billdz Report post Posted November 17, 2009 Hello, first time poster here. Today I test drove a new FFH and really liked it, so quiet and looks great. Two questions, though: 1) There's display that shows the current miles-per-gallon. We were not driving fast, about 35 mph, but the display showed only about 22 mpg. The salesman said the display just needed to be "calibrated," because actual mpg was at least 35 mpg. Does that sound right? How could the reading be so far off in a brand new car? 2) The trunk sure seems small, and you can't increase space by lowering the back seats. Is it large enough even to carry a set of golf clubs? Is the trunk adequate in size? Thanks for any info,bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
callawassie Report post Posted November 17, 2009 Bill, I've had my FFH since June, now have about 8K miles on it. First of all, you mpg reading was probably correct, and I think the sales guy was blowing smoke. You were not running in battery mode, so at that speed, using ICE, the mileage would be about right. My experience is that highway runs 35-37 mpg, depending on your speed and if the A/C is running or not. We don't really live in a town, but the suburbs where most trips are at a 55 mph speed limit. Anyhow, depending on how I drive, it ranges from 40 to 43 mph. If you really lived in a city where you had a lot of stop and go, you might do better.Trunk space - OK, it looks small. However, we recently had a road trip where we put both our full size suitcases in (barely), and then could put things on top of them. I think they are 25" suitcases. And just last week, the wife and mother in law took the golf cart, so I put my clubs in the trunk with no problem. Did not even have to take the driver out of the bag to make it all fit. Spacious it is not, but adequate is my view. We are retired, so someone with two kids taking an extended road trip might have a different view on trunk space. As you can tell, we like the car! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
junehhan Report post Posted November 17, 2009 Hello, first time poster here. Today I test drove a new FFH and really liked it, so quiet and looks great. Two questions, though: 1) There's display that shows the current miles-per-gallon. We were not driving fast, about 35 mph, but the display showed only about 22 mpg. The salesman said the display just needed to be "calibrated," because actual mpg was at least 35 mpg. Does that sound right? How could the reading be so far off in a brand new car? 2) The trunk sure seems small, and you can't increase space by lowering the back seats. Is it large enough even to carry a set of golf clubs? Is the trunk adequate in size? Thanks for any info,bill If you are talking about the long term fuel economy average, all you really need to do is reset it and do some driving. When I took delivery of my hybrid 2 weeks ago with 4 miles on the odometer, the fuel economy showed that it was getting 22-23mpg. 2 weeks and 980miles later, that same display is now showing a fuel economy average of 37.6. Since the sales guy told you that it needed to be calibrated, I guess he doesn't know much about the vehicle. There is also an instantaneous fuel economy guage which fluctuates with every little change in throttle position. The trunk is also a bit small, but this is going to be an issue with nearly every full hybrid vehicle on the market. I believe that among mid-size hybrid sedans, it actually has the biggest trunk as some like the Toyota Camry hybrid are even smaller. Some smaller suitcases will definately fit, but I have not tried golf clubs as I don't play golf. However, that battery has to go somewhere and it does take up space. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billdz Report post Posted November 17, 2009 "You were not running in battery mode, so at that speed, using ICE, the mileage would be about right. My experience is that highway runs 35-37 mpg, depending on your speed and if the A/C is running or not." I don't quite follow. The car was running in battery mode, so quiet I didn't even know the engine was on. It switched to gas mode when I exceeded 47 mph. Under what circumstances would the car get just 22 mpg? The A/C was on. How much does A/C affect mpg? Here in Florida the A/C is on most of the time. My friend has a Prius and he says he gets 7 mpg less when A/C is on. The salesman claimed that A/C only has a minor impact on the FFH's mpg performance. Thanks for the replies,bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rfruth Report post Posted November 17, 2009 In all fairness the 2010 Camry hybrid has a rear 60-40 split-bench seat, corce if ya fold the seat(s) down there goes your passenger space... but there are good reasons I didn't get a Camry not the least of which is its hasn't had a major refresh in a few years thus compared to the competition (the Fusion hybrid) its ranks poor - Toyota really needs to update it and they will now there is some serious competition (i.e. Ford) so in a few years we will see an all new Camry (the FFH will also be newer by then so who knows) - this is my opinion. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VonoreTn Report post Posted November 17, 2009 Bill, It will get just 22 mpg under a lot of conditions, but will also get 60 mpg under a lot of conditions. Don't overly concern yourself about short range mpg. Just check your mileage at fill-ups, either with your own chart, or just reset the trip mpg readout, and use the car computer number, they are both pretty much the same over time. You will get much better mileage than 22 over hundreds of miles. Note there are 4 mpg feedbacks on the car: Long term mpg (can be reset with some difficulty), trip mpg (easier to reset), the 2 minute bars (replaces the tree leaves with some fenagalling), and the summary you get just after you turn off the engine, summarizing the last engine-on trip. Note you can get this summary the next morning if you turn the key on but not to start, wait for the speedometer needle to swing back and forth once, then back the key off one notch, and there it is again. Once you hit "start" with the key, it is permanently gone. AC will drop mpg, but not that much if you keep it in the recirculation mode, and manually keep the fan as low as possible for comfort. Recirculation mode is important, especially in humid or very hot climates. You don't want to be continuously drying and cooling fresh outside air, it's not very efficient. "You were not running in battery mode, so at that speed, using ICE, the mileage would be about right. My experience is that highway runs 35-37 mpg, depending on your speed and if the A/C is running or not." I don't quite follow. The car was running in battery mode, so quiet I didn't even know the engine was on. It switched to gas mode when I exceeded 47 mph. Under what circumstances would the car get just 22 mpg? The A/C was on. How much does A/C affect mpg? Here in Florida the A/C is on most of the time. My friend has a Prius and he says he gets 7 mpg less when A/C is on. The salesman claimed that A/C only has a minor impact on the FFH's mpg performance. Thanks for the replies,bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hoyafan Report post Posted November 17, 2009 In case you would like to read (up to 88) independent reviews, go to this link at Edmunds.com: http://www.edmunds.com/ford/fusionhybrid/2010/consumerreview.1...186741703.html Note that out of 88 reviews, I think there are only two that are truly negative. (They both had mechanical trouble and did not update as to whether it was resolved). Overall score is a 9.5. It might be helpful to scroll through those reviews to see what folks like/dislike and whether that will help you with your decision. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FFHdriver Report post Posted November 17, 2009 Bill, It will get just 22 mpg under a lot of conditions, but will also get 60 mpg under a lot of conditions. Don't overly concern yourself about short range mpg. Just check your mileage at fill-ups, either with your own chart, or just reset the trip mpg readout, and use the car computer number, they are both pretty much the same over time. You will get much better mileage than 22 over hundreds of miles. Note there are 4 mpg feedbacks on the car: Long term mpg (can be reset with some difficulty), trip mpg (easier to reset), the 2 minute bars (replaces the tree leaves with some fenagalling), and the summary you get just after you turn off the engine, summarizing the last engine-on trip. Note you can get this summary the next morning if you turn the key on but not to start, wait for the speedometer needle to swing back and forth once, then back the key off one notch, and there it is again. Once you hit "start" with the key, it is permanently gone. AC will drop mpg, but not that much if you keep it in the recirculation mode, and manually keep the fan as low as possible for comfort. Recirculation mode is important, especially in humid or very hot climates. You don't want to be continuously drying and cooling fresh outside air, it's not very efficient.IMHO the AC should effect MPG very little since it's electric driven. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
apm Report post Posted November 17, 2009 IMHO the AC should effect MPG very little since it's electric driven. Although the AC is electric, it does impact the overall MPG's of the FFH. The FFH relies on the battery (EV mode) to increase the overall MPG's. If the battery power is used to run the AC it means less power to move the car and therefore lower overall MPG's as the ICE has to run more often to recharge it. Just my 2 cents... APM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Howie411 Report post Posted November 17, 2009 When I picked I purchased my car it had 8 miles on it and it listed I was getting 21 MPG. I don't know about calibration but a reset fixed it. And now I'm averaging 36-37 mpg. Who knows what that thing defaults to or does when it comes out of the plant. So you may need to reset it just once. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites