The company that manages my work vehicle neglected to mail me permanent tags this week. So, they rented me a car for the week. I ended up with a 2018 Ford Fusion EcoBoost titanium with the awd option.
My expectations were pretty low as I have ridden in plenty of fusions with the 1.5 liter engine which is a total dog, and it’s always felt like a boring driving experience. BUT I will have to say, I was totally shocked at how good this car is.
Full disclaimer: I occasionally drive like a nut on the street. It’s an easy way to release some aggression. I have put about 1500 miles on the fusion in the last 4 days, and I drove like a fool for 75% of those miles. Normally I wouldn’t abuse a vehicle like that, but It’s a rental so what the heck right? But in doing so, I discovered that the fusion chassis is so friggin good.
The engine is decent. Plenty of midrange grunt, but not a ton before 3.5k rpms, and not much after 5500. Typical small turbo engine. The transmission isn’t great, response is terrible.
BUT, never in my life have I seen a rental handle so well. I was hitting super tight onramps at 85mph+. Lift off the throttle and tap the brakes, and the rear end slides just perfectly so the nose gets pointed in the right direction. If it feels like it’s going to understeer, just mash the gas until it feels like it’s going way too fast, and then hammer some trail brake and the rear end just rotates, and then the awd hooks up and shoots you out of the corner. It’s just silly how fast this car can hit corners. 4 wheel drifts are a piece of cake.
Oh, and it still feels stable as speeds climb. I hit 134 on gps down a hill (it’s drag limited around 130 on flat ground) and never did the car feel jittery.
With more power, better brakes, better throttle response, and a bit more rearward bias with the awd system, this thing might be the perfect awd family sedan. Definitely the best rental sedan available right now, I would say.
