or hand, or foot...) and learn about it. Use your manual, trial and error, and most especially this forum as ways to find out what works best for you.

I was in the same wide eyed, YAY mode for a few weeks. But over the first few days/weeks I slowly learned how I wanted each of my dashboard screens set (Myview with empower on the left, fuel economy over 30 minutes on the right), and how I wanted the MyFordTouch screen set up (leave it in default four quadrant mode). After about a week of normal cruise, I read up on the advantages/disadvantages of ECO cruise (now on all the time). I didn't read up on the BLiS or Cross Traffic Alert until the first time it beeped at me. I learned a lot about the NAV system a few days before my first long trip. I learned about the lane assist a few weeks after buying the car when I first felt it nudge me back into my lane. On and on... feature by feature.

I've now had the car for about five months and I'd say I'm 'comfortable' with all the techy features. They're all amazing, but they're also just part of the entire package. And I still stop by hear and read up on what everyone is doing or learning about their FFHs.

Most of all... just sit back and enjoy your new car. It's awesome!

That's a good idea and I'll give it some deeper thought. I actually want that dark look though... I think it makes just about any car look better to have a dark rear window and dark tint all around.

 

 

Ding ding, this is the correct answer. Ford has changed the decel rates in the 2016 to be more "robust". Not enough people out there are able to get that 100% braking score because they start braking too late, so giving them a little more coasting decel means they will start braking at a lower speed and thus recover more energy. Nothing has actually changed technically, its just that now coasting gives you the same decel/regen as a light drag on the brakes did in the 2015 and earlier. It's all phsycological, if you were getting 100% brake scores in the 2013 you'd be getting the exact same amount of regen as a 100% score in the 2016.

That makes sense to me. Both a friend who drove a Prius as his daily driver and a friend who drives a Volt as his daily driver both asked if the Fusion had regenerative brakes as it felt so smooth while coasting. I personally like the 'less robust' feeling as it feels more like a regular car. I'm sure it wouldn't be anything worth complaining about if I had the more 'robust' regen, but I'm happy enough without it.

Miles per gallon would be the miles you have traveled (504.7 in your example) divided by the gallons of gas used.

As murphy said, all miles are generated by gasoline whether they are regular miles, EV miles, or regen miles. The gasoline ran the engine to charge the battery. The gasoline propelled the car that gave you the momentum that the regenerative brakes used to charge the battery. I supposed if you wanted a miles traveled while the engine was running per gallon you could subtract the EV miles to get that number, but your MPG would drop from ~45mpg to ~22mpg if you did that. I can't imagine that being a useful number to have.

MPGe (Miles Per Gallon gasoline Equivalent) is just a measurement of power when it's not supplied by a gasoline. According to wikipedia, 33.7 kilowatt hours (121.32 megajoules) of electricity is equivalent to one gallon of gasoline. Again, since we only use gasoline in your hybrids to gain energy and therefore miles, it's a standard that we don't need to use.

Fusion is indeed a looker. I do also like Accord's serious look and its LED headlights.

 

Ahh... see that's why I always want to put 'eye of the beholder' in those statements as I personally dislike Accord's serious look. I DO wish the Fusion had some sort of LED headlight or at least DRL. That being said, the LED tail lights on the Fusion is a nice touch, especially in the titanium trim with the cat's eye.

...

One thing to note is that you can get MFT without getting the navigation system. I rarely touch the MFT screen except to actually key in a destination - there are dedicated buttons for most other functions and the steering wheel controls handle the phone system exceptionally well. So if you opt out of getting nav, or you intend to just use a phone or portable GPS whether you get nav or not, you won't really experience any frustration with MFT as you won't be spending a lot of time tapping away at its screen.

...

 

A couple things that I'm constantly touching the screen for is the cooled/heated seats and heated steering wheel. So far as I know there are no physical button's for those features.

I also used to be finicky about the HVAC system. Sometimes I wanted the air to blow on my feet, sometimes a combo between my feet and my face, other times I'd want it on defrost and my face... those controls are also only available on the screen. Since I've gotten the Fusion I've grown accustomed to the 'Auto' climate control system, as it does a good enough job of deciding where to blow the air from. When I need the defrost feature there is a physical button for that.

That looks really good. I'm rather jealous as I live in Michigan. I can tint the back and the rear windows, but not the front windows beyond the top four inches. I had tinting like that on my Beretta and it just looks awful. As a result I refuse to get my windows tinted at all.

I've had my 2015 Fusion HyTi just over 4 months now and have just a touch under 10,000 miles on it. I have had zero problems with it.

When you give one a test drive, be sure to play around with the MyFordTouch infotainment system. People seem to either love or hate it I'm in the former category as I adore the way it looks. It does have a little slow response which can make it annoying, but most of the features I use can be controlled through the voice system. The only time the slowness affects me is in some of the HVAC settings which are only available through the touch screen.

Beauty is of course in the eye of the beholder, but I don't think that comparing the Fusion to the Accord to the Camry is a fair fight. Inside and out the Fusion is just a better looking car.

The idea of buying a new car came on suddenly for me. I had only owned my 2012 Focus Titanium for 18 months and really loved it. I loved all the techy bits it had and I loved the fuel economy. But at some point in January of this year I saw a commercial for a midsize hybrid sedan and realized I could get a bigger car without sacrificing that fuel economy. Combine that thought with the fact that I was about to pass the 50,000 mile mark (getting close to exiting powertrain warranty) and the fact that I needed to buy new summer tires once the winter rubber came off got me into ‘search’ mode.

I had some pretty specific requirements for any new car. If I was going to replace a car that I really liked (and one that I owed more on than it was worth!), I wasn’t about to make any sacrifice. I briefly considered the Ford Fusion Energy but quickly figured that the additional cost wouldn’t be worth it with the 90 or so miles I put on it every day. Plus a new one was just out of my range with all the options I wanted. I could have gone with less options or a slightly used one, but again I wasn’t about to sacrifice.

That really left me with considering; Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonota, Kia Optima, Toyota Camry, VW Jetta, and Chevy Volt. All hybrids. The Jetta and Volt quickly were dropped from consideration on size concerns. Again… I was trying to get a larger car and not make a lateral move from the Focus.

After reading up on them, I didn’t like the hybrid systems in the Sonota and Optima. They had EPA numbers of 38/40 and 35/39 respectively. These were just a touch too close to the 28/38 of the Focus.

So that left me with a long look and comparison to the Accord. If all things were equal, I though the Fusion looked a LOT better. The Accord had better EPA numbers (50/45 compared to the Fusion’s 44/41) but didn’t include cooled seats or heated steering wheel as options. While I’ve never owned a Honda, I’ve driven plenty of them and have never liked their interiors. Just the feel of their seats and the layout of the dash seems ‘off’ to me.

I loved my Ford Focus and didn’t think the interior of the Fusion would be a disappointment… so I went with cooled seats, a heated steering wheel and slightly less mpg. I still get a little smile every time I see my Fusion or pass one on the street. I still don’t give the Accord a second look as it just blends into the background. In other words I couldn’t be happier with my purchase decision.

I had the weathertech in channel ones on my 2012 Focus as well as putting them on a family members Dodge Caliber. They work wonderfully providing you some open air without threat of rain getting in (or at least LESS threat). The only issue I had was kicking in the window safety feature for the first day or so... but they either snugged themselves in better or the window got used to them and never had the issue again. You can hear the window snug up to it when you roll the window up, but it's just a variation of the sound you hear when you roll the window up now. There is a bit more wind noise from them, but I always looked at it as a 'different' wind noise rather than more wind noise. I grew accustomed to it within a week.

As for the style that tapes to the outside of the door... DON'T DO IT! A colleague at work has a black Fusion with the stick on type and it looks awful! You can see something is wrong from halfway across the parking lot as they cover up the chrome trim.

Thanks for posting this. I had been intending to get a set but always forget when NOT in the car and experiencing rain. I'll be ordering a set from weathertech in the next few moments!

No button my 2015 FFH either. Just push the fuel door and it pops open. It was the same way on my 2012 Focus.

I have heard of 'pay off calculators' for hybrids before, but never gave them any thought. They were just always part of the background and not anything that I even gave a second thought too when considering what car I wanted to buy. I just considered fuel efficiency as any other option. An option that had a requirement.

Coming from a 2012 Ford Focus, I had the following set of requirements in any new car:

• Not going down in fuel efficiency
• Bigger car overall
• Good sounding stock stereo
• Keyless Start
• Interesting styling
• Tech toys (MyFord Touch, Auto headlights, rain sensing wipers, auto high beams, lane keep assist, BLIS,

With every option, I expected to pay for it. Of course getting a bigger car would cost more. Of course having a keyless start system would cost more. Of course tech toys would cost more. Styling is in the eye of the beholder and I hoped it wouldn't cost more, but I would pay more for a car that I liked.

I didn't go specifically for a hybrid to be green or to save money, it was just a requirement. A requirement to use less of a limited resource that is dirty and harmful to the environment. The gasoline Fusion offered all of the options save for the fuel efficiency. If Ford had offered the Fusion with a diesel that got 50+ mpg (and didn't sound like a diesel), I would have selected that over the gasoline or hybrid options... and I would expect to pay more for that particular feature.

At it's core, that's one of the reasons I don't put much effort at all into getting better fuel economy out of my car. Driving it like I've driven all of my previous cars nets me the expected (or better) fuel efficiency. I can see how people would end up with the same car coming from an entirely different set of requirements. Someone who wanted to spend as little money on fuel as possible could follow their calculations and come to the Fusion Hybrid. They'd just take a different path than I did. I can't/won't knock them for their decision or decision process. I just don't expect them to knock my decision or decision process either.

I fully plan on trading this car in for a newer model in a couple years. According to the calculators out there I'll end up 'losing' money on getting a hybrid as opposed to a regularly fueled version. But I got what I wanted and am happy with that.

I've noticed that several things can 'fool' the auto brights. Very reflective signs when approached on an upcoming hill, and one area that I hit every night is a distant cell tower. I guess it's twin red lights make the car think it's a distant car in front of it. But generally in these circumstances the system seems to quickly learn it's mistake and 'fixes' it by turning the brights back on.

The problem that I have (and not a big problem) is that semi trailers with very reflective bumpers seem to fool the system. I'm several car lengths behind a semi and the car just turns on the brights. I have to manually turn them off, but after a few miles it will do it again. This has happened to me about 4 times and I eventually have to go through the menu while driving (not recommended) and turn the auto system off.

I just got back from a Michigan to Texas road trip to visit some friends. This trip was planned many months ago and it was assumed I would fly down, but after getting my HyTi in February that plan changed. ROAD TRIP!!! It's been years since I took a long road trip for pleasure (many MANY road trips for business, but that was in a 15 passenger Dodge van and was NOT pleasurable!), and I figured if this mid sized hybrid sedan wouldn't be comfortable then NO car would be right for me.

My normal driving is to and from work with a bit of 'round town trips. The drive to/from work is about 50 miles most of which is 55 mph (cruise set at 60 mph). With the warm temps I've been got a tank in the mid 40 mpg but then found the AC button and that dropped to the low 40s. I am by no means a hyper miler. I know very well that this car is capable of far better fuel efficiency but I don't want to drive efficiently... I just want to drive and have the car get better gas mileage than previous cars.

MPG:

If you look at my fuelly data you can clearly see the drop I received in mpg. Instead of two lane 55 mph roads this was almost entirely interstate driving. Besides some construction and some slower spots near cities (St. Louis), the speeds ranged from 65 to 75 mph. I've always driven 5 mph above so I was cruising around at 70 to 80 mph. The drop in mpg was just about what I expected; down to 36 mpg.

The drive down was very warm. Temps in the mid 80s. The return trip was a dual headed beast... rain and storms on day one, cool temps on day two. The storms tanked the mpg but the cool temps let me go without the AC and netted me 38.1 mpg.

I couldn't be happier with these results. Sure, I could have used techniques talked about here and gotten better mpg but instead I drove it like I always do on road trips... set the cruise, turn up the tunes, and enjoy the scenery. When some car starts annoying me I dropped the pedal and speed past them... .the HyTi can easily and comfortably drive upwards of 95 mph.

Physical Comforts:

Wow. I don't exactly have a long list of comfortable cars to compare against, but this is far and above the most comfortable car I've driven. I expect to get driving fatigue in my ankles, knees, and back on any trip of 3 hours or more. I'm used to my body telling me when it's time to get off the road and stretch... my back would ache too much or my ankles would start to cramp. Not on this trip! This trip included 10, 8, 12, and 6 hours of driving. I would stop only when I felt my concentration waning, my bladder filling, or my tasty beverage emptying. On previous long trips I would have to walk around for 5 or 10 minutes to stretch my body back into a recognizable shape. This time I was fine by simply walking to the rest area bathroom or the gas station cooler. I'd get back in the car and be ready for another few hours of driving.

The AC blew true and cold. Leaving it in the 'Auto Climate Control' setting worked fine. When the sun started peeking through the windows and warming me up more, a few taps of the 'temp down' button remedied the situation without having to fiddle with the temp and fan settings constantly. And those cooled seats? WOW! I could only keep it on the highest setting for about 20 minutes at a time. I read in some other thread that it feels like you just peed your pants and I have to completely agree with that assessment. It actually grows uncomfortable... like sitting on a metal bench in winter. But dropping it down to the lowest setting was just fine for those first two hot days.

Speaking of the seats, these have hit the perfect balance of keeping my snugly held into place and letting me shift around to a more comfortable position. Whenever my back would start to let me know it needed to change position a quick tap of the powered seat (either up/down or tilting the back forward/rearward) remedied the situation swiftly.

If I had to lodge any complaint in the physical comfort department, it would be the dead pedal. I felt as though I needed another inch or two of room toward the outside of the car. But even that is a minor complaint and one that I've had in every single car I've ever owned/driven. In previous cars that discomfort would quickly grow into an ache.... in Ginger, it was a minor inconvenience in an otherwise comfortable ride.

Entertainment:

My previous car had the MFT system so I more or less knew what I was getting for this trip. Using the voice controls to switch between the Sirius stations, to the terrestrial radio stations to the iPod, to the bluetooth connected phone (where I keep my pod casts), was easy and smooth. For the most part. There were several times where I would have to tilt my head up, look 'inward', speak in-single-word-format, and shout just for the system to understand me. And even then it wouldn't understand me at times. Sadly with the lack of physical controls this meant that I had to resort to using the MFT screen. I love having that screen and it's beautiful to look at... but while driving at 80 mph it's never a good idea to take my eyes off the road long enough to line my finger up with the series of buttons just to change from the radio to the iPod. I imagine it's the microphone placement as I never had a problem with my 2012 Focus recognizing my voice commands.

The audio quality was incredibly satisfying. I didn't have to blast the music to overpower the wind/engine noise. Even driving with the window partially open (I smoke, so the windows was open a few inches many many times), I didn't have to deafen myself just to hear the dulcet tones of Terry Gross and her Fresh Air podcast. When I turned to music though and wanted to blast it... well the car doesn't have anywhere near a competition level audio system but it gets VERY loud and stays VERY clear. My musical tastes range from baroque, to jazz, from rock to rap, from country to alternative, and many other genres. My biggest complaint on radios that can produce loud music is that they can easily exceed themselves. What I mean is that you can turn up the stereo loud enough that you know you're damaging the speakers. I've had that happen before in situations like this... I'd be listening to a particularly rousing version of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto and slowly increase the volume to the max. At the end of the song I'd forget just how loud I had set it and the next song would invariably be something that would rip the subs apart. Not here. Not in the beauty of a car. I could jam out to Bach or Beethoven in one moment, leave the volume maxed, and then enjoy the ear drum damaging guitar and bass beat of Nine Inch Nails or Shaggy without feeling that I was damaging the car.

Navigation:

This is my first car that has ever included a navigation system. The previous car had Sync Services directions but that was more of a pain than anything else. On previous trips I would simply use an old paper map/atlas or better yet Google Maps and plan the trip out. I'd mark down what highways I'd have to take, and the rough distances between them and then just keep an eye on the signs and the odometer. Having a Nav system was was easier. I started out by inputting my buddy's house address in and then let the soft voice of Ginger tell me where to go. I was impressed by many small things in the nav experience.

Having the four stage information was very helpful in traffic. The first stage was letting me know what the next turn was and how far away it was (Left onto I-44 in 120 miles). When getting close the voice would chime in and let me know to turn left in 1 mile. Closer yet and it would chime in again with more specific instructions; turn left in six tenths of a mile onto I-44 West. And then that final double tone to let me know to turn NOW.

Audibly the system is good. Visually, it's even better. I loved the third 'view' option when on the highway. The left hand of the MFT screen showed the moving map while the right hand side would show the next turn and below that an ever changing information box of what the next few exits had. The exit information was particularly helpful when searching for a hotel. At a glance I could decide that while this exit does have a hotel, the next exit has hotels, gas stations, and restaurants. The only time I looked at the billboards or exit signs was when I wanted to know WHICH hotel was at a particular exit. While in the city I preferred the second 'view' option where it was the map on the left and a turn by turn set of driving directions on the right.

The best part for me though was the lane information. While driving south of Chicago and through St Louis there are many highways coming together and splitting apart. Knowing that I have to turn right in a mile is great... but a glance at the screen would also let me know that three of the four lanes would be turning right so I didn't need to quickly get over into the far right land during rush hour traffic. I didn't look too closely at the every screen like this (Rush Hour Traffic!!), but every screen it displayed showing the lane configuration seemed to match the particular 'intersection' I was approaching. It even included the road signs that I would see!

Overall I was impressed. I was able to take a 2000+ mile trip with no map or paper directions in the car beforehand. Sure, I had my phone just in case the Nav system sucked or broke, but I never had to use it.

Random Impressions:

I've mentioned in a previous post that I was a little disappointed in just how common the Fusion is. This trip did nothing to change that opinion as there were plenty of other Fusions sharing the concrete with me. BUT.... they all looked damned good! On my second day of driving I had to stop for gas at some podunk gas station in some podunk Oklahoma town. Some old timer sitting out in front of the garage/gas-station/grocery-store got up and came over for a closer look. He complimented me on the car and was very impressed when I started telling him all the features. I think I blew his mind when I told him the gas mileage I was getting.

I've finally found my car's twin. For several miles somewhere in southern Illinois I played leapfrog with another Ruby Red Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium with medium ceramic interior.

One night at the hotel I was outside my room having a cig and I saw a guy park next to Ginger in his late 60's Corvette. I was ogling his car from my 2nd story balcony while he was ogling my car. He was far enough away that I couldn't hear him, but I distinctly saw him nod his head and mouth 'nice' as he walked away. A similar experience happened on my return trip but this time it was a Cadillac CTS.

Using the voice commands in the Navigation system to find a nearby restaurant when you don't know exactly what you are looking for is an exercise in frustration. Maybe if I had learned the voice commands beforehand it would have been easier, but by the time I got a list of restaurant types I had visually found a restaurant.

I'm surprised that there weren't more bug splats on the car. Oh don't get me wrong there are a LOT of bug splats, just not as many as I expected. That may have more to do with the time of year (mid spring as opposed to mid summer) though.

I really liked how the navigation system stayed locked in. Any time I pulled over for gas/munchies/drinks/bathroom it would be right there ready to continue the trip. I even had to backtrack several miles when I realized I had left my glasses at the last gas station and the nav system was right there giving me directions to turn around. It was easy to mute the directions for the trip back and then turn them back on when I was headed into the right direction. Even stopping for the night didn't take out the route.

The gas pedal seems to be more of a suggestion of the desired speed rather than directly being connected to the engine. During some construction slowdowns where I wasn't using the cruise control I would find myself lagging behind traffic or tail gating when I didn't intend to do so. I haven't noticed such a disconnect in my day to day driving.

Even at speeds exceeding 70 mph the car had enough 'get up and go' when required. Floor the gas pedal and I could dance up to 90 mph to pass particularly annoying drivers without breaking a sweat. It's no sports car, but it's enough.

The center console is roomy enough to keep my wallet, phone, a stack of ones (for tolls), and a baggie of quarters (for tolls), and still hold all the rick-a-rack that I normally keep there. The cubbie in front of the gear shifter is the perfect place for my sunglasses/glasses.

Having a hybrid is awesome when you're stuck at the site of an accident. There was a bad accident that required a helicopter life flight not 10 car lengths in front of me. I was stuck there for about an hour and was able to listen to my music and keep the car nice and chilly all that time without utilizing the ICE.

The trunk may be smaller than this car should have, but it had plenty of space. I didn't have to remove any of my crap back there and was able to easily fit my gun case, ammo box, big rolling suitcase and medium sized 'carry on' bag. Now if I had four people in the car, it might have proved a bit snug, but for just me it was perfect.

Overall Impression:

I couldn't be happier with how Ginger held up on this trip. She was roomy, comfortable, sleek, and fuel efficient. There are cars that could beat out any of those categories, but I don't think any car has the same wonderful combination of all those.

The Camaro; throw the book at him, take his licence.

The Pickup; maybe a ticket depending on the overall speed. Considering he was matching a semi he was probably well below the posted speed limit and was impeding traffic in the passing lane.

The Semi; no, did nothing wrong (assuming he was driving at or blow the truck speed limit).

That's my opinion for tickets. For personal responsibility, the pickup should have vacated the passing lane. Either slow down and get behind the semi or speed up and finish the pass. I'm sure its fun to block the aggressive driver but he had to realize that this was a possible outcome. At the very least he should have slowed down and let the douchebag Camaro driver finish his dangers and highly illegal pass from offroad instead of maintaining his speed. The Semi though, unless he was speeding up to 'help' the moving road block, I still think he did nothing wrong. Those rigs aren't the easiest (or cheapest) things to slow down and speed up. He had another semi behind him, which would make slowing down even more problematic.

Found a news article about it and it seems that the Camaro driver was intoxicated (no big surprise). I hope nobody was injured and that the Camaro driver has a long stint in jail.

My expectation was to get better gas mileage than my previous car (2012 Focus). It didn't meet that expectation initially, but it was only a few mpgs off. And since I was burning dinasaur juice with the remote start every day and always entered a warm toasty car, I'll call that a draw. For spring/summer driving it's exceeding those fuel efficiency expectations. If it keeps this up over the hot months (with AC and cooled seat usage) I'll call it a year over year gain.

Satisfaction though... that's a little harder to define. I wanted a more comfortable ride than I've had since my old '90 Town Car (that one was like driving on a cloud), and it's met that. I wanted a bigger car than my previous two (the Focus and a Lumina) and it's met that. I wanted a car with so many tech toys that it made other regular cars look broken and with the push button start, remote start, 7 inch infotainment screen, auto climate control, heated/cooled seats, heated steering wheel, BLIS, cross traffic warning, auto hi beams, auto windshield wipers, and of course hybrid technology, I think I can easily say it's met that.

The last thing I wanted for satisfaction was a car that stood out. My Focus wasn't a unique car by any means, but in it's bright Yellow Blaze paint, it certainly wasn't a wall flower. In my town a hatchback also stands out, so it was doubly blessed there. The Fusion though... well it's a common site. There wasn't a really 'WOW'; paint color to pick from (I considered both the Deep Impact Blue and the Bronze Fire, but neither directly appealed to me when I saw them up close) and I pass cars that at a glance looks just like mine all the time. Sure, none have been a HyTi, but a Ruby Red Fusion? wait a few minutes and one is sure to pass. Mine stands out a bit more because of the medium soft ceramic interior helps but that's an up close difference, not a 'driving down the road' difference. It took me a solid year before I had my YB Focus Titanium next to a similar one... I saw three Ruby Red Fusions while driving mine home from the dealer. I even had one park next to me today on a quick trip to the grocer this morning. If it wasn't for the difference in the exhaust pipes (his was a regular Titanium), I would have had to look at the licence plate or inside the cars to tell the difference.

But I can't really fault the car for that. I picked it out and knew how common it would be as compared to the Focus. It still sticks in my craw though, so I can't say I'm 100% satisfied. With everything else in it's favor (bigger, more techy, better fuel efficiency, more comfortable ride...), I'd call this a 'Satisfaction Met'.