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Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan: Test Drives
savetheland
Member Posts: 671
I test-drove Fusion with 3.0L and black leather and black piano interior in the dealership nearby. I really liked the interior of this particular trim. I feel and look upscale. Engine is smoother than in my Sable but is not more powerful. May be you will fill difference on freeway, but in city feels almost the same. Suspension is rather soft, but I expected sport sedan variety. Steering is not stiff at all. I was driving around town with salesman next to me so I cannot tell more. Car seemed to me be a pretty small, but there is more legroom in the back than in my Sable. But still I like how Focus rides better – it also seems to be faster than Fusion.
BTW when pressing on the gas to pass I test drove could rev to 5000 rpm.
BTW when pressing on the gas to pass I test drove could rev to 5000 rpm.
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Yeah they also offered $1000 from Ford and $1300 discount from dealership.
I actually would prefer Milan exterior as being more refined. But black piano with black leather looks and feels really cool. I could even ignore that horrible Ford radio. The other thing is a rather short armrest – I used to longer one in Sable. In traffic it helps to relax and also makes interior look more upscale. Honda Accord has the nice armrest that can be stretched out when needed.
i am an aggressive driver and generally go a little bit less than twice the speed limit everywhere, including off ramps, and thats where you would really appreciate a hard suspension
the ride quality is getting softer but it becomes harder to corner well.
its not the tire pressure cuz i check them to be the same 33 psi
is it normal for suspensions to get softer, or am i damaging my car?
Fit and materials: Materials seemed nice and I did not hear any rattles etc., in spite of the 12,000 very hard rental miles
Ride and handling: Ride seemed very harsh and car was bouncing over imperfect road surfaces. It reminded me of my '95 Integra as far as ride and handling goes. Some may prefer this type of ride, I don't.
Gas mileage: Impressive. On almost 100% highway driving, I got 30+ mpg. It comes as no surprise, because Hertz markets these cars as "green".
Pickup Poor. Car reacts to hard acceleration demands by merely revving up and then by ponderously picking up speed.
Visibility Front is good, rear is bad. The rear view was pretty much obstructed due to the design of the rear window. This reminded of my '95 Prelude, which had the same sloping design.
Noise Wow! At idle, I could not hear the engine at all! At highway speeds, it is very muted. Excellent job!
Ergonomics Pleasing and intuitive dials and gauges and I did not have to refer to the manual for anything. The icon that lights up on dash when cruise is on is very nice.
Overall I don't think I will go for this car again(still prefer the Hyundai Sonata V6 in rentals), but it is light years ahead of the Taurus.
Ride, handling were very good, brakes above average, engine had plenty of power...but was just a little louder than I expected, but still not obtrusive. Exterior looked great all around, I was impressed with the fit/finish and the quality of the pearl blue paint.
Interior was very good, plenty of room for me(5'10")and my wife and 9 year old son....only part I did not like was the positioning of the gages. The fuel and temp gages are in the top, center of the gage cluster. I would have preferred the speedometer/tach in the center with the less important gages off to the side.
Trunk room was impressive. There is a good chance we will purchase a Fusion, but so far the local dealer has given us a very low figure on our Tundra trade-in. May try the Internet pricing route.
i drove a milan and taurus before. the milan is definitely more powerful, although it has weaker low end torque. You have to rev the milan up to 4k rpm and keep it there. the sable has nothing at 4k rpm.
full-time Traction 4™ all-wheel drive. Standard power ratio is 40:60 front to rear, resulting in a rear-wheel drive-like feel, but the instant a difference in grip is sensed, power is redistributed for optimum traction.
The Fusion's description says majority of power is to front wheels under normal circumstances.
1). I have a Mazda Tribute with the Ford I4 Cyl engine and the road and engine noice is terrible.
2) Consumer Rpts notes that sound is an issue with the 4 Cyl.
Should I just stay away, and concentrate on the Nissan Altima or Hyundai Sonata with their 4 Cyl engines?
Thanks
I own a 2006 4/5sp.1+yrs. and I can tell you that to me,I do not notice any bad engine noise.The car has been flawless for 11k miles so far and the mpg has increased a couple more up to 25-27 city and 28-33 hwy.I'm also a sports official,so I take a few 25-100 mile trips traveling to and from venues and my partners comment alot about how smooth and pleasant the car is :shades: .(Hope this helps you)
Try all three. That's the only way to know for sure. I just purchased a 2007 Milan Premier I4 5M for which I traded a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 HEMI 5M. Compared to the Ram, the Milan is quiet!
Rich
I have to say I was disappointed in the Fusion on many levels. First, I must qualify, that I am about 6 foot tall, and most of it is waist up. I do not fit in most cars with sunroofs (this car did not have a sunroof). In the Fusion I found my head scraping the ceiling of the car even though the seat was all the way down. I finally checked and I could put an index finger between my head and the ceiling- that was it. I also had a problem with the door assist above the drivers door as it was so close to my head that I accidently banged my head on it. In a normal driving position it was two fingers away from my head- not a lot of room for me and since I drive about 50k miles per year, room is important. I also found the seat to be uncomfortable, and realized that the seat back was encouraging a slouching position, which would be very uncomfortable for a 400 mile day.
Most of the controls seemed fine, though I was disappointed in the gearshift position only having a D and L choices. This is a 5 speed transmission and would prefer to have a D, 4,3,2,1 option. Since I drive a lot in the winter (snow belt area) I would want more than a "L" as an option. I prefer to use the transmission to help slow the car down in heavy snow or ice.
When driving the car, I thought the engine sounded a little course. I noticed that the car downshifted very frequently when I needed more power. I also felt the car was a little "darty" on the freeway and at this point will blame it on the vehicle possibly being out of alignment. Regardless, it was not a stable feeling.
Since I am presently driving a Dodge Charger, I initially chalked all this up to my being used to a large car and maybe this is the price I'll have to pay. Then I drove the Chrysler Sebring, which admittedly has not ranked as high as the Fusion on Consumer Reports ratings, but I found the Sebring to have plenty of head room, both on top and on the sides. The transmission has a D, 3 L setting, which would be acceptable in snow/ice driving (an improvement over the Fusion). According to the window sticker, the Chrysler has a 4 speed transmission compared to the Ford's 5, yet gets 1 mpg better city and 1 mpg better highway fuel mileage than the Fusion.
Before driving the cars, I thought the choice would be hard to make, but after taking both of them out, I have to pick the Chrysler Sebring. Others who are not tall waisted probably would fit fine in the Ford, but unfortunately, not me.