Fusion Steering Wheel and Ford Steering Wheels in General

[Howie411]

I wanted to bring this up because I find it interesting. I previously had a 2013 Ford Escape, but recently switched to the 2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid. My wife just got a 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid a few weeks ago. The interesting thing is all 3 of the steering wheels have different features and or buttons in different locations. The Ford Fusion wheel actually looks the nicest, and the C-MAX and the Escape are very similar.

 

 

So all 3 wheels have 4 way directional on each side, but the Fusion design makes it the easiest to access them. (in my opinion).

 

Only the Fusion has a Mute Button (this is a nice feature).

 

Only the Escape has a Home and Information Button.

 

The Escape has a very large voice/chat button that you pull inwards.

 

 

Anyways what I'm trying to get across is, I don't understand why Ford doesn't take 1 that works and use it across all their cars. Take the Fusion one which again I think is the best, add the missing Home and Info buttons to it and maybe the larger voice button and you could have the perfect wheel.

 

 

[shaggy314]

I go you one better, why does my steering wheel have SHARP edges on the inside of the wheel surfaces due mismatched parts meeting... silly thing to get wrong. I've noticed it on other Fusions at the dealer.

[acdii]

Agreed. The Flex is the same way, had the 4 way buttons, but uses different buttons for Sync and Cruise. It does not have a mute button, which is silly. I was giddy when I found the mute button on the Fusion(not really, but its a fun word). As for sharp edges, agree on that as well, they do need to be smoothed out, but if you were to look at the exterior trim pieces on the Flex, they are also sharp, and one must watch themselves when cleaning the car so they dont get cut or scratched.

[hybridbear]

The Escape & C-Max have the same design, just different buttons since the C-Max has two dash screens and thus needs two sets of directional buttons. I agree that the FFH design is the nicest. I imagine some of the differences are to not dilute certain vehicles to look too much like other vehicles. Ford might make the Fusion more "premium" since it competes in the highly competitive midsize sedan market.

[shaggy314]

don't get me wrong, now that I've memorized the button locations and the limited voice commands I use, I love the functionality of the fusion wheel, missing only a button to return MFT to a home screen without me looking over and doing it.