I had one of those epic weekends this past weekend. Hung out with a couple of friends at Eastern Tennessee State Univ (ETSU), both of us raced and did well at the bike race the next day, and made some great memories. Never mind that I trashed the trunk of the X3 when we loaded over 2 dozen branches from the forest for the lakeside fire and that I'm not sure what I was thinking when I let a 20-year old from smalltown Tennessee drive the truck in an exhuberant manner through the countryside. At midnight.

But that's what makes a car great. It's always there for you, a willing partner that's fun when you're alone tearing up the backroads, and then stays out of the way when the driving experience isn't the forefront of importance, doesn't distract.

This brings me to the subject of my most recent rental vehicle, the Ford Mondeo that's currently sold as the Ford Fusion in North America.

I had this pretty gorgeous vehicle for 2 days whilst the X3 was in the shop, and was pretty glad cuz I really wanted to see Ford's latest "One Ford" platform. The Focus and Fiesta are both great vehicles, and given Ford's heavy advert campaign on the Mondeo/Fusion being the "fun to drive" sedan, surely this would be the ticket for those who want a larger sedan that's fun to drive, no?



Ford certainly has tarted up the suspension and steering. Even with the somewhat outdated base 2,5 litre engine, the drive is quiet, smooth and refined throughout the rev band. The electric power steering is reasonably quick and precise, and it will dance on the backroads if you ask it to. And it was so efficient that I went out of my way to go to a grocery store in Hendersonville; I averaged 8,1 l/100km over the course of my two days in mixed driving. Impressive.



Less impressive is the interior quality. While much improved over the last US-spec Fusion iteration, there's still much to be desired. The seats are too soft and the cloth material is something you wouldn't ever find on a European hatchback. The switchgear feels flimsy and the folks in Hermosillo haven't learned the art of lining up door panels. Even if it is 2013.



But the worst sin is related to what I alluded to back at the beginning of this review. It's fine to drive, but the controls are horribly distracting, so much so that one wouldn't even notice how well it drives. Clearly whoever designed the interior has never actually operated a vehicle. The manual climate control isn't logical at all. It takes 3 steps to change the audio mode, about 8 to pair a phone, and 4 to change a song on my mp3 player thru the USB port. Volume controls are on the wrong side of the steering wheel (unless you live in the UK or OZ).

This is a halfway decent car ruined by fact it demands so much attention. It is incredibly irritating to do simple tasks, and Ford has stuffed so much techno-gizmos that it's really the main impression I got from the vehicle. Every other car I've driven, whether it's GM, Japanese, or European manages to be easier to operate and less irritating. Ordinary people don't want the car to be distracting or demand constant attention just to do basic things like adjust the radio.

So the Ford Mondeo/Fusion is indeed a well-engineered sedan for the most part. Unfortuately, you'll be too busy trying to figure out how to adjust the HVAC system to notice anything else.

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2014 Mazda 3 GT: Ø Consumption: (click for details)