Road Test: FORD FUSION

Modern mill from Ford being made in India! We had first seen the Duratec family of engines on the Mondeo and what a scorcher that had turned out to be. Developed in conjunction with Mazda, this 1596cc engine will be put together at HM's Pithampur plant where the Ikon engines are also made. This 4-cylinder all aluminium engine is naturally aspirated and develops maximum power of 100PS at 6500rpm and 143NM of torque at 3400rpm. This more modern engine has been adopted in keeping with the positioning of the Fusion and features throttle-by-wire technology. The engine breathes through 16 valves (intake being 30.1mm and exhaust 24.1mm) which are controlled by belt driven double overhead camshafts. Ignition is distributorless while a Siemens engine management system controls the sequential multi point fuel injection. Special low friction coating on the aluminium alloy pistons increases efficiency and makes for better NVH as does the nodular crankshaft with eight counter weights. While in Europe this engine produces 100PS at 6000rpm and higher torque using 95 octane petrol, the engine characteristics have been somewhat modified to suit Indian fuel and driving conditions. The same gearbox that does duty on the Ikon has been adopted for the Fusion with just the first gear ratio and the final drive ratio being changed from the cogs that do duty on the 1.3 Ikon. Given the higher torque characteristics of the Duratec engine, the first gear is taller but a shorter final drive makes all the overall ratios for each gear shorter. This is no doubt compensated for by the fact that this Duratec engine revs much higher than the Rocam engine. The engine itself is much smoother even much higher up the rev range, has higher levels of refinement and has a nice sound to it. I was somewhat disappointed by its lack of pulling power at the bottom end of the rev range though the car is quite peppy at the other end. The gearbox is slick and shifts well with short throws that catch you unawares - the car being in gear when you think that the lever should have travelled more. Shallow notches for the gears make for faster and better shifts once you get used to them.

Modern mill from Ford being made in India!

We had first seen the Duratec family of engines on the Mondeo and what a scorcher that had turned out to be. Developed in conjunction with Mazda, this 1596cc engine will be put together at HM's Pithampur plant where the Ikon engines are also made.

This 4-cylinder all aluminium engine is naturally aspirated and develops maximum power of 100PS at 6500rpm and 143NM of torque at 3400rpm. This more modern engine has been adopted in keeping with the positioning of the Fusion and features throttle-by-wire technology.

The engine breathes through 16 valves (intake being 30.1mm and exhaust 24.1mm) which are controlled by belt driven double overhead camshafts.

Ignition is distributorless while a Siemens engine management system controls the sequential multi point fuel injection.

Special low friction coating on the aluminium alloy pistons increases efficiency and makes for better NVH as does the nodular crankshaft with eight counter weights.

While in Europe this engine produces 100PS at 6000rpm and higher torque using 95 octane petrol, the engine characteristics have been somewhat modified to suit Indian fuel and driving conditions.

The same gearbox that does duty on the Ikon has been adopted for the Fusion with just the first gear ratio and the final drive ratio being changed from the cogs that do duty on the 1.3 Ikon. Given the higher torque characteristics of the Duratec engine, the first gear is taller but a shorter final drive makes all the overall ratios for each gear shorter. This is no doubt compensated for by the fact that this Duratec engine revs much higher than the Rocam engine. The engine itself is much smoother even much higher up the rev range, has higher levels of refinement and has a nice sound to it. I was somewhat disappointed by its lack of pulling power at the bottom end of the rev range though the car is quite peppy at the other end. The gearbox is slick and shifts well with short throws that catch you unawares - the car being in gear when you think that the lever should have travelled more. Shallow notches for the gears make for faster and better shifts once you get used to them.