Ford Fusion and C-Max Review

Ford has a conundrum on its hands. The fuel economy we measured when we first tested its C-Max and Fusion hybrids last year was very good, placing them among the most fuel-efficient cars in their classes. The Fusion sedan got a stellar 39 mpg overall, and the C-Max wagon netted 37. But the results were far below the 47 mpg EPA estimates printed on the cars' window stickers. We found the same situation with the Lincoln MKZ, which is an upscale sibling of the Fusion.

We weren't the only ones to notice the gap; owners have reported lower-than-expected gas mileage online, and Ford said that it has seen a relatively high level of customer dissatisfaction with fuel economy for the C-Max.

A few months ago, it came to light that the company had never actually tested the C-Max's fuel economy for the EPA. It used a legal loophole in the EPA's regu­lations to simply use the Fusion's mpg results for both cars because they share the same powertrains.

Ford then lowered the C-Max's EPA combined estimate to 43 mpg, promised to update its hybrids to improve their real-world fuel economy, and offered software updates to existing owners for their cars. Ford also gave C-Max owners money for the difference in fuel consumption.

Because we still own our tested C-Max, Fusion, and MKZ hybrids, we had the software updates applied to our cars and retested them to see whether they improved. We conducted our tests, which use a different criteria than the EPA's, immediately before and after the cars' software was updated. We saw only minor differences for all three cars. Each improved by less than 1 mpg in our highway test, which we conduct at 65 mph. The EPA's highway test is conducted in a lab and averages 48 mph.

The new software causes the hybrids to run on their electric motors more often and up to higher speeds as a way of reducing gasoline consumption. But with the same-sized batteries, the cars' engines still have to run just as hard and often to recharge those batteries and provide the needed power.

Ford has said it will make other changes to new 2014 C-Max Hybrids to improve high­way gas mileage, including more aero­dynamic front and rear spoilers, fender lips, and underbody trays, but those changes have not yet been rolled out.

We also tested a new non-hybrid 2014 Ford Fusion SE, which now has a smaller, 1.5-liter turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder engine in place of the original turbocharged 1.6-liter used in 2013 Fusions. Ford says the new engine is, "expected to offer efficiency without sacrificing performance."

Despite having 8 more horsepower (181 vs. 173 on regular fuel) the new engine can't match either the efficiency or the performance of the previous one, we've found. In our tests, the Fusion's fuel economy dropped from 25 mpg overall with the previous 1.6-liter engine to 24 mpg with the new 1.5-liter. The difference was greater on the highway, with our new Fusion dropping a significant 3 mpg, from 37 mpg to 34. Yet with the new engine the car maintains the same EPA fuel economy estimates of 23 mpg city and 36 highway for a combined figure of 28 mpg. Performance lagged in our tests as well; acceleration was slightly slower across the board.

Overall, we found that although the new engine doesn't make any notable changes to the Fusion's driving experience, the car's excellent ride and handling and its quiet cabin still make it a competitive choice in this class.