Death of US car industry?

[faethor]

As many know I follow Ford. Nothing wrong with GM just been into Fords more frequently.

2009 Milan and Fusion is a nice showing of what US car makers, Ford, can do.

The new 4 cyclinder engine gets 175HP. It bests the Accord by 3 MPG and the Camry by 2MPG.

The Hybrid Fusion is coming out. Drive up to 45MPH on just batteries. Mileage is estimated to be 38MPG. Higher than the Camry Hybrid and nearly as high as the Civic Hybrid at 40MPG, of course in a bigger car.

New Dash for the Milan It looks pretty for the modern age. I'm worried about dash changes as we saw digital read outs before and the public mostly rejected them. Is this iPodish enough to take root?

V6 is upped from 220HP to 240HP. Or 250HP if you run E85. Mileage isn't tested yet but is expected to be close to the V6 Camry. Ford is using stop/start and cyclinder deactivation technology.

 

[Wayne]

Can't view the video at work, but the only problem I've had with fords for the last 20 years is that their interiors have all seemed at least 20 years behind the times. Even the new Mustang to a great extent -- though I admit the nostalgia factor works on the Mustang.

Wanted a Taurus until I drove one to one of the last Amiga shows here. Very boring, low-tech looking interior, and unless the video shows differently, I can't imagine things have changed that much.

Wayne

 

[Glaucus]

Does this car really compete with Camrys and Accords? I bet it has a much lower curb weight then both.

And I'll agree with Wayne on Ford interiors. I test drove the new Mustang and have to say the interior really sucks. My '83 Supra had a more modern interior then that thing. It's cool that Ford keeps doing the retro thing with the mustangs, but they need to learn that retro design is only cool on the exterior, interiors should always be modern/futuristic.

 

[faethor]

I'd agree that Ford's interiors aren't the best. I do like the design of the black leather seats with white stitching on the seats of the Fusion.

There, of course, are always exceptions to the rule. Compare the Focus interior to the Corolla or the Caliber. Corolla and Caliber vehicles make good use of excess tuperware stock.

As for the Mustang. Us fans are waiting for the Wed prior to Thanksgiving unveiling of the 2010. It has to compete against the Camaro again and the new Camaro is pretty. Instead they punish us with teasers.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

I test drove the new Mustang and have to say the interior really sucks.

Last time I drove a Mustang (San Fransisco to San Jose with the top down) the interior was not the most disappointing thing. Mostly it was an over heavy gutless feeling unresponsive hunk of of over-hyped junk. This boat was not fun.

 

[ilwrath]

Hmm... I'm a Ford guy, and I can't say I'm a big fan of that crazy dash. I'd think the LCD stuff would be really hard to see in the sunlight.

I don't mind a digital dash in a normal passenger car, but it needs to be very high contrast and present information in an easy-to-digest form. That seemed to fail on both counts. Text bad.... and that crazy growing plant? Too many distractions. Someone will sue because they were looking at their dash instead of the truck they ran into.

 

[Glaucus]

But do we know for sure it's LCD technology? That applications seems more suited to OLED technology, which has a million to 1 contrast ratio.

 

[ilwrath]

That applications seems more suited to OLED technology, which has a million to 1 contrast ratio.

True... Could be OLED by the time it makes the market. OLED would seem to be rather expensive still for a panel of that size in an automotive application, though.

But even if it glows at a very high contrast.... It needs a reprogram to present simple information that can be absorbed at a glance. Give me a nice, large, easy to read number of miles until empty, instead of that silly blue/red/orange low contrast fuel meter. Give me a nice, large, easy to read number for current rolling MPG average, instead of a potted plant (?!?).

A dashboard system can have a little style and flair, but it shouldn't distract from it's real purpose: To present me with the information I need to drive safely and efficiently.