Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan: Tell Ford What You Want!

explorerx4

my explorer has has things like delay for headlight turn off, low fuel level warning, etc... that are programmable.

baggs32

Boy you're going way back explorerx!

The '06 Explorers have all of that stuff too. You can even now turn both the auto lock and auto unlock features on and off. I think the older models only had the former. Most of it is good to go at default levels but it's nice to be able to customize.

savetheland

I would like Ford to add SD card slot into their audio units just like Audi did not so long time ago. iPod is okay but not convinient. I do not want carry MP3 player to the car, I mean I do not want to attach/remove mp3 player every time I drive a car. I just want to copy all my mp3 files to SD card and put it into audio unit permamnently.

I do not know why it is so difficult to understand by Ford planners. It is not expensive and can be a marketing advantage.

akirby

The new Sync feature will take a USB flash drive with MP3s.

mschmal

Check it out.
It will be available without navigation but obviously you see more of whats going on with the navigation system.

Mark.

savetheland

Great!

otaku18

Couple things I'd like:

Get rid of the turning radius its to wide! Rear visibility is bad to.

Automanual transmission would be cool. More power either through a turbo or a bigger engine. They'll probably turbo the I4 and replace the 3.0 V6 with a 3.5.

I'm interested in seeing what happens with the hybrid I've heard about

mschmal

The cars WITH the rear spoiler have better visibility.

The top of the spoiler is below the bottom edge of the rear window AND the 3rd brake light is in the spoiler and deleted from the parcel shelf.

Mark.

scape2

if Ford has been told that by simply moving the middle tail light to the trunk lid improves visibility greatly.. Ford are you listening???

mschmal

07 Mustang, 3rd brake light is on trunk...

Obviously Ford is suffering from multiple personality disorder. I hope they get fired.

Mark.

chrisford

..bring the Mondeo, Euro focus, Ka, and SMax to our shores, please!
Stop re-branding Fords as over-priced, uninspired Mercury.
Put 3.5L, sport-shift into Fusion.
Stop think us Yanks are just big, tough and bold. We also need refined, inspired, upscale classy cars.

nomoreford2

Put these features on a 08 Fusion and will be able to compete with any midsize car.

-3.5L V6 w/6 speed auto
-Power adjsutable pedals
-Remote Start
-Stability Control

savetheland

I want more elegant interior in Milan. Fusion is blue collar car so I do not have issue with Fusion. But Milan was supposed to be for young, urban, active blah-blah customers. So why it still has utilitarian Best Western inspired interior? Why GM can diffirentiate interiors for different brands andcreate elegant yet different interiors for Aura and Malibu and Ford cannot do it even for Milan?

mschmal

Different Dash design?

The Milan has a cover for its cup holders....not enough? geeze you guys are hard to please. hehehe

Milan with the Wales Mahogany looks good. also Milan has cloth on the door panels verse the plastic on the Fusion. Milan also has reading lights for rear seat passengers.

Mark.

todd11

1. Adjustable center counsel that slides north and south.
2. Hydraulic hood openers....I don't know what they call them.
3. The new 3.5 duratech and six speed tranny.....around 250 horsepower.
4. Make the cabin even more quiet and refined by applying the same sound improvement ideas, that have been used on the 2008 Taurus, Focus, MKX, Edge, ect.
5. Improve the shape and ergonomics of the steering wheel similar to what GM is doing on the aura, soltice, and sky. Toyota has a similar shaped steering wheel on the Camry SE, If my memory serves me?

lostwrench

Ok, Ford. This is what I want.

A 5 star frontal crash rating. 4 stars = I'm looking elsewhere. No 5 stars, no customer here.

jeffyscott

Well, the similar Mazda6 has 5 stars. In evaluating safety, I would consider the IIHS ratings also:

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/summary.aspx?class=30

akirby

You do realize the difference between 4 stars and 5 stars can be just 1%? 10% chance of serious injury = 5 stars. 11% = 4 stars. If you're that concerned with safety then buy a hummer.

scape2

So, let me guess.. the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry are also off your list to then? The Fusion is even with the Camry and actually scores better than the Accord in rear impact..

scape2

Honda has another large recall.. Yet they will still rate higher.. makes you wonder huh? :sick:

mschmal

Thease cars received the highest rating from the IIHS which uses a hard test to past then the Fed.

Job 2 cars have a mast antenna.

Mark

lostwrench

Frontal impact test - Honda Accord - 5 stars!
Toyota Camry - 5 stars!
Ford Fusion - 4 stars.

jeffyscott

As was pointed out these bright line distinctions may mean as little as 1% difference in estimated injury risk.

For example looking at a couple of the actual head and chest injury risk numbers that the star rating is based on:

Camry driver Head Injury Criterion = 505, Chest = 41

Fusion driver Head Injury Criterion = 510, Chest = 43

So there is very little difference between Camry and Fusion.

(Accord is better than either with 245, 41)

The stars make you think Accord = Camry and Fusion is worse than either. But reality is Fusion = Camry and Accord is better than either.

scape2

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/summary.aspx?class=30

Is it me or you that is not reading this link right? :confuse:

lostwrench

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is not the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The NHTSA uses stars in their safety ratings. The IIHS uses ratings of Good-Acceptable-Marginal-Poor. When you read about Star Ratings, they are from the NHTSA.

akirby

The point is the IIHS retested the 07 job 2 Fusion and updated their ratings while the NHTSA has not. Since the IIHS tests are more stringent than the NHTSA tests it's a reasonable assumption that the NHTSA rating will improve to 5 star when it's retested.

scape2

I find it once again kind of strange how some auto sites have not updated their information about how the Fusion has improved on its crashtest ratings. Word must be spread via consumer and sites like this one to educate people faster than what the media does. Just about everyday I am correcting someone who had no idea the Fusion was now better at crashtest ratings. Ford needs to step up and do some advertising of their own. The media jumped on Ford and pasted it all over the news/sites ect.. when the Fusion did not get a good rating.. they should at least to the same when it does!! :mad:

fordenvy

But it needs to compete with the Camry hybrid, with fuel economy at or above 40 MPG city and highway.
Theres one slated for the `09 model, but I don't know if it will be competive.
We'll see, because they sure did come through on the `08 Ford Escape Hybrid, its competive now.

akirby

The 2008 (real world) EPA estimates for the Camry Hybrid are 33 city, 34 highway, 34 combined. The Prius drops from 60 mpg to 45. You need to lower your real world expectations for fuel mileage.

http://www.fueleconomy.org/feg/calculatorSelectYear.jsp

mschmal

I was about to post that info myself.

Thanks

fordenvy

I've always gotten what the EPA used to post, so I'm going by those numbers because they are closer than these new numbers which I disagree with them changing. Also, I didn't put in my post real-world EPA MPG, I just stated the MPG not so from the EPA. People can expect 40MPG from the Camry.

mschmal

netranger4

Nearly purchased a new Fusion S model till I discovered that the only interior upholstery fabrics were all light shades of tan. In everyday usage these light colors will get dirty without a frequent schedule of cleaning. Many prospective buyers have been put off by this limited color selection in the S model.

The engine noise, under light acceleration, also needs some attention. Can soundproofing materials be so costly that the bean counters can justify loss of sales by omitting as much as possible?

Engine noise in the 4-cylinder cars needs attention. The Fusion is a wonderful car which can only be made more appealing by rectifying details which are probably not costly.

jeffyscott

There is gray as well as tan available in the S.

You do have to go to SE to get black, but the invoice price difference between S and SE is only about $660, according to edmunds.

bpizzuti

The title says it all.

mschmal

IF the automatic transmission does what it is suppose to do, when it is suppose to, you don't need or want a "manumatic".

No manumatic I am familar with provides the type of shift response I would expect in order to bother useing the feature.

Mark.

bpizzuti

I want it for engine braking, especially in snow. An "L" entry on an automatic usually doesn't cut it.

akirby

You don't use a manumatic as a substitute for a manual - it's not. You use it to PREVENT the automatic from shifting to a higher gear. Or to force a downshift before you step on the throttle. Or to force it into a higher gear sooner. It's all about controlling the shifts (or lack thereof), not about rowing through the gears like a true manual.

brucelinc

Allen, you absolutely nailed it! This topic has been discussed over and over on Edmunds and there are those who always say, "If you want to shift, just buy a car with a stick." Or some might say, "The transmission engineers are smarter than you - just let the transmission shift when it is designed to." With all due respect, those folks just don't get it.

I would add that automatic transmissions cannot "see" traffic patterns, traffic lights, upcoming hairpin turns, steep mountain roads, etc. With some manual control, an engaged driver can drive more smoothly, preventing upshifts and downshifts at inappropriate times, and as you say, force a downshift without applying throttle.

For those who don't care about that level of involvement, I understand. Some of us do care and will not consider a car without manual control of the automatic transmission.

mschmal

If you have to make the automatic shift gears, then whats the point of having an automatic?

The Fusion as it is does not need a manumatic.

In my mind, Manumatics are for torque deficient engines or engines that have to hit high revs for torque. In the past cars like this tended to have autos that shifted too soon "
for fuel economy reasons".

The four cylinder Fusion has no problem holding gears as long as you are into the throttle, much more so than any other car I have driven. Also, this engine seems to be pretty torquee off of the line.

The Manumatic is just an expensive gadgit that most people would never use if it was there. Since there is a 5 speed option with the 4 cylinder engine, whats the point?

As for the 6 cylinder, this 6 speed trans is suppose to know what the car is doing and hold gears, especially cornering.

Mark.

akirby

Some people want an automatic most of the time but also want the ability to manually control the gear selection from time to time.

It's not very expensive now that all (or almost all) trannies are shifted by the PCM - you just need a shifter with two contact switches and some software.

I'm living without it on my Fusion but if I had it I would definitely use it a couple of times a week.

Don't criticize something if you've never tried it.

jeffyscott

In the 4 cyl, the "manumatic" on the Mazda6 sells for about $50 more than the L only automatic on the Fusion. I assume these are more or less the same transmissions, otherwise.

bpizzuti

If you have to make the automatic shift gears, then whats the point of having an automatic?

Lots of points, including preventing shifts, forcing shifts. Engine braking is also a good thing (that's what people used to use the 2/1 settings for, remember?) There's lots of reasons to have some sort of manual-override, and pretty much no reason NOT to have one (No one's forcing you to use it if it's not there, so it's not like it's hurting you...just don't use it if you don't like it).

starryknight

If you have to make the automatic shift gears, then whats the point of having an automatic?

In my opinion, manumatics can be handy. Here's why. Last year, I test drove a Fusion. I don't recall if it was a 4 or 6 cyl as I tested both. As I was exiting a traffic circle and headed for the turnpike, I gave it a fair amount of gas to merge into traffic. As the transmission downshifted, instead of one gear, it shifted down 2 gears. For a couple of second, until I could react and let off on the gas, the tach went up to 8K+ rpm's and I thought for a moment that I might have done some damage. Fortunately I didn't. If a person knows that their car might have the tendency to do this, then I would think having manual control would be a help.

srhky

Why can I not have a decent Ford Motor Company WAGON ? Not an SUV, not a crossover, but a wagon? Heck Ford has even deleted the Focus wagon from the lineup.(was that to force us into crossovers?) I'm partial to the Lincoln Brand ,my last 3 cars were Lincolns (a Town Car, an LS, and now a Zephyr I got last year.) If I could, I'd get a Colony Park, but I know Im dreaming, but why not meet me half way?
an MKZ wagon ? a Milan Wagon ? a Fusion wagon? And I know it can NEVER happen but some style and something different without allowing dealers to gouge buyers....like woodgrain paneling on the side...as an option maybe? Since nostalgia is in...a Fusion wagon with the Squire option? a Milan wagon with the Colony Park or Villager option ?? And if, just if, that dream came to be, an honest to God 3 way tailgate like we used to have which made the load space as convenient as it was easy to use, ( and a power window in the rear door for ventilation!). Before you call me a Grandpa living in the past...I'm not even 50 yet.
But its a shame that after being a lifelong customer of Lincoln/Mercury/Ford I may have to get a Volkswagon or Toyota the next time to get a wagon.

mschmal

Quick and go buy a Mazda6 wagon before they drop it in the next gen.

jeffyscott

That's what I thought too. I think the closest thing Toyota has to a wagon is the Matrix, but that is really more of a compact hatchback...more like a mazda3.

People will pay more if you put your wagon on stilts...like the edge. So that is what manufacturers are doing. Don't blame them, blame your fellow American car vehicle buyers.

scape2

Market trend shows wagons are out, gone, capute! This is why Most vehicle makers are going to "crossovers" It is what the majority of consumers are asking for. The Taurus X is about as close to a wagon as your going to get from Ford these days. Next up is the Edge.

jeffyscott

Yep.

The Edge (SE V6) is priced about $4000 above Fusion (SE V6). If instead they had done an edge wagon, I bet the price difference would be more like $1-2K and then they still would not sell anyway...just like the Mazda6 wagon which has not sold well at only $1000 above the comparable sedan.

akirby

What's wrong with a Taurus X? That's as close to a wagon as you'll get, even if they call it a CUV.