Ford Says New Fusion S Bests Camry, Accord 4-Bangers in EPA Mileage Ratings
By John O'Dell January 9, 2009
It may be a case of piling on, but Ford Motor Co. gleefully issued a press release today touting yet another fuel economy win over Japanese rivals - this time it's the conventionally powered Ford Fusion S beating the 4-cylinder Toyota Camry and Honda accord models.
The base model in the 2010 Fusion lineup has been rated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency at 23 miles per gallon in city driving and 34 mpg on the highway, Ford said.
The company has proudly been touting the EPA fuel efficiency rating for the 2010 Fusion hybrid - 41 mpg in the city and 36 on the highway - as best-in-class in the mid-size car segment, easily overshadowing Toyota's Camry hybrid and Nissan's Altima hybrid.
Toyota took umbrage at that claim, however, maintaining, as we reported earlier today, that despite being much smaller that the Fusion and the Camry, the Prius qualifies as a mid-size under federal rules and thus beats the Fusion hybrid with its 48 mpg city-45 mpg highway rating.
In today's announcement, Ford tried to fix that by proclaiming the Fusion, which goes on sale in the spring, as "American's most fuel-efficient mid-size sedan for both hybrid and conventional gasoline models."
The key word there is "sedan." Toyota's Prius is a hatchback and thus no longer part of the comparison set.
The Fusion S uses Ford's new 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine linked to the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission.
Its 23/34 mpg rating tops the 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder Camry's by 2 miles a gallon in the city cycle and 3 mpg on the highway. It bests the 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder Accord by just 1 mile per gallon in the city, but by 3 mpg in highway driving, according to the EPA.
We don't really care who is mileage champ, it's just good to see the automakers battling it out over fuel economy claims as well as doing the standard horsepower and 0-60 acceleration match-ups.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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Good for them. I hope that the Fusion is at least a little more fun to drive than the Cam....*yawn*....ry.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
That's practically the same as my 24/33 Focus. They've progressed far in just a few years.
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