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Sounds sweet. The instrument cluster photo that you posted, what is that out of? Whose is it?

It seems like ions ago to me. When you said "Petty" and "NASCAR" in the same breath you would be talking about "Richard" and not "Kyle." I always liked the expression, "Race it on Sunday. Sell it on Monday." NASCAR doesn't make much sense to me these days. The cars are not cars at all.

Handy information to know. Most of the speedos used to be optimistic, i.e. 60 mph was really 57 or 58.

Your MKZ was already delivering good mileage and it seems to be getting even better. Our SEL AWD Fusion is holding steady at 13 mpg in city driving, which is 95 percent of our driving. We now have about 1,800 miles on it.

What did you buy? Photos? Keep us posted.

Keep us posted. I'm sure many of us are curious about your episode.

Just curious, is there a "fix" available at this time for the problem?

Neat photo.

Your snow is our rain. You are welcome to our share. I actually would not have opted for AWD, the car on the lot just came that way. We pretty much wanted everything else. I guess it is an added safety and handling feature, but one we will probably only need two or three days a year for snow, if that. I guess it, AWD, is a plus on wet roads, too, though. Still, it's not a feature I would have ordered.

LSJZ, Our V6 SEL AWD '07 Fusion has consistently delivered 13 mpg city since it was purchased Dec. 4. We live in a moderate climate; have a flat terrain; drive conservatively; the tire pressure is correct; we don't idle the car; the air-conditioning hasn't been used; the air filter is clean; the car has 1,762 miles on it. It will, however, yield 24 to 26 mpg on trips so I don't believe anything is "wrong" with the car. It has been "put on the computer" at the dealer's service department and everything was according to specifications, or so they said. It's a mystery to me, but a sad one at that. No mid-size, 3,300-pound car in the year 2007 should be getting 13 mpg in city driving, IMHO. But this one has and does. I reset the on-board computer with each fill-up and I also figure the mileage the manual way, by dividing the number of gallons used into the number of miles driven. Our 10-year-old, 1997 3.8-liter, V6 with a four-speed automatic transmission averaged 12.94 mpg on a recent in-city test but that is almost to be expected given its weight, 3,800 pounds, and age.

Jimmy, be sure and let us know how you made out. I am curious, as I'm sure other forum members are, too.

Which one costs more?

That's really great, especially since you have so few miles on the odometer. Sunday, Feb. 11, was our last fill-up: 258.8 miles driven; 14.115 gallons for an average of 18.3 mpg, but 150 miles of this (58 percent) was for a highway trip, meaning we are still only getting a horrific 13 mpg in city driving after 1,762 miles on our AWD. This stinks for a 3,300-pound, mid-size car in the year 2007.

Any clue as to what might have caused it? Bummer though.

I just notice it. How did I miss it before? Well, duhhhh.

That's one sweet ride. Very classy. What kind of floor mats are they? They look like they would do a very good job of protecting the carpet.

Very nice ride; good photos, too. That's great news on the mileage and you have the 3.5-liter V6. Wish I could report the same positive results for in-city mileage but I can't yet, still at 13 mpg, which is a definite bummer.

Oh I see, said the blind man to his deaf wife. Thanks for clearing that up. I get confused easily.

I agree Bob. Looks like they took care of it.

You are correct Bob, I did choke on that part. No way did a 3.0-liter V6 AWD Fusion deliver 25 mpg on mixed highway and city driving. Just not possible in real life. The EPA highway estimate is 26 mpg. But the article seemed balanced otherwise. Of course it also pointed out the vast difference between the number of Fusions sold versus the number of Accords and Camrys sold. (My computer will not let me do a cut and paste.) It was a huge difference though. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the the Aisin automatic transmissions.

Heretofore, the Pontiac Aztek was the ugliest automotive concoction ever conceived but the Ford AirStream has got it beat. I hope that is merely a concept vehicle and not something FoMoCo is actually going to produce. But thanks for the link to some otherwise neat photos of Ford products.

OK, I'm beginning to get confused -- again. Our V6 SEL AWD 2007 Fusion has a six-speed automatic transmission. Whose? I do know that Ford made its own AWD unit for this car. Which transmission do I have?

"Hate" is too strong of a word but the noisy fan is definitely a problem. Fortunately, it's not too bad at the "1" and "2" settings on an SEL with automatic HVAC. It's one of those things that you get used to but absolutely an area where Ford could use some improvement.

All automotive manufacturers could gain a wealth of information by simply paying some employees to read car forums on the Internet to find out what product owners are saying and discussing. Some companies do this to some extent, but probably not enough to make a difference. Companies like FoMoCo continually say they do care what customers are saying and doing, but do they really? I doubt it.

We likewise own three Ford products and want FoMoCo to succeed but for some reason the most automotive ads on TV these days are for trucks: GM, Chrysler (Dodge), Ford, Nissan, Toyota. Obviously there is a big profit margin in trucks. Maybe the execs think trucks are sexy. I don't. I agree with you that Ford is pursuing the wrong segment of the automotive market; should be concentrating on the types of car that most people are in the market for. They seem to have abandoned that sector of the marketplace with the exception of the crossover utility vehicle niche.