A Feel-Good Car

Odometer: 3438.7
Tank Mileage: 594.3
Gallons Added: 15.721
Long-Term Average: 39.1
Short-Term Average: 39.1
Calculated Average: 37.8

I went on a bit of a road trip over the weekend. The major highway sections were into the teeth of a fairly strong wind. I was able to do well in the hills of northern Michigan. I can't get too unhappy about a tank that was largely highway driving with the cruise set to 70 for most of the distance. I still beat the highway mileage number.

A comment made over the weekend got me to thinking. The individual making the comment dismissed the car as just a "feel-good car". I guess the implication is that the only reason to get it was to feel good as there was no other justification. I wasn't sure how to respond assuming this individual was even interested in listening. I've always "felt good" about the car I was driving. This goes from the Mercury Cougar that was my first car (and really fun to drive), through the Fords and Chevy I got to drive, to the Subarus that were the first cars I've owned myself. I love to drive. I find it relaxing and a time when I can reflect on things. I've always had (in my opinion) strong reasons for each car I bought. Time has shown that each car worked very well at meeting my needs. When I stopped feeling-good about them, I tended to get another one.

As to my new 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, there are many reasons to "feel good" about this car. This car can go 500 miles and still have plenty gas in the tank. I've wanted this since the 1980 Chevrolet Impala I drove with the "running on fumes" combination of 25 gals and 20 mpg. The thing that I first noticed about the Ford Fusion (and it's a little thing) is the sound the door makes when shut. I feel good about that every time I hear it. It reminds me of the 1975 Ford LTD I drove until I graduated high school. The LTD was the car that took me to my first job, that I took my first girlfriend on a date with, and that I used doing public service as an Amateur Radio operator support local Civil Defense. I can feel good about supporting a company that has survived the "Great Recession" without a government bailout. I like the display. I wish it had more gages, but I'm really happy with the amount of information available. I like the feel of the road I get and the responsiveness of the car to driver inputs. It has aggressive braking and plenty of acceleration if you need it. It is fun to drive. I can even spin the tires if I really want to, but I have to turn off the traction control first. It isn't a Mustang, but it is quite respectable for what it is. Finally, based on the normal pattern of my driving and the number of miles I put on cars, I expect to recover the cost difference in about three years (and gas stays above $2.50/gal). That is something to feel good about without getting into reduced emissions and the rest of that sustainability stuff.

An unexpected reset

Odometer: 2844.4
Tank Mileage: 608.9
Gallons Added: 15.578
Long-Term Average: 40.5 (reset during tank)
Short-Term Average: 40.5 (reset during tank)
Calculated Average: 39.1

I will need to figure out how I'm going to calculate, and report, long-term average mileage. One of the sites I'm recording my mileage on reports my overall average as 37.7 mpg.

Between the time we parked to go to lunch and the time I started the car after lunch, several items were reset: short-term average, long-term average, the dash display settings, and the fuel efficiency display settings. Trip A and Trip B were not reset. I have no idea what triggered this reset and no operational impact has been noted, but it is annoying.

I had 10 miles to E showing when I stopped. I already knew the low-fuel warning activated at 50 miles to E. This is accompanied by an alert tone. This tone is repeated at 25 and 10 miles to E. One thing that will make me feel better is that I drove more than 40 miles after the 50-mile warning. Fuel remaining goes down quickly from 1/4 to the low-fuel warning, but the slope appears better after that point.

Hiding Cup Holders

Tonight, I found two cup holders for the back seat.

There is an arm rest that folds down from the center of the upright cushion in the back seat. There are two cup holders in this arm rest. This makes more sense than there aren't any for the back seat.

Settling in

Odometer: 2235.5
Tank Mileage: 553.2
Gallons Added: 14.697
Long-Term Average: 35.7
Short-Term Average: Oops!
Calculated Average: 37.6

Collecting the data needs to get better. I forgot to record the Short-Term value. I was either 38.4 or 38.5, but I don't remember which. There was still 54 miles estimated to E for a tank range of 607. The estimate for full tank range after the fill was 643 miles.

The last quarter tank seems to be smaller. At least, there miles to go seems to be reduced at a faster rate than miles driven. At the peak, there was more than 640 miles in the estimated tank range. This started to be reduced noticeably in the last quarter tank. I'm now paying attention to miles driven in each quarter. I don't know yet if I just had a significant headwind or something. I am used to gas gages being non-linear. I just don't want to get caught out by an overly optimistic range estimate. The manual tells me there is some fuel left at E, but I really do not want to find out how much.

SYNC First Impressions

I've used SYNC to access music and podcasts on a USB drive. This works fairly well. I'm still getting used to how the drive is processed by the sound system, but it is well described in the Manual.

Today, I bought a new phone (my four year-old phone did not have Bluetooth). It was easy to "pair" the phone and the car. After that, it was easy to download the contacts in the phone to SYNC. I used this to call my father who said it sounded good. Sound quality was very good. I also like how I can check the signal strength and battery charge through the console interface. The only issue so far is that the volume of the call was enough down from the volume of the voice prompts which leads to a bit of a surprise when the next prompt is generated. I suspect there is a way to adjust this. I will be reading both the SYNC and the new phone manuals.

I continue to be very happy with this car.

Back in the USA

Odometer: 1682.2
Tank Mileage: 512.0
Gallons Added: 13.696
Long-Term Average: 34.7
Short-Term Average: 38.3
Calculated Average: 37.4

I've changed the "Monthly Average" to "Short-Term Average". According to the User's Manual, this display shows the mileage since last reset or last 2000 miles. I think I'll just let it run. The Long-Term Average can be reset, but that reset is deeper in the Setup menus. I plan to just let that one run as well. First range estimate after the fill is 633 miles.

On the way to Toronto

Odometer: 1170.2
Tank Mileage: 492.3
Gallons Added: 12.582
Long-Term Average: 33.3
Monthly Average: 38.1
Calculated Average: 39.1

We filled up a bit early to avoid having to buy gas in Canada. We should easily be able to get back to the US before we have to fill again. We had 148 miles to E for an estimated tank range of 640 miles. Long-Term average is now over 30 mpg. The Monthly average did get to 38.5 during the week while commuting.

As mentioned after the first tank, this tank included about 200 miles of Interstate driving with a significant tailwind. The two legs involved included a 44.0 and a 43.6 mpg segment average.

Per the Owner's Manual, we are now out of the break-in period. Based on statements made about the Ford Hybrid system, I should see some improvements over the next few thousand miles as the rest of the system wears-in.

First fill-up

Odometer: 677.9
Tank Mileage: 526.8
Gallons Added: 14.974
Long-Term Average: 29.7
Monthly Average: 36.6
Calculated Average: 35.2

I had to drive to Dayton, Ohio today. I spent most of the 200 miles driving into a quartering headwind. As I neared Dayton, the was a bong and the left-most part of the instrument panel changed to a Low Fuel Warning. This was apparently triggered when the Miles to E hit 50 miles. I filled with 30 Miles to E for a Full Tank Range of 556 miles. When I turned the car on after filling, there were 551 miles to E.

This is quite encouraging. I will be done with the break-in period of 1000 miles when I next fill the car. I had a significant tailwind on the return trip. Both segments of the trip home showed over 40 mpg. We'll have to wait for the next fill to see the full impact.

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

I've been watching the development of new technology in the automotive industry for a while now. I've been quite intrigued by the hybrids from Honda, Toyota, and Ford. (I know there are others, but these the manufacturers whose products have figured strongly in my awareness.) I really want an all-electric car, but until that is a viable option, hybrids will have to do.

Another day, I may go into the full list of requirements that I had when looking for this car. The important ones were high mileage, long range, and NO hole in the roof. I also greatly prefer vehicles with predictable handling.

When the 2010 Fusion was announced, I was really excited. I liked the look of the car. I checked them out and I loved the huge trunk in the non-hybrid version. With the hybrid, I lose a bit of the trunk and the pass-through by folding the rear seats, but what is left meets my needs and the additional features add plenty of value to balance the equation. Ultimately, I chose the hybrid version as I wanted to reward the company for offering it and because I had more completely researched the options I did, and did not, want. I had also identified a car at a local dealer that matched my desires exactly.

This is that car:


I got this car with 151.1 miles on it and a full tank. I reset the Trip A, Trip B, both timers, and the Average MPG. I didn't know how to reset the Long Term Mileage, but it was 18.8 the first time I noticed it in the trip report. (Every time you turn off the car, you get a summary of the miles, average mileage, fuel used, and long term average mileage.) At this point, I'm planning to leave the long term number alone. I'm planning on resetting the average mileage each month.

There are many options in what can be displayed in the instrument cluster. Currently, I have Trip A (I use this for distance since last fuel fill.), a moving chart of the last 10 1-minute averages for mileage, and average mileage. Always displayed are odometer and miles to E. (Miles to E were reported as 475 when I got the car.)

Break-in is identified as the first 1000 miles. Mileage is supposed to improve during the break-in.

One motivation in creating this blog is providing more information on this car for others who might be looking into it specifically or the technology in general. There will be plenty of data presented.

For full disclosure, I do work for Ford Motor Company. The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Ford or any other entity. I have no special access to the designers or program managers. If I have issues, I would take the car to a dealer just like any other customer. Finally, any information presented is from publicly available sources or my personal experience with this car.