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When the Ford engine is new there is more friction in the drivetrain due to such tight tolerances.
Mark.
Lower tolerances equate to tighter engines. Higher tolerances equate to looser engines.
Tighter tolerances has nothing to do with tighter engines. Either the parts are made with precision or not.
With otherwise identical parts & geometry (control arms, dampers – caster, camber, etc.) the bushing compliance, in several respects, can be changed and will result in different response to short, sharp bumps.
- Ray
Hardly a suspension engineer, but . .
All highway driving, flat, at 55 MPH = 33 MPG
All highway driving, flat, at 75 MPH = 29 MPG
All city driving, stop and go, never higher than 35 MPH = 17 MPG
Combined, highway, flat, 55 MPH for 5 miles, 75 MPH for 5 miles, 12 miles city, stop and go = 21 MPG
I'm very happy with highway MPG, and very dissapointed with city MPG, but I still wouldn't trade it for any other car. It has a lot of room and comfort at a great price. DC traffic is tough on the MPG, as is idling, and very fast acceleration.
When engines are assembled loosely (with higher tolerances) there is not as much friction in the first few thousand miles so you get better power and mileage right away. You also risk more compression loss and oil consumption.
When engines are assembled with low tolerances then the parts fit together tighter which leads to higher friction for the first few thousand miles until the tight fitting parts wear a little and loosen up. The up side is higher compression and little or no oil consumption, especially on high mileage engines.
It has nothing to do with working per the 'blueprint'.
The idea of "loose" or "tight" is inaccurate, a higher tolerance could result in an engine that is either too loose or too tight (or too tight in some places and too loose in others). A low tolerance gives the "just right" desired result.
can't offer any advice on the wires and the upgrade to more powerful bulbs, other than to suggest that if it bothers you that much there are kits available to upgrade the wiring to allow brighter bulbs. more work than simply plugging in a new bulb but atleast it's an option.
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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i will agree totally with the fact that ford "missed the boat" with certain features on the fusion, the 3.5 is not one of them...bigger and bigger engines (if only a half liter) are not going in the right direction. the lack of a more sophisticated shifting arrangement is something that ford missed, but in their defense, go to the avalon board and check out how many people have been having drivability problems with their 05/06 avalons due to the drive by wire AND the "intelligent" software on their transmissions. this is an absolutely a bad combination...something that for the next few years should be avoided by the consumer. it will take that long for the engineers and designers to sort the dbw problems on the automatic equipped with "intelligent" software on the trannys.
so; sometimes less is better.
oh, one other feature ford missed: xenons...they definitely should be an option on the fusion.
The real problem is the 3.5L engine is at least 2 years late due to development problems.
Ford still has to get the mainstream models out the door and working before they can afford to go after the smaller enthusiast models.
The other reason for limiting options is simply to reduce complexity and eliminate launch problems which can simply KILL a vehicle (remember all the Focus recalls?) with bad publicity. Do you remember any major first year problems with the Mustang or F150 or 500 or (so far) Fusion/Milan/Zephyr? I don't and that's a good thing. So while it may be a little frustrating overall I think it's the right strategy.
The Fusion could use an AUX input and an automatic transmission with more than just D and L selections.
The shifter will be fixed but not sure if it will be 2007 or later. The D and L were holdovers from the original plan to use the CVT tranny in both the Fusion and 500 but it was subsequently replaced by the 6 speed Aisin tranny. They chose not to redesign the shifter.
To be honest, it was one of the few things I was concerned about with my Fusion but so far it hasn't been an issue at all.
Agreed! Having D and L has not been an issue for me and I've driven it 7,000 miles. My V-6 has more than adequate power and acceleration with 4 people pulling onto a highway.
My only 'want' at this point would be to have rear footwell lighting. With the sunroof, the front interior lights don't make it to the rear footwell and also, rear seat passengers can't read in the dark.
> what vehicle are you coming out of?
lexus es 300. fusion seats are a vast improvement over lexus.
>also, do you have the mnaual 5 speed and if so, how do you find the clutch engagement and clutch pedal postion relative to the bottom of the steering wheel?
5-speed. clutch pick-up took some getting used to -- have adjusted power seat "just so" and clutch engagement is fairly smooth. position not a problem with power seat and tilt/telescope wheel.
> there are kits available to upgrade the wiring to allow brighter bulbs. more work than simply plugging in a new bulb but atleast it's an option.
will see what the aftermarket comes up with and look for best price/value alternative.
Please don't put in those awful blue fake-HID bulbs. They don't look cool and they definitely don't give you more useful light. If you want to do HIDs you'll need the entire kit including reflectors. Retrofitting HID bulbs in the current reflector may blind oncoming drivers or result in worse lighting where you need it.
1.it's really short not even 5 minutes
2.You need Quicktime to listen to it.
Your thoughts please
Mercury Milan
Found what I consider to be a pretty good deal on a loaded Milan V6 Premier for my wife- auto,leather,ABS, premium audio, side air curtains. MSRP= $24,605, Ford A-plan Price $21,148 (after $1000 in rebates). 36 month/12K lease, .00073 money factor, 50% residual, $1094 total drive off (1st mo, acquisition fee, DMV)= $292/month including taxes. Not too bad for a ~$25K car.
Problem is, her existing Taurus doesn't come off lease until 3/26. From what I've seen, Milan sales have been better than expected, so I'm worried that if I wait until mid-March to consummate this deal, the rebate and/or attractive money factor may go away. I think she's pretty set on getting the new Milan. Should I:
(1) just bite the bullet, get the Milan now and essentially make an "extra" car payment for March;
(2) roll the dice, wait until mid-March and hope the incentives/financing are the same (or better);
(3) try to negotiate something with the dealer?
Part of me says lock in a great deal now, but another part says the domestics are really struggling now, and there's no way they'll reduce/pull the incentives/lease support. And if any of you have any experience and/or advice re: option (3), I'd love to hear it. Thanks.
I just hope it's not too little, too late. After ignoring the sedan segment for years (no redesigned Focus, no Contour replacement, late replacement for the Taurus, way past due demise of the Crown Vic) in favor of trucks, Ford is struggling to remain afloat financially.
What is most likely is that there will be likely be at least the same or better deal next month as well as the month after and the month after. The competition from all the auto manufacturer's seems to be so cutthroat that the consumer is nearly in the driver's seat all the time, even with a fairly new model such as this. Ford is likely still ramping up production from earlier in the model year when the plant was starting production, so Milan/Fusion supplies might be looser next month than now.
In any case, I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Buy or lease when you are ready.
The program was not changed much since last summer when it was announced but money rates could always change.
Mark.
~alpha
There is a lot more to being a "driver's car" than peak HP numbers. There are not many who would include Camry and Sonata when talking about "driver's cars", no matter what the HP number is.
Front wheel drive and over-powered cars is not a good combination anyway.
It definitely won't hurt and as I said before, you can't have a "driver's" car be the slowest in its segment.
Indeed front wheel drive and over powered cars is not a good mix. But these cars aren't over powered. From every review of the 240hp Accord, they love the car. The new Camry is getting similar reviews. The Sonata as well. Look at your Acuras, front wheel drive with 300hp, no complaints. The TL is one of the highest selling luxury cars in its segment.
Ford did a good thing with the MKZ in one respect to me. They kept the car fresh as new for another year. If Ford updates its cars every model year or model year and a half to address the competition and keep the car "new" they'd be fabulous. You know, a manu shift in 07 model year, a 250 hp in 08, a Limited Edition and a Special Edition with special colors, grill, dash trim, and seat inserts in 08.5, a facelift in 09, SVT for 10, and then the new model for 2011 model year, the car would have been fresh and new every single year at a minimal cost increase. Special editions aren't expensive as long as you don't change the engine. Mazda seems to do one every half 6 months.
Now that is a Way forward.
What did this have to do with the Fusion/Milan? You'd get more precise, better answers in more specific forums, I would think...
Was VERY impressed by the Ford 500 and the Fusion/Milan/Zephyr. Those cars look incredible and come basically loaded for LOW LOW money. They had very well equipped, AWD 500's with 24k stickers...and you know they'll sell cheaper then that.
The 500's are HUGE, on the outside, and the inside. The rear seat looked easily as wide as that of the Charger I was so enamored with. I wish I wasn't so blah on the exterior. It just looks like an 11/10 B5 Passat to me and it seems to sit VERY high... but since every single one was an AWD....do the FWD's sit lower?
I love the exterior of the Fusion and Zephyr, and the interior of the Milan. They had leather clad Milans, basically loaded cars, stickering around $23k. A similarly equipped Zephyr was $34k! I don't understand the differentiation.
A well equiped 5 spd, 4cyl Fusion was well under $20k.
The Lincoln actually looked like it had a lower, sleeker roofline... trick of the eye? The Milan and Fusion are true twins... the grills are the only big exterior difference.
Anyway, my point......that's a stunning value... but do people know it?? Ford needs to REALLY get the message out on these cars. These are the kind of cars that people have been BEGGING the US makers to produce.. solid, midsize sedans that can go toe-to-toe with the Accord and Camry.
Bill Ford needs to give everyone at Mazda a raise.
A fully loaded fusion is $26K. As for the Zephyr sticker - a comparably equipped Zephyr is about $4K more than a Fusion/Milan and it does have a few extra features like memory seats, homelink, etc. in addition to extra sound deadening, thicker glass, higher quality interior, etc. The other options that get it to $34K are not available on the Fusion (THX audio, Nav, HIDs, etc.).
I don't think there's any difference on the 500s fwd vs. awd. They are planning an exterior refresh either late this year or next year - it will look more like the fusion. Both the 500 and Fusion were originally styled like the 500. Horbury didn't have time to change the 500 but they did have time for the Fusion. Could you imagine the Fusion with 500 styling and called the Futura? That all worked out nicely!
Amen! I drive a Nissan Maxima and was wooed by the muscle when I bought it only to realize that most of that power can't be sent to the road because of tire spin. The only time the power really helps is the rare occasion when I get stuck behind a slow vehicle on the highway and need it to pull into the passing lane.
The HP Wars have overrated the necessity for power in most vehicles, I'll pay much more attention to interior amenity and ride quality on my next purchase.
Mark
Now the 500 is WAY too bland and they need do something to lower the yawn quotient.
What is with them?
Maybe the restyle will work, but if they try to make it look like a big Fusion, that may be another disaster.
What is with them?
The Five Hundred was a victim of Ford's styling policy set in the early '00s to mimic European styling, mainly Audi and Mercedes. Obviously, it failed miserably. Realizing this, Ford dropped that philosophy and stayed on this side of the pond for new inspiration. Styling for the Fusion, according to Ford, is "more American".
The Five Hundred will soon follow, as early as '07. They'll also include the new 3.5L V6, if they can produce enough of them for the Edge as well.