Ford Fusion
I have rented all 3 of the engine options for this car. The 3.0 flex-fuel V6 is the worst choice, it is based on the old Duratec design, which is outdated and has a lot of lifter noise. The 3.5 is much nicer & quieter, and pumps out 263hp which is substantial for a car of this size. The 2.5 four-cyl is only 175hp but is smooth for a 4-cyl. All in all, I think this engine "suits" it the best, because this is a FWD car and it doesn't make sense to put much torque into a FWD.
The tranny is a 6-speed, and for the first 2-3 minutes when it's still cold the shifting is crude......upshifts get hung up. Also the first 2-3 gears are too short, and as a result it shifts twice before you've finished making a simple right turn.
Too busy.
Ride & handling is pretty good for its class......It's no sport sedan, but it's a good balance. The ride is much smoother than a G6.
But I would never buy this car because its interior is so horrible.....I mean seriously who the fuck is responsible for thsi shit? CHeck out these ghey-ass gauges:
Not only do they look retarded, but they are hard to read in the daylight. But the worst offense is the center stack.......You can barely read any of the buttons & switches, the font is so friggin small.....
What makes it worse is that the console is curved AWAY from the driver, instead of towards him. Seriously, who the fuck designed this?
And to top it off, the headlight switch is not on a stalk, it's on this lame dial on the left side of the dash. What's fucked up is that it's not lit at night. So, when you go to turn it on or off, you have to hunt for it by feel, and you can accidentally hit the trunk button
Not to mention the wiper stalk is not on the right side of the wheel like it should be.....It's on the left, shared with the turn signals. So, if you slap the signals too hard, you make the wipers move. Dumb.