Thought for new cars, they recommend an early oil change.
Guess what Consumer Reports said about the 2013 Fusion? (You will not be surprised.)
Actually, have you compared the side view of both cars? There are superficial similarities in styling details (for example, the C-pillar area and door handles embedded in crease),
and proportions (chunky!).
It doesn't look anything at all like a Sonata, stop trolling.
it looks EXACTLY like a Sonata. I'd take the Hyundai over Ford any day. now stop your trolling. have u even seen one?
Actually sitting at the airport now, having just returned my 2013 SE rental. I was more than impressed with the interior, and the space *I'm 6'5)...been thinking about getting a new work car, one that I don't mind leaving anmt the airport, but also can drive to a customer...and seriously thinking of popping over to the Ford dealership tomorrow and picking one up.
it looks EXACTLY like a Sonata. I'd take the Hyundai over Ford any day. now stop your trolling. have u even seen one?
I went to the Ford dealership today, and got a chance to test drive the car. They didn't have the exact one on the lot as it hadn't arrived yet, so I drove a Titanium AWD instead.
First, I asked to take a peek at the infotainment system. One of the biggest reasons why I wanted to trade in my Altima was that the infotainment system was just too "old tech." If I wanted to put a single new song on it, I would have to burn a CD or use an auxiliary input, which provides no easily-accessible control. The MyFord Touch seems rather nice. I brought a cable along, so I connected up my phone, and it worked pretty well. The only negative that I can see here is that the USB port is in the arm rest.
Then, I got a chance to drive it, and that's when any enthusiasm went away. Honestly, I like a little bit of oomph in my car. You may not think of "oomph" when you hear that I have an Altima, but it has a good amount of power in it, and the reaction from the CVT is fantastic. The Fusion has none of this. When I pulled out of the dealership, it felt like the car had such a weak engine in it... it just felt like it had very little pull. Honestly, it felt like someone put a nice body on some junky Focus.
I went in fairly enthusiastic about it, but after driving one, I don't think that I can do it and still feel good about the purchase.
That 2.0T should have had plenty of oomph on the bottom end.
The FWD version is much quicker than the 2.5 Altima.
I haven't been in a 2.0 titanium but a friend has a focus st which has the same engine. It seemed plenty quick but its not going to be that much faster than a 3.5 vq altima and there's also probably some turbo and transmission lag. A 2.0t turbo and auto combo isn't necessarily laggy. My current car has a similar 2.0 engine and an 8 speed at and it feels very responsive . I'm amazed its an automatic compared the the 5/6 speed ones I've had in other cars
Hm, I think I see one of my issues. It appears that I somehow got a much higher horsepower number stuck in my head. I must have seen the torque numbers, which are higher, and set some sort of performance level based on it. The Fusion has 231/240 HP (87 vs 93 octane) and 270 ft-lb of torque (src).
I want to clarify one thing in your post...
I have a 3.5SL, which has the 3.5 liter VQ35DE V6 engine. It has 270HP and 258 ft-lbs of torque (src). You are right about the 2.5 liter variant of the Altima as it makes less than 200 HP.
Ultimately, the car just doesn't seem to have much pick-up in what you would consider standard acceleration. As I mentioned, I'm not even sure if it's all the engine or if the difference in transmission is at fault. I've been driving my Altima for about six years, and I've grown rather used to the CVT. I'm pretty certain that I've seen people on this very sub-forum complain about how automatics feel "mushy", which sounds like the problem that I had. CVTs don't feel "mushy" because they don't rely on viscous-based torque converters as a method of transferring power from the engine to the transmission.
Maybe I just need to give it another chance? I certainly do like the infotainment system quite a bit, which is nice because I can't seem to find an aftermarket one that doesn't take a year and a half to start up. :|
I haven't been in a 2.0 titanium but a friend has a focus st which has the same engine. It seemed plenty quick but its not going to be that much faster than a 3.5 vq altima and there's also probably some turbo and transmission lag. A 2.0t turbo and auto combo isn't necessarily laggy. My current car has a similar 2.0 engine and an 8 speed at and it feels very responsive . I'm amazed its an automatic compared the the 5/6 speed ones I've had in other cars
Is the fuel economy difference a factor?
The 2013 Altima V6 is rated much better than the 2012 Altima V6, and is closer to the 2013 2.0T Fusion.
I had an F30 328i sportline for a service loaner for a couple days.
There really isn't too much of a point for the 335i anymore for normal driving, its that good. This is also coming from an E90 335i JB4 stage 1 owner.
Have you checked the 2013 Accord out?
Nope. I didn't even think about Honda since the Honda dealer is on the side of town that I don't visit much! The Accord looks like a decent option, and it's about as expensive as the Fusion and Altima (depending on vanity options).
Do you know how well their i-MID system works for handling phones? I was a bit annoyed earlier at the non-navigation-equipped Altima's inability to read my phone's music library via USB. It just kept going to Pandora, which I hadn't even set up yet! Although, I'm not even sure about one thing... is there an advantage to doing USB over Bluetooth for audio? I'm assuming that using pure USB (i.e. not USB + 3.5mm) allows the car's DAC to process the file vs. having the phone process it. Bluetooth does the latter, right?
I wonder if that's sort of like the difference that I see between the Altima and Maxima that I talk about below. The Altima definitely feels more responsive than the Maxima when you drive it.
To be honest, I don't worry too much about fuel economy. I figure that without evil, planet-haters like me, hybrid owners would have nothing to feel smug about! :biggrin:
I actually went to the Nissan dealer today, and I drove a 2013 Maxima and a V6-equipped 2013 Altima (all Maximas use the VQ35DE engine). Driving the Maxima was really weird, because while the engine is the same as my Altima and the 2013 model, the car didn't feel the same driving it. Honestly... it felt like the Fusion did. I pushed the pedal down, and it didn't feel like it had the same get-up-and-go as my Altima does. The Maxima does weigh a little more, but not substantial enough to make it feel bogged down. As you'd expect, the 2013 Altima pretty much felt just like my 2007.
The only thing that pulls me away is that I missed a great deal that Nissan was offering me last week. They were willing to give me about $1.5k more for my car and give me significantly more discounts off a new Altima. The Altima is actually cheaper than the Fusion with all the goodies added in (it's about $32k vs. $33-34k), and to get even more money off just sweetens the pot. The only thing that holds me back is... well, the Fusion looks better, and the infotainment system is definitely better. Whenever I plugged my iPhone into the Altima's Nav-based infotainment system (this was last night), it kept going to Pandora! Ugh, I do have Pandora installed on my phone, but I don't use it! :| I tried it on the Maxima earlier today, and it definitely worked better. Although, I really like Ford's Similar Style option for selecting a random track off your phone. The Maxima just kept jumping between any song on my phone.
I think I'm going to go back to the Ford dealership tomorrow, and see if they'll let me drive a FWD Fusion Titanium instead of an AWD, and also let me drive the car in a... spirited manner. If I've been looking at the Maxima, I should probably be fair and also give the Taurus a look. Although, the idea of paying $40k+ for a Ford that isn't a huge truck or a Mustang sounds rather... odd.
Well, if you want something quick the Taurus sho should offer that for you. Only downside? That car is huge, but still impressive.
Aikouka - If you're looking for more power, maybe you need to drive the Lincoln MKZ with the 3.7L V6. It will probably cost somewhere in the mid $40k's depending on the options you want, but you're getting the same MyFord Touch/MyLincoln Touch infotainment system.
Aikouka - If you're looking for more power, maybe you need to drive the Lincoln MKZ with the 3.7L V6. It will probably cost somewhere in the mid $40k's depending on the options you want, but you're getting the same MyFord Touch/MyLincoln Touch infotainment system.
why would anyone buy a mid 40k ford sedan?
thats basically what most car review sites have been saying about the mkz.... i mean the fusion is a great car for 23-27k . 23-27k is the land where you cant get a RWD or longitudanal based cars and the playing field is FWD transvered nose heavy vehicles. the fusion is good for its class but its not so great as an entry level luxury car, and the mkz is basically a fusion witha v6. I guess really the main competitors would be an acura TL, an ES350, and the mkz. I suppose the avalon and maxima are in here too, but if you are spending that kind of money you need to visit the other drive train layouts that become available
imho ford doesnt really build luxury cars . lincoln is kind of a disaster. might as well buy an a ATS/CTS if you have to buy an american make (if thats your thing, but yeah whole different debate) and want to spend in the 40s. or buy a german car or an infiniti. even in the same very large car with 350+ hp range that are non premium there are still argueably better non premium options like the 300C or the genesis v8 which are both RWD and likely more fun.