[F14CRAZY]

My Forester was back with the body shop for about 3 weeks for them to correct what they neglected/forgot/screwed up on but provided me with a rental from Enterprise, this time I received an '07 Ford Fusion SE. Red with tan cloth.

The 2.3L I4 and 5 speed auto worked pretty well together. My only complaint was that the gearshift was D and L, with L being 1st gear, with no other manual shift feature. For normal driving though it wasn't needed. The 2.3L made the Fusion a little underpowered to me but I'm sure it would be just fine for most people and most situations. It had a fair amount of lower end torque, was quiet and smooth. Shifts were smooth, and it shifted up/down when it should. According to the DIC I got 28-30 mph on the freeway doing 70+ mph, good for a midsize to me.

It's a base model, which doesn't have ABS or traction control, but the brakes were great on this car. The tires were a mix of Continentals and Firestones...I got stuck a few times in the snow in driveways where I thought I shouldn't...In the same driveway my dad's '92 Civic had no trouble at all, and the customer had a FWD Aztek and also no trouble, but I had a heck of a time getting out of there. Similar issues in my driveway.

The interior was really nice as well. Gauges were good and within reach, my only complaint was the lack of an outside temp gauge even though it had a DIC. The seats were really comfortable and the driver's had basic power functions...pretty nice in a base. Power locks and mirrors. I really liked the materials. Cabin isn't silent but no complaints on noise. The audio system, 6 speakers with a 6 disc in dash changer and aux. input sounded pretty good, I'd say better than my mom's factory Pioneer 7 speaker system in her Cobalt.

I'm not the best with reviews but thought I'd write a little bit on it. Overall the Fusion shows that Ford actually can make a midsize sedan that people would consider buying, including me if I was in the market for one. No major complaints.