Full review of the 2013 Ford Fusion [Hybrid trim gets 40mpg combined in the real world]

"Management gets the behavior it rewards, whether management was aware of what it was rewarding or not."

There is more pressure on the EPA to deliver good EPA results than "real world" results although I'm not convinced that there is much difference in relative results between different cars.

Your comment about Fuelly results suffering from self selection is right on. I also noticed that the late model Fusion Hybrid Fuelly sample was very small.

 

I would value your results of honestly trying to get good fuel economy from a Fusion more than random Fuelly results.

 

He used the word in the non scientific sense to mean noise, with no attempt to normalize groups.

Unusual laxity for an engineer

 

A small number of random results from a small self selected pool of car owners (check how few late model Fusion Hybrid results there are in Fuelly) doesn't mean much. We don't know anything about their driving objectives or techniques.

As far as Codyroo goes, he is a long time frequent PC poster that keeps careful records and drives for fuel economy and has done some excellent reporting on fuel economy differences because of changes during his commute. As far as his honesty goes, I'm a good judge of character.

 

And Toyota likely optimized theirs for their home town testing.

Tony drove his wife's Fusion hybrid for a week, and was getting into the 50's for fuel economy.

Those results are just as valid as any review or self reporting tracking site.

 

+1
More valid, Tony is a known quantity and you can look up his Prius mileage for a calibration point.

 

Oooh, thank you....much appreciated!

And it is true, I do keep records. I have gas mileage records for about 2 years with my 1989 Acura Integra as well as my 2010 Prius for my commute to work (4.5 years running). I can see changes in fuel economy due to weather. I can tell you within 2 weeks when we switched to winter blend gas and when we switched out from winter blend gas (because of the sudden mileage drop with no other explanation....typically end of November - early December).

And, I'd put all my hypermiling skills to the test with that Fusion Hybrid, because I would be wildly curious to see what it can really do with a driver who's goal is to get the best mileage he can. A coworker just purchased a Lexus CT200H, and I would sooooo love to drive her car for 2 weeks to get some real world (my real world, that is) mileage data. Could I get over 50 mpg? Could I get up to the mid 50's or even low 60's?

That Fusion is beautiful looking. I'd love to convince my wife she needs one. (lol).

 

The first thing I will do if buying that Fusion is to block the exaggerated grid

 

i thought it came with auto shutters?

 

Well lets see this... new Fusion 1.6l Ecoboost gets (almost, there is always Chevy for that) worst mileage in family sedan test... while getting best EPA.

HWY EPA in ()

2012-2013 Midsize Sedan Comparison - Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, and Volkswagen Passat - Motor Trend


Altima: 26.4 mpg (38)
Camry: 26.1 mpg (35)
Accord: 25.8 mpg (36)
Passat: 25.5 mpg (31)
Fusion: 24.9 mpg (37)
Malibu: 21.3 mpg (34)
All cars were driven together at the same time over same roads during testing. And strangely all these reviews say the same thing.
But hey, it is a big lie and coincidence.

 

I recalculated your numbers as fraction of EPA achieved by MT:

0.694736842 Altima
0.745714286 Camry
0.716666667 Accord
0.689189189 Passat
0.672972973 Fusion
0.626470588 Malibu

My admittedly subjective view of the numbers is that the Fusion is in the same company as the Altima, Accord, and Passat. Camry is an outlier in a good way, and Malibu an outlier in a bad way. If I was looking for a car that gamed EPA I would wonder about the Malibu only. In any case, we all know that turbo mode is quite inefficient. I'd normalize for turbo use between the cars before looking any further afield for reasons to explain the differences.

Parenthetically, small turbo engines really are a smart fuel economy advance, but if there ever was a reason to adjust EPA testing to match technology, turbos are it.

 

As I have said elsewhere, the driver needs self discipline in order to get the fuel economy out of an efficiency turbo. It relies on the same basic fuel saving strategy as a hybrid. Match an ICE that is at peak efficiency for 80% or so of driving, then use another power source to provide the performance drivers have come to expect.

Unfortunately for the turbo, it can really suck down the gas if the driver regularly taps into the boost. Most auto mags tend not to employ the type of driver that efficiency conscious.

Who compared these cars?
Was it the same driver? an average from multiple drivers?

Found it.

2012-2013 Midsize Sedan Comparison - Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, and Volkswagen Passat - Motor Trend

For some reason I'm getting the impression they may not have driven the only manual equipped car in the group like the rest.

 

There's not much official news on dates of availability. Seems to be a few folks online asking the same question.

 

I saw one driving down the road the other day. Apparently the local Ford dealer has one for demo.