2010SEL

In bright daylight the gauge illumination is turned way up. When it is dark outside, or any time the head lights are turned on, the gages will dim. At least that's how my '10 SEL operates, with or without the auto-headlamps activated.

I hate the mount on the bumper! If mine did not already have it on, I would not put it on until forced to. Chances of getting harrassed by the police are very slim. If they do, you can always put it on. I might look at mounting it below the bumper, in the lower grille area. I think that would look better. Not sure if it would hang too low though.

All they really do is keep a few rock chips from happening. Nothing is going to keep your car clean in the salt/snow season.

Here is my take on it. Based on 40 or so years of being a gearhead, mechainic, automotive enthusiast, whatever: You can run a higher octane if you want to. I am quite certain you won't hurt anything inside the engine. You may or may not see an increase in power, and you may or may not be wasting your money. If the engine has knock sensors it will advance the ignition timing until it detects a knock, then back it off a little. That is great for horsepower creation and also possible mpg improvements. If the engine does not have such a knock sensing system, the engine may actually produce less power by running the high octane gas, because it burns cooler, and the engine isn't taking advantage of the octane. No simple answer. All you can really do with this new computerized stuff is try different fuels until you get the results you are looking for. I am running my '10 V6 SEL on 87 octane and it runs just great. I tried 91 for a few tanks but noticed no difference in power or mpgs. At $0.20 more per gallon it made no sense to use 91.

All aftermarket (and most OEM) wheels have the wheel size and the offset info either cast or stamped inside the back of the wheel someplace.

4 days to wait for an answer on this board isn't really long enough to wait. This is one of the slowest moving Fusion message boards around. Check back in a week or two.

Obviously the swept area will still rust. But the edges and the center hub can be plated, usually with nickel or cad. When you buy the aftermarket rotors it is usually an option to get the plating. I can't recall the brand of rotors I bought but they are drilled and slotted, as well as being nickel plated. No problems in over a year and they still look good. I can look tomorrow and see what kind they are if anyone's interested.

That will be fine. 7"-8.5" is the recommended wheel width for a 225/45-18 tire. Bridgestone

Sorry, no.

Of course a "strut" is also a "shock". But a MacPherson strut does a lot more than a mere shock absorber. It has the coil spring attached to it, and acts as an attachment point for many suspension/steering parts.

Regular shocks on the rear.

If you buy the wheel/tire package from Tire Rack or Discount Tire Direct they will sell you the right wheels with the right offset, width, & hub size to fit the car. Both companies I've dealt with on numerous cars. They know what they are doing and won't steer you wrong.

Whole front bumper must come off first. Many people don't realize this.

There is a big difference between "approving" and "mandating". So far EPA has not told anybody that they have to do anything. All I know for sure is that the more ethanol they add to gas the more problems it causes, the more it costs, and the MPGs go down. Plus I read that we use more oil to produce the fertilizer for the corn, and to produce the electricity needed for the production of alocohol than it'll ever save. So what's the point of ethanol other than making some big farmers and companies like ADM richer?

Looks like a great solution. These air bags have been around for decades and are fairly simple to install. It says it'll fit 2006-2009, and it should fit a 2010 since Ford didn't change much besides the styling in '10.

Year round? Where do you live? Is snow an issue? That'll make a big diference as to what tires will be recommended. If you plan on having the wheels exposed to salt, don't get anything with bare aluminum or even clear-coated aluminum. Salt gets into them and they get ugly fast. Something that is 100% powdercoated is a better choice.

Another vote here for Bosch Icon blades. Work great all year round.

The 16" steel wheels and Blizzaks are your cheapest and safest option. Don't buy some cheaper tires. You'll spend well over $1K if you buy 17" alloy rims and tires.

I have never seen a black dash on a current Fusion. AFAIK they are all the same weird off-grey color. Why are most "dealerguys" such morons anyways?

NO automatic car wash is safe for ANY paint!

Having owned many different cars with many different color interiors, my opinion is that black is the worst to keep looking good. The light browns and tans are very easy to care for, and unless you are a coal miner, they won't show any more "dirt" than any other color (besides white!). Grey is the easiest to keep good-looking, but also very boring! I have the med lt stone in my '10 SEL and really like it.

If you reset your mpgs and then immediately coast down a hill or something, anyone can get that display to read something crazy like that.

Bon Ami works great.

Good luck finding a tranny shop that can supply a torque converter and/or shift kit for this car. It's too new, too high-tech, and there are NO aftermarket parts available for it.

My reply wasn't to you. You're the 1st one that said anything about "Hybrid". They could be more difficult. Never seen one.