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Hello everyone.
I found this website and read several of your posts. Now I'm hoping that you wouldn't mind answering a couple of questions for me.

I'm very seriously thinking about a 2012 Fusion Hybrid but I'm not sure it's a good fit for me. My average speed is 28- 35 mph but often I'm driving at approximately 50 mph. I'm occasionally on the freeway at 65 mph. Knowing that, does the FFH make sense?

My second concern is how it handles in snow. I live in the snow-belt east of Cleveland so this is really important.

Many thanks in advance for your help.
Shelby

Well it should do well for you in the snow as long as you install four high quality snow tires on it. Low speed driving is where Hybrids like the Ford Fusion excel. The trick with highway driving is unless your talking about really long distances try to keep you highway speeds between fifty and sixty. I seriously looked at the Ford Fusion Hybrid when it first came out. Most of my driving is urban and short distances so the Prius was a better choice in my case.

Here are a couple of articles that should help you out.

Welcome to the board

Ford Fusion Hybrid article one (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40157)

1,000 miles on one tank of gas (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22218)

On the highway the Fusion hybrid does better than the sticker says (no problem getting 40 + MPG IF you stay under 65 or 70 MPH) - in snow / ice I've heard it does a little better than average with the factory tires, in your favor the added weight of the hybrid system helps the car grip better but the high profile LLR tires are a little more slippery, snow tires help but your gonna take a hit in the MPG department.

Thanks for the information. I'm trying to learn everything I can about the FFH before I make my decision. On a separate note, it's frustrating that Ford has incentives on the Fusion but not on the hybrid. I'm hoping they will offer something at the auto show.

I concur with the above. My wife's car still pulls in high 40's on the highway at reasonable speeds in winter and though I put snow tires on for my wife's peace of mind, it handles just fine in the snow on the OEM tires here in MN.

The FFH will drop into EV mode as high as 47mph so your lower speed range is still well within the sweet spot of what the car is capable of. In that range I managed a bit over 50mpg round trip (no block heater use on the first leg :rolleyes:) a couple of days ago in 29F temps with wet roads:


54.5mpg for 16.7mi (Home to Church)
51.3mpg for 16.7mi (Church to home)

Since you're from Minnesota you certainly know something about snow. I think I would be like your wife and go with snow tires for that extra confidence.

Thanks for your reply.
Shelby