Chevrolet Impala vs. Ford Fusion

dispencer1dispencer1 Member Posts: 489
edited April 2014 in Chevrolet
A friend of mine in Chicago just ordered a Fusion. He keeps his cars 10 years and is definately not a car buff. His son works for a Ford dealership so he got the employee price which is probably why he switched from GM to Ford. I looked at the Mercury Milan the other day and compared to my Impala the interior looked cheap. I drove a Milan a few months ago and was concerned because there was a momentary lag when you accelerated. Has anyone driven a 2LT or LS and then a Fusion or Milan? What are the differences? I considered a Fusion before I bought my Impala but thought the Impala looked better inside.
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Comments

  • jntjnt Member Posts: 316
    I had a chance to drive a rental Fusion with 4 cyl option last month for a week. Overall, the car is reasonably roomy and has good handling chracteristic. Interior is a bit cheap even with leather option (so it is not as good as the new Impala). It has many little rough edges: distorted rear view (vehicles in rear look narrow and tall), radio is polluted with ignition noise in both AM and FM. If you are a short person, you may have problem seeing thru. the rear view (common problem with high deck vehicles). So it is not as refined as Accord or Camry yet. But it is for sure better than the Taurus in styling and mechanical hardware (thanks to it Mazda6 root)

    jt
  • dispencer1dispencer1 Member Posts: 489
    How did the Fusion ride compared to the Impala?
  • jntjnt Member Posts: 316
    Fusion's ride is very good. But again, I 'm biased toward the handling side at expense of smooth ride.

    jt
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    I don't understand why so many people are comparing the Fusion, Camry, etc. to the Impala. The Impala is a full-sized sedan, almost exactly the same size as the Ford Five Hundred, and a smidgen longer than the Chrysler 300. Dodge Charger would be an obvious competitor too. Of course people cross-shop size classes, but I don't think one should then expect amenities to be comparable.

    The Fusion would seem to be a direct competitor to the Malibu, the (awful) Cirrus and Stratus, as well as a whole spate of Japanese mid-size cars. I don't think the Fusion interior should be as nice as the Impala class car. That it is not is akin to complaining that the Audi A4 interior is not as nice as the A6's.
  • dispencer1dispencer1 Member Posts: 489
    How does it ride compared to the Impala -better, same, worse, etc.? I know it has a smooth ride. CU says the Impala (they tested the 3LT with 17" tires) was "unsettled" whatever that means. This would mean to me that the car jiggles all the time. Mine doesn't.
  • dispencer1dispencer1 Member Posts: 489
    You are probably right. The Fusion costs less than the Impala and has an interior that looks like a Malibu's which is primarily why I got the Impala. Size wise, the Impala equates more to the Avalon. The LaCrosse and Impala are very similar - the dash looks about the same and they are on the same platform. I didn't like the LaCrosse because of the 6 way seats (I can never get the back of the seat straight up with a manual control and over time it ends up in a 10% reclining position) and primarily because it has the old 1998 Buick shape -looks just like a Century from the front. Down at the Buick lot last year you could hardly tell the LaCrosse from the rest of the sedans.
  • jntjnt Member Posts: 316
    Dispencer,

    My experience with the Fusion was on smooth LA roads. So the car is very comfortable on the ride department, IMO.

    CR sometimes speak from both sides of their mouth: They traditionally hate the soft, cushing Buick ride (except if it is a Toyota's sloppiness, then it is another story : "comfortable but predictable at limits" ) and like the German's VW Passat rougher ride (but better handling). But now in the Impala case, they prefer more compliant and soft ride? May be on that day, CR the tester just had a bad back.

    jt
  • steelydan0613steelydan0613 Member Posts: 144
    The "awful" Cirrus and Stratus are due to be replaced within the year. Daimler/Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge was the ONLY American car company to make a profit in North America last year, they are on a roll, you can be sure that the Stratus/Cirrus twins will be a contender again.
  • dispencer1dispencer1 Member Posts: 489
    I don't much like the 300 but many do including all the car writers. The Neon replacement will probably blow away anything that GM offers from what I've heard and read. The PT Cruiser is another example of a car that attracted the public. Chrysler seems to have a knack for producing cars that are out of the mainstream and impressing the people who write about them. I've always heard (and read on various Chrysler forums) that reliability was a major problem. I wouldn't buy a Chrysler product (the last good ones were made around 1966 IMO) but they seem to be able to anticipate what people want to drive.
  • jntjnt Member Posts: 316
    Chrysler has always been the front runner when it comes to creating vehicles that people want to buy. RAM truck, 300C, PT Cruiser, Jeep Grand Cherokee to name a few. They leads in styling department even though they borrowed from others most of the times.

    It amazed me to see quite a few Chrysler 300C in LA 's high rent neighborhoods. These are places where every family seems to own a Bimmer or a Merc.

    GM still has a way to go yet in the stlying department. They has done a wonderful job on interior design. Now if they could make the Impala exterior just as exciting as the 300C, then GM fortune will turn around. Stop copying the Japanese or even European stylings. Nothing wrong with American design (just look at the 300).

    jt
  • deafmtguy82deafmtguy82 Member Posts: 1
    I second that. Those are accurate for these full size cars which Fusion isn't...
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