Before I start to with the review……Its back to the basics. Remember we used to study Nuclear Fusion and Nuclear Fission in school. The primary difference between them was…..strain your memory guys…..lemme just refresh it if you cant remember. The main difference between Nuclear Fusion and Nuclear Fission was the fact that Nuclear Fission cannot be controlled, while Nuclear Fusion can be controlled in a laboratory provided you have the technology to do so. Even if you don’t, no reason to worry…..because you probably wont live long enough to regret it. Anyways….my point….The Fusion is not appropriately named…..It should have been named the Ford Fission, because that is just what it is…..uncontrollable.....simply uncontrollable!!!!
The car is a beauty in more ways than one….Ofcourse its on-road presence is a trifle less than the Safari…..but it’s more than compensated for by the fact….that people will generally stare at a Fusion, not at a Safari….not anymore. No disrespect to the Safari ofcourse…….it’s in an entirely different segment altogether. Anyway….when Ford launched the car….they expected it to be a runaway success…..but sadly it hasn’t been so. There are a couple of reasons for that…..none of which are related to the car’s technology and engine….so put your mind at ease all potential Fusion buyers. (Ironically….A Fusion is anything but potential energy….its all Kinetic energy).
The car has a scaled down engine of the Ford Mondeo 2.0. This baby produces a mind-thrashing 101 bhp and an awesome low end torque providing for rapid acceleration and Ford-legendry hauling/pulling power. Guys….now if you are familiar with the engine of the Mondeo….you’ll probably know….its the best engine in its class…..excluding the Honda Accord V6 3.0 i-VTEC, which is simply in a heaven of its own. But even then….where the Mondeo scores over the Honda is the fact….that the powertrain of the car is more performance-oriented, so while the Honda is just as competent as the Mondeo, the latter is more fun to drive owing to its spirited engine. Moving back to the Fusion, the engine as I said above is a downscaled unit of the Mondeo 2.0. Simply put…..The Fusion uses an engine which would have been used by a Mondeo, if the Mondeo had been launched in the 1.6 variant. The car (Mondeo 1.6), fortunately is not in production…..but it’s engine is. Incidentally a Mondeo 1.6 is like having a Porsche Boxter 911 fitted with an engine of the Esteem.
Hence, the Fusion already has the inherent inbuilt driving pleasure of the Mondeo, more so enhanced by a couple of other technological gizmoes that the old Mondeo didn’t have. 101 horses of power is the same as the Accent GTX Tornado….but with higher low-end torque than the Accent…..you have more power when you’re off-roading.
Enough said about the engine, lets move to the interiors……they’re one of the best I’ve ever seen…..better even than the much more expensive Mitsubishi Lancer INVEX 1.8. The dashboard is similar to the Hyundai Getz, which in turn is similar to the Mercedes-Benz SLK Prototype. If you can steer your eyes away from the dashboard, you can see that……the rest of the cabin too is exquisitely furnished with lots of goodies such as cubbyholes and mobile charging points and stuff.
Incase there are any potential buyers of the Scorpio here….the DX’s and not the CRDe’s then, let me give you a one-off comparo.
The base variant of the Scopio and the Fusion are priced at pretty much the same point…..around 6.40 give or take 0.05, But prices apart….lets check.
Both the Scorpio and the Fusion base versions have Power Steering. Power Windows though are available only in the Fusion. Front and Rear Both. The gearshift of both the cars are notchy at best….but that’s always gonna be there in SUV like cars. The Scorpio, though trying to maintain Sports Style….has positioned its gears like this.
1 3 5
2 4 R.
This is a real pain to drive….especially in traffic….where more often than not….you end up with a false gear…and an engine stall thanx to the heavy-duty clutch-plate of the Scorpio. The Fusion meanwhile uses the conventional 5 speed Syncromesh transmission and McPherson Struts. And Ford as always….being high on safety….has anti Roll Bars and what not….For a small premium, if you intend to do high-speed-wet-road-cornering….You can get ABS too.
The Scorpio….having more height….has a higher centre of gravity has a much bigger chance of rolling over if cornered at high speeds…The Fusion, having less height and more length than the Scorpio wont easily topple over even if you subject it to high-speed-cornering.
And what can I say about the ride quality of the Scorpio. For once….i wont say anything….i’ll quote a leading car magazine. “Less said about the ride quality of the Scorpio, the better”. While the Fusion’s ride quality is definitely much better……somewhere around the range of the Maruti Swift.
I’m really sorry to put-down the Scorpio DX, but it was a great first effort from Mahindra….and they needed an upgrade. And it came in the form of the Scorpio CRDe.
I know….most of you will have questions about the fact….that why didn’t I compare the Fusion to the new Scorpio CRDe, but the thing here is that….the’re priced pretty wide apart…. And it wouldnt do justice to the review. (Collaboration- For Stratfied Sampling, the data has to be homogenous and nearer to the general average)
The mileage of the car….is a respectable 11 in the City with the A.C on….and 14.5-15.5 on the highways with the A.C. on. For an mini-SUV with a petrol engine that’s a spirited performer…..thats not good…..That’s pretty well damn excellent. All the Scorpio Petrol manages with its okayish-performance engine is max 12 on highways…..
The only reason why the car isn’t selling the way it should is the fact….that people think If I’m spending say about 6.80 lakh, I can get a proper sedan (Ikon Sxi/ Accent GLS 1.6 DOHC/ Baleno Vxi), then why not go for something conventional like a proper C+ segment sedan. And that in one word describes why it’s not selling as well as it should have….Conventional
And if you’re not conventional…..and I surely am not……then pick-up the Fusion for some real uncontrollable power of Nuclear Fission. It’s something you’ll never regret…….!!!