Myron Graessle

Driving on the freeway a week or so ago through "wintry conditions", the snow changed to wet sleet. It gradually started building up on my windshield, until I realized it was getting very difficult to see. I switched the climate from the automatic 70 degrees to just the windshield defrost with the fan. One I did this, the ice melted and the windshield was clear again. I'm guessing that the automatic mode doesn't push much air, warm or otherwise, to the windshield vents.

Living in Maine with a long commute and the potential for heavy snow, I replaced the stock tires with Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 snow tires. I drive from Portland to Augusta, Maine most days. This is a 90% freeway drive. The Blizzaks are awesome in all snow and ice conditions, and don't add a lot of road noise on the highway when it's dry. The only time that I ever had a snow challenge was after a blowing snowstorm added a 20" drift in the front of my car. After brushing off 8" of snow off the top of car, I decided to see if I could push my way over the drift without shoveling. I rocked back and forth a three or four times and pushed through the drift to the plowed section and off I went. The Maine highway folks do a good job of keeping the freeways plowed, so mostly I end up driving in slush or snow pack. While I don't drive much over 45 mph in these conditions, I have complete confidence in my Fusion / Blizzak combination. At 45 mph, my Fusion switched between gas and electric as I mushed along the freeway. I ended up around 38 mpg for that trip. There has been a big dropoff in mileage since the warm months when I was averaging about 38 mpg. Now, it's down to about 32. My last refuel was 30.8, but the temperatures have been really cold, between -5F and 10F. I haven't noticed a significant drop in gas mileage with the snow tires. If you want to see the graph, look here... Fuelly All in all, I have no reservations about buying a Fusion and adding snow tires if you are in snowy climates. Myron

I had a tire (on my last car) shred itself on the freeway. No fix-a-flat would have fixed it as the sidewall disintegrated. My mini spare worked just fine to get me to the tire store!