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Contour vs. Fusion?

Hi, I am actually thinking about buying a 2008 Fusion

Hi, I am actually thinking about buying a 2008 Fusion

Of course unlike most of you, I want an automatic and 4 cylinder..... as the person stated above I was verrrry surprised at the 4 cyl- same motor in both (6 and Fusion) -I have a Mazda Tribute 06 S and its kinda thirsty.... and My Tour Im keeping, but may sale at a later date. Im looking for a few things and MPG, Safety and Price (the cars were loaded with the normal stuff keyless, cruise ,air, 6 cd bose, etc but the thing that blew me away-the ford value package-comes with leather, 17 inch wheels). I went today and test drove both a 2008 Value Sport Package I 6 and a 2008 Ford Fusion SE with the sport package 4 cylinder auto. I am very surprised the outcome! The ride was different-not too much, but the Mazda and Fusion had the same dash and cluster- seating was more contoured in the cloth Mazda, but I have only been in this Fusion-never sat in a cloth appointed one! First and foremost the Stickers were almost identical- $21,235. Mazda and $21,190. Ford. Ok, to lay out some info-I get The Employee Discount due to my Dad-so I get them at invoice and I get the rebates or financing as well. Well the invoice and rebates on the Ford 17,100. and the Mazda 17,900. well I was having doubts on the Mazda and my trade was low balled at the Mazda dealership and would not budge...-sooo, the Ford Dealership is giving me close to Retail- (for clarification my Dad doesnt work at either dealership) so- with all in all prolly gonna go wiith the Ford-had my mind made up on a 6, but guess this changed it-anyone else with any other info about the fusin let me know-going by Consumer Reports, Edmunds, etc..

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Any opinions....one thing the Mazda did have....dual exhast...Ford did not...
Tour
 
WOW what a thread to read through, felt like I was reading War&Peace (yawn!!!) The side trip about the south perked me up a bit. Now back to the Original thread Fusion vs. Contour....

For me its not even a fair comparison, If you take in account what the SVT Contour was built for and when (spring 97-00) Its was built to compete with the likes of the BMW 3 series at a sticker prices of 24k about 5-8k less than the BMW.

to be fair to the SVT Contour you would need to give it an increase in HP of 50-75 to stay in the market it was built for. It would come with the Ford/Microsoft sync system and would have extras like tire sensor gages. The rest is pretty much still on par with todays sport sedans.

Over the last 20-30 Fords has built interesting cars then turn their back on them after a few years of production:
1. SVO Stang
2. Probe GT
3. SHO Taurus (all time leading seller (base Model)
4. SVT Contours

To name a few, the Stang barely escaped the chopping block itself due to customer out cry. The Lighting is gone now and soon the SVT Focus will be put on the back porch and left in the cold. Back in the 50's/60's/70's you knew what cars Ford was going to put out each year and just waiting to see the improvements from year to year.

Now you have to see if the car you brought is still in production from year to year. Hope no one here brought a 500 recently.:shrug: :shrug:
 
Mazdaspeed3. 4-cylinder turbo with 263 horsepower, 5 doors, 6-speed transmission, leather bolstered seats, 25mpg highway, limited production.

Of course I'm biased.
 
I'm too lazy to read through all of this so this is my experience with the 6/fusion.

6- got to drive a rental 6 for a week. It was the 4cyl with manumatic. It was a fun car to drive, rode and handled well. It didn't have a sport suspension on it but it had the subtle body kit with 17's. Mileage was actually about even with my v6/atx tour.

Fusion- Test drove one about 2-3 weeks ago. V6 SE with the 6spd auto IIRC. I loved the feel and sound of the V6. I have driven a new V6 Camry too. The Camry would whoop the Fusion in acceleration, but the Fusion was more fun to drive. I didn't like the interior of the Fusion. It seemed cheap and I especially hated that there wasnt a manumatic with the 6spd auto.

I think I would get a 6 over the Fusion. It felt better put together and looks a hell of a lot better too.
 
99SEsport2K4 said:
It seemed cheap and I especially hated that there wasnt a manumatic with the 6spd auto.
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Has anyone who knows how to drive a stick driven a manumatic and liked it? I had one in a Kia Optima rental car, and it sucked, didn't really resemble driving a stick at all.
 
dbateman said:
Has anyone who knows how to drive a stick driven a manumatic and liked it? I had one in a Kia Optima rental car, and it sucked, didn't really resemble driving a stick at all.
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I'm not surprised something from Kia sucked. I can drive stick, and prefer it but if you're gonna have an auto, manumatic is better than just a plain slushbox.
 
Thanks for the input.....bought the 6.....from a different dealer

Thanks for the input.....bought the 6.....from a different dealer

Well, as this thread originally said....the comparison of the Contour and the like vehicles mentioned the 20 or 30 vehicles Ford last produced was on the money. Who knows...would the Contour eventually "morph" into a Fusion-well I guess look at the Mondeo- will we ever know? LOL..... North and South funny!! Went to a dealer in Cincy today and actually bought a 2008 6 Sport Value-got it out the door below invoice, more money on my trade and extended warranty 5 yr 100k . Before my trade was deducted almost $2,000.00 less than the Fusion. Hint-did not know this: Mazda's Physcal Year ends tomorrow 3-31-2008, so if your serious about a deal on a Mazda-take delivery tomorrow! Pics to come soon! Thanks all! Oh, Replacer, dont forget about the Thunderbird TC and SC on that list... had one of those as well! You say Probe-miss that one too! Here was my KLZE MX-6 LS..yes, I know get flack for the Ford stuff, I liked it though.......PGT....had a nice one too!


Thanks, cya!

Tour
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dbateman said:
Has anyone who knows how to drive a stick driven a manumatic and liked it? I had one in a Kia Optima rental car, and it sucked, didn't really resemble driving a stick at all.
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I drive rental cars a lot. Often more than one rental a week. I'm not impressed with the Fusion. The biggest thing I dislike is the lack of transmission control.

The most impressive car I frequently draw is the Hyundai Sonata. The five speed automatic may not have quite the flexibility of the six speed Fusion, but it does have the ability to control shifting when desired. Most impressive though is the acceleration. The 3.3 L V6 Hauls. If I were in the market for a new car, it would be very high on my list of cars to check out.

Now if the Fusion had the Lincoln MKZ powertrain as an option . . .
 
The Sonata...hard to believe...but it has come a long way

The Sonata...hard to believe...but it has come a long way

I have never been in a 6 cyl Sonada -saw the specs though. And the Mondeo, we can hope....seems like Ford is maybe getting on the right track....maybe we will see the European Focus and the Mondeo...oh, and the Australian Falcon-XR8-been a favorite for a long time...that car has alot of engine and tranny choices..looks sweet too! They have been making the Falcon as well as Mondeo down under for years....
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I imported a diecast a couple years ago-love this car! The next Mustang is suppose to share its platform??? hmmm


    • Falcon XR8




      BlobServer


 
I've already given my impressions of the Fusion. But I just bought a Focus to replace my Contour and it feels much more similar to the Contour than the Fusion did. Now admittedly it's an '03 Focus, so many interior parts are still sibling to those found in the Contour, maybe newer Focii are a little less so.

So that actually makes my Contour available cheap. See the CA classifieds thread for details.
 
96RedSE5Sp said:
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
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Not sure yet.....only had it a couple of days. First impressions are good, though the interior feels a bit cheezier. Not so much the dash, instrumentation, and controls. But the console/armrest, and the housing for the interior lamps/moon-roof control, definitely.

It's a ZTS so it has the 2.3L PZEV Duratec, which makes it quite peppy. And it was quite the bargain - fully loaded, 1 owner, 21k miles for $6500.​
 

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Although long in the tooth, my 98.5 E1 SVT Contour is hands down the best overall car I ever owned and rates higher over my '04 SVT Focus. I would, however love to drive an updated EcoBoost SVT Fusion. I'm sure the 10 years of technology improvements would win me over!!!
 
I test drove a fully loaded V6 Fusion before I bought my SVT and liked my 95 Contour LX better. They're cars suited to different types of drivers imo. Cars like the Contour and Focus fit like gloves, but the Fusion feels like a mitten. I don't like mittens.

It's too bad the "small" midsize sedan seems to be dead.
 
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