Pulled the trigger - again!

[Cobra348]

EDITED 4 Oct 16 with some updates to original notes. Look for items in green text.

 

After thinking on responses I got to questions in my other thread here, I pulled the trigger and got me a '17 FFH SE. Sig has pretty much the options I got and so forth but I have played with some of the items I was questioning.

 

1. Why is Driver Assist pkg needed for ACC? as pointed out in my other thread by Waldo or someone, the sensors in the DA pkg are used by the ACC for the stop and go. Testing ACC in city traffic, I can tell you that you should use 2 second or more gap setting as the 1 second is a bit short. However, the car does slow down nicely and stop/go as promised. Yes, foot was hovering over the brake as I tested! <chuckle> ASSUMPTION: If not using Adaptive but only Normal cruise, I ASSUME this feature will not work. I'm too chicken to try. EDIT: If ACC equipped, it does NOT have to be on for the stop/go feature to work. Marklally found that out (later post).

 

2. Lane keeping. I played with this at 55 MPH on a fairly clear expressway in Rochester, NY. I found that like playing pool, the sharper the angle when approaching the lines causes a sharper angled comeback by the car. Gradual drift is almost undetectable on return. This may be very handy on long roadruns but ATM it is off.

 

3. TPMS. Unlike what I have seen on a '15 Camaro, it does not show the active testing of the sensors at startup. However the TPMS "map" is a new screen in the left-hand display of the speedo cluster and can be switched to via the steering wheel controls any time.

 

4. New/moved screens. In addition to TPMS in the left screen, there is a digital speedo screen as well. As my saleman stated, "it's for those who can't read analog." There is a Driver Alert that can be set off if desired. This is a reminder that perhaps you need to pull over for a rest. I have had this chime in and display a message after only 5 minutes behind the wheel, so it's off ATM. Fuel history is available in the MyView, however it is an active screen in the right-hand display of the cluster (under Information), as is the 3-bar usage Coach screen and the leaves.

 

5. Console in general. The pass-thru under the center screen is a flat area now with the USB and 12V socket on the front wall. Immediately behind that is a slot area where you can sit a couple smartphones or small iPad type of mobile device. Dial shifter with "L" button in center - takes some getting used to, Parking brake is immediately behind it. Cupholders run front/back to the right of the shifter. Cluster of 4 push toggle buttons behind all this: Hill Assist, Eco, Park Assist on/off and Park alert. Contact switch controls under the center screen are now buttons and make for a smaller but easier grouping. EDIT: USB ports are framed with light blue lighting when in night mode. Shifter is NOT ... repeat NOT ... locked in Drive mode as a a stick would be. Don't know if that could cause problems but it's something to be aware of.

 

6. Armrest. It is a bit longer now with two latches closely set together. If you use the left one, it opens up with the junk tray and gives full access to the storage below. Opening with the right one leaves the junk tray down for access, but you can manually lift it out of the way if needed. 12V and USB in here as well. SE trim doesn't have the plugs and SD card slot as the '15 HyTi had but I don't miss them.

 

7. Other stuff. 3rd 12V and 110 plug are in the console rear and accessible via the rear seat area as usual. Filler cap is not a press-to-open type, but is locked with the release being in the driver door in the front area of the map/drink holder area. DRL are eyebrow-type LED over the headlights with a downward hook hashmark (see later update on this). The road lights in the lower faschia are LED as are the headlights (I think) and display more outward than the round ones the HyTi had. Switchable on/off via the same toggle by the headlight switch.

 

8. Sync3. As advertised, better on voice recognition. Center screen will auto-adjust for day night usage. Daytime is a light colored background with large, easy-to-read buttons for various functions (settings, audio, etc). At night this flips to black with light text except for things like the compass heading needle and a few others. Nice transition and is quite easy to handle in either lighting situation.

 

9. Phone apps/Sync3. I just played with thi a bit today and am by no means highly experienced. But I downloaded Pandora to my phone (Kyocera E6560 with Android 5.1.1). When connected Plugged into the 12V via charger and the Apps screen of Sync detected Pandora - showed it as a button I could pres. Did so and it played quite well with one little caveat: volume. In order to hear the music I had to crank up the volume to 27 (of 30 max), so disconnecting it then deafens you as the car switches back to other audio. Maybe a bit of playing with phone settings will fix that some ... dunno.

 

Okay - enough on this one. I still need to find a decent area to play with the Park Assist and try face-in, face-out and parallel to make myself happy with how it does things. But this is my initial review after 300 miles on a new FFH.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Cobra348

[Cobra348]

Okay ... swapped in the 16" donut spare for the mobility kit. Couple interesting points as compared to the '15 HyTi:

 

1. The '17 has a fuel funnel in the mobility kit where the '15 did not have one. Makes me wanna go "hmmmmm"

 

2. the mobility kit is a bit longer front to rear so in order to get it out you need to lift the HVB cover to just about a 45-degree angle. You also need to slide the kit a bit forward in order to clear a couple hard plastic edge pieces at the rear of the opening. Put the assembly kit for the donut so it rests on the locator but is NOT on it yet. Slide donut front edge under the lifted HVB cover and using the other hand, get the assembly box located. As before,the holddown screw assembly for the mobility kit is used to clamp the spare and assembly tower into place.

 

= = = = =

 

Update on Sync3/Pandora volume: If you are going to do this, increasing the phone volume for audio/media helps some but you will still need to run at a higher volume setting than you may normally use.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Cobra348

[machoman1337]

Congratulations Larry! Hope the new ride treats you well.

 

How does the leather feel in the new SE compared to your old Titanium? I've sat in a Titanium with the Medium Soft Ceramic interior at an auto show and it felt more plush, but the Stone black seats in an Energi which I test-drove felt harder for some reason...

 

The low-beam headlamps are LEDs I believe, as long as it's an SE w/Luxury Package, or a Titanium/Platinum/Sport.

[marklally]

Please keep the updates coming.

[Cobra348]

@machman1337 - the seats don't feel as plush, but still offer good,comfy positioning without a hassle.

 

Auto Highbeams: In full dark situations these are pretty good, although if you are traveling a road that has sharp curve or blind curves, the oncoming traffic may get blinded temporarily. It would happen if doing manual switching, so nothing new here. However, in a situation where it is dusk/dark time AND on straight road, they had a tendency to go on when I could plainly see a vehicle approaching. Hit the stalk and they drop to low beam.

 

Rain-sensing Wipers: Had an excellent chance to test these last Thursday on the way to see my gal. It appears that the interval is altered based on amount of rain being experienced. Turn on the interval setting, set it to the lowest and leave be. The wipers will eventually settle back to home, but start up as soon as water is detected. Rain got so heavy they were running at high speed without me touching a thing.

 

ACC Stop/Go - additional: When starting up, the car will not begin rolling until the vehicle in front is at least the delay gap in front of you, so use the gas a little bit to get going.

 

I'm still too cowardly to try the park assist. <shrug>

Edited September 11, 2016 by Cobra348

[David Katleman]

Bought mine Labor Day weekend, have been impressed by the gas mileage at 42 MPG, most of it in stop and go traffic during a highway commute. I attribute much of that to letting the cruise do the commute, rather than my lead foot

[Cobra348]

Bought mine Labor Day weekend, have been impressed by the gas mileage at 42 MPG, most of it in stop and go traffic during a highway commute. I attribute much of that to letting the cruise do the commute, rather than my lead foot

Yeah. My car is about 700 miles now - purchased Aug 31. Car comp says 43.4 MPG, but I found with the prior HyTi that it can be off a couple MPG from receipts. One fill-up so far: 40.45 MPG per receipt. I expect it to get better and the first few tanks are not all that reliable for stats any way.

 

I find that the new handling of the ICE versus electric is different enough that I can see ICE running more (Empower screen), but for less time than before.

[marklally]

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.

[Cobra348]

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.

ACC has to be ON and set - because the distance/proximity sensors are used to determine the need for braking and they are not really active if the item that uses them is off. I will tell you this about the braking ... when it is used it comes to a complete and pretty gentle stop. I sat at a light with no foot on the brake and only used the gas when the vehicle ahead started rolling. I used ACC with a 2-dash (2-second?) delay and there was no hard braking.

 

Someone else may have different experience, but in working with it, this is mine.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Cobra348

[Cobra348]

Okay - some mod info for those who may have a 2013+ FFH with any or all of the following: Steeda Strut Tower Brace, Steeda Hood Struts, Steeda Sway Bar

 

I restored the '15 FFH to stock before trading it in on the off chance these parts would fit the '17. Everything I had seen about the '17 led me to believe I'd be golden. I was right. Sooo, if you have a '13+ with these on, you can remove them (you DID save the OEM sway bar, right?), hold them and put them on a '17 with no issues.

 

HINT: Take the hood struts off as one assembly instead of breaking down the pieces. Re-install on the '17 will be a snap and no hack will be needed on the inverted "U" harness support on the right side. However, you will still need to release the Xmas-tree clip that holds the harness to the "U" and carefully slide the harness (and clip) inside the "U" to avoid the right strut hitting it.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Cobra348

[marklally]

ACC has to be ON and set - because the distance/proximity sensors are used to determine the need for braking and they are not really active if the item that uses them is off. I will tell you this about the braking ... when it is used it comes to a complete and pretty gentle stop. I sat at a light with no foot on the brake and only used the gas when the vehicle ahead started rolling. I used ACC with a 2-dash (2-second?) delay and there was no hard braking.

 

Someone else may have different experience, but in working with it, this is mine.

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.

[Cobra348]

DRL setup: This is a snap of the right headlight. The DRL is a white LED across the top (from amber part to hood /faschia gap) and then the hashmark leg going downwards simply transmits the light. When you hit the turn signal, the LED switches to amber and hashmark goes out.

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by Cobra348

[marklally]

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 ???

[murphy]

The camera has been part of the system since the 2013 model year. Mine continues to warn long after a turning car is out of the lane. It is easily overridden by depressing the accelerator pedal.

[marklally]

The camera has been part of the system since the 2013 model year. Mine continues to warn long after a turning car is out of the lane. It is easily overridden by depressing the accelerator pedal.

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.

[Cobra348]

collision alert still goes off - even with false alarms and I cancel it by hitting the gas a little. Typically it's someone turning right and they decide to slow way down half way thru so their back end still activates the sensors.

[marklally]

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

[DeeCee]

I used to have a 2013 FFH with collision warning that would trigger a warning when a car ahead of you would slow and make a right turn. The warning usually came when it was apparent the car was out of your way. As some have posted, just hit the accelerator pedal and press on.

 

I now own a 2017 Lincoln MKZ, Hybrid also with the collision warning system. I still get the same "false" alarms when the car ahead makes a right turn. In my experience I see no difference between the older 2013 system and the one in the 2017 MKZ.

 

Its just something you have to get used to and if you see the car ahead is not a threat simply add a little throttle to cancel the warning.. The warning system is still worth having in my opinion as it occasionally does give you a valid alert and "wakes" you up in time to avoid the problem.

[marklally]

I used to have a 2013 FFH with collision warning that would trigger a warning when a car ahead of you would slow and make a right turn. The warning usually came when it was apparent the car was out of your way. As some have posted, just hit the accelerator pedal and press on.

 

I now own a 2017 Lincoln MKZ, Hybrid also with the collision warning system. I still get the same "false" alarms when the car ahead makes a right turn. In my experience I see no difference between the older 2013 system and the one in the 2017 MKZ.

 

Its just something you have to get used to and if you see the car ahead is not a threat simply add a little throttle to cancel the warning.. The warning system is still worth having in my opinion as it occasionally does give you a valid alert and "wakes" you up in time to avoid the problem.

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.

Edited September 26, 2016 by marklally

[machoman1337]

I saw a '17 Titanium in person today (Ecoboost). The refreshed look is certainly very attractive. I miss my Fusion so much... can't wait for the winter break when I can go home and drive it for 3 weeks, but it won't be until May when I can permanently go back.

 

I have never owned a car with collision warning before. It seems like it's not that reliable - can it be turned off?

[Cobra348]

<snip> ... I have never owned a car with collision warning before. It seems like it's not that reliable - can it be turned off?

Nope. Pre-collision settings are Sensitivity of low, normal (default), high and Brake assist of on or off. So you can turn off the precharging of the brakes but not the alarm itself. Either low or high will probably lessen the occurrence but not stop it completely. Had the same issue on my Fiesta and simply lived with it.

[Cobra348]

Center stack screen: Unlike MFT screens, this really does cut down on fingerprints! Oh, they are there and visible when the screen is black, but a light swipe with a microfiber cloth took them off right away. Also, while MFT had a tendency to be rather light-reflective at times, this new screen isn't as much. There is still some glare but it is so reduced you can still read the buttons.

 

Small issue: Both front windows periodically have issues going up from full down. The rear corners of the glass don't seem to line up properly and it does a bounce-back. While I have in-channel Weathertech deflectors, the problem happened twice before these were installed - and mostly on mornings where there had been a heavy dew. Have already contacted dealer to see if there is a possible misalignment in the track somewhere. <shrug>

 

Other than that, car comp says 45 MPG for 2500+ miles, receipts are 42.6 as of 2226 miles and 5 days ago. Still pretty respectable.

[Cobra348]

Heated seat/steering. With colder weather closing in, I went looking for heated seat and steering wheel controls. Seat controls are on the control panel just below the center stack screen. Steering wheel? Just a bit buried and NOT a button on the control panel! If your car has the heated wheel, tap the Climate Control button on the Sync3 button bar. The steering wheel on/off button is in the upper left of the CC screen - again, only if you got the Driver Assist package. When on, the home screen will display a steering wheel with wavy heat lines off it in the upper status bar.

 

Performance ... Had to try them out. It was 39 degrees F here this morning. Wheel heats up pretty well, but the seats will take a bit longer. Seats turn on at highest setting, but tap the control button once for medium, once again for low, once more for off.

[Cobra348]

Automatic ACC Stop/go: If you are approaching traffic that is ALREADY stopped, this feature does not work, even if ACC is actually on and set. Because I am still dinking around with this stuff, I had my foot ready over the brake. I got within 10 feet of the rear end of a GMC SUV and manually applied the brake, altho ACC was on AND set to 30 MPH. Distance setting was 2 bars (approx 2 seconds).

Edited October 19, 2016 by Cobra348

[hermans]

I think there is speed that ACC won't work. If memory serves me it's below 30 mph.