What car comes to mind when you hear muscle car? One of your first answers should be the Ford Mustang. The Mustang has been in continuous production since 1965, and its still the most popular selling muscle/pony car today.
The Mustang has been known for its absolutely iconic design, and it's no different with the 2020 Mustang. This generation came out for 2015, and it received a major refresh for 2019, with a focus on giving it more aggression. Ford was proud to have lowered the hood nearly an inch for better visibility. They also swapped out the HID headlights for LEDs, standard on all Mustangs. Up front, it looks super mean, while remaining both classic and modern. I applaud Ford for the design.
Now, those holes that look like they function, DON'T. Even half of the lower grille is blocked off. Even the hood vents aren't vents. Come on Ford!!!
At 188.3 inches long, a wheelbase of 107.1 inches, and an overall height of 54.4 inches if you go for the coupe (54.9 for convertible), this is easily a pretty large car. The same trademark Mustang design cues follow into the side, with those two classic, bold lines being formed between the wheels. A range of different wheel sizes are available, anywhere from 17 to 20-inch sizes in a very large variety of finishes and designs.
The rear of the Mustang can easily be generalized as modernized retro. The classic three-part taillights remain, and they are LED. The turn signals also have adopted the sequential look, going from the farthest inward to outward. The reverse light is located on the way bottom of the car, right in the middle of the diffuser.
Ford offers both the standard dual-outlet exhaust system, but the optional Active Valve quad-outlet exhaust is an option. Ticking that box grants you four exhaust modes ranging from Quiet, Normal, Sport, and Track. Going through the modes will open the baffles up slightly, allowing the engine to really give a mean and nasty snarl.
Many journalists had to deeply critique the cheapness of the Mustang's interior. I have a different view.
Quality on the inside was pretty good, and materials did feel nice. I will mention there is some hard touch plastics, but that's expected for a car that starts as low as $23,000.
I have to make one large complaint though, and that is the parking brake. It seriously looks as if it was tacked on. It also gets in the way of the armrest, both with it on and off.
The back seats are very tight, but they aren't as tight as a Camaro. There's literally no way anyone over 5 foot can fit comfortably.
The Mustang is available with the $1,000 Ford Safe and Smart Package that will grant you some driver aids like Automatic Emergency Braking. For 2021, they become standard.
The Mustang has been evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), in five of six of its crashworthiness tests. It earns Good ratings in the moderate overlap, side impact, roof strength, and head restraints and seats tests. But it only earns an Acceptable for the driver side small overlap crash test, missing any awards.
For more ratings on the 2020 Fusion, click to visit IIHS's website here.
The Titanium tester we had was equipped with the 2.0L EcoBoost I4.
The 2.0L EcoBoost is down on power from much of its competition, but 240 horsepower and 270 lb/ft of torque is still strong numbers. Our tester also came without all-wheel-drive.
The Fusion was a total tire shredder when you floored it from a stop. Do it, and you'll roast the living hell out of the tires for a few seconds before regaining traction and pushed forward by the strong torque of the engine. The 6-speed automatic is well sorted, but the paddle shifters are slow to respond, taking around a second to do anything. There's one big thing I gotta say about the Fusion we tested. HOLY TORQUE STEER. It felt as if the entire front end of the car was lifting and popping a wheelie!!! The steering became really light and sometimes even around corners, the Fusion had extreme torque steer. It was quite fun, but if you are getting a Fusion Titanium, I strongly suggest opting for AWD.
The Fusion is a comfortable, quiet, and well-put-together family mover. The seats are comfy, the interior is airy, the gas and brake pedals have the perfect about of resistance, the interior is quiet, and the ride is firm, but not uncomfortably firm.
The Fusion is way behind on fuel economy compared to the competition, but the 2.0L EcoBoost I4 in FWD guise gets 21 MPG city and 31 highway, which is quite respectable and nearly matches the Honda Accord 2.0T with their new 10-speed automatic, which gets 22 and 32, respectively. Opt for the 1.5L EcoBoost, and this is where the Fusion has a lot of work to do. It gets a paltry 23 city and 34 highway, whereas the Accord tops out at 30 city and 38 highway, which is a huge benefit due to Honda's great CVT transmission.
The Fusion's safety systems were not intrusive, but they barely worked while driving the car. The Lane Keep Assist worked well, but didn't ping-pong me from each side of the road, which is pretty interesting since it doesn't have a lane tracing feature.
The Fusion Titanium has a meaty 240-horsepower 2.0L EcoBoost turbo-4 mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission with SelectShift and steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. The 2.0L EcoBoost was a great fit for the Fusion, but AWD should be standard.
Ford offers a base 2.5L Duratec I4 with 175 horsepower and 175 lb/ft of torque for the Fusion S and SE.
Ford offers their 1.5L EcoBoost I4 as an option on SE but standard on the SEL trims with 181 horsepower and 185 lb/ft of torque.
Ford offers a HEV with a 2.0L Duratec Atkinson-cycle I4 as well, with 141 horsepower and 129 lb/ft of torque, and a system total of 188 horsepower and 177 lb/ft of torque.
Ford ALSO offers a PHEV with same hybrid engine and it produces the same figures as the HEV.
2.0L turbocharged EcoBoost I4
Coming soon.