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Category: Blogging
In a previous post, I beat up on Ford for getting America hooked on automotive crack, namely Kenworth-sized SUVs and pickups. In the interest of fairness, I must give them an "attaboy" for something they've done well: the Fusion Hybrid.According to the Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times (I saw the story in the Boston Globe's automotive section), Ford has made a full-size hybrid sedan that gets microcar mileage, at least in his test. http://www.boston.com/cars/news/articles/2009/01/03/ford_ready_to_roll_out_desirable_new_hybrid/Mr. Neil reported getting 52 mpg in mixed city-highway driving, with a best of 62. Bear in mind that this is a hefty 3,700-pound four-door sedan, like a Galaxie 500 for the new millennium. And it's getting Prius mileage.This is the kind of mileage that was once only available from one-cylinder 700-pound bubblecars and King Midgets and the like.It's amazing, but when you consider that rock icon/car fanatic Neil Young is now getting over 60 mpg from a 5,000-pound '59 Lincoln converted to hybrid drive, you realize there's no reason why these numbers can't be commonplace. http://www.lincvolt.com/Other publications reported mileage that was not quite as awesome as the Los Angeles Times test, but still better than, f'rinstance, the Camry Hybrid.Ford always had smart people working for them: the problem was getting the "suits" to listen to them. "Why would we want to move the Pinto's gas tank over the axle, my boy? It's fine where it is, just behind the bumper!" Or, "so the C4 transmission pops out of Park and into Reverse for no apparent reason: big deal! You worry too much!" This hubris, in all fairness, is hardly specific to Ford: It is sadly common, especially in the American manufacturing sector. The great products are made when someone lets the designers and engineers do what they're good at. While it'd be premature for me to label this car "great" before I've even taken one for a test drive (it's due in showrooms Spring '09), so far this one looks like a winnah.Attaboy, Ford.
7:23 PM
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