Another installment for my rental car reviews: The 2014 Ford Fusion, Titanium.  Had it for a week of city driving in and around Houston.

I have to admit the looks are not horrible.  I'd go so far as to say, OK.  The interior, at first pass, seems like it's going to work fine.  It's fairly plain, with a sort of plastic meets industrial look.  Plenty of gadgets for geeks that worked just fine and were not  hard to operate.  The seats were pretty comfy, but felt a tad cheap... I didn't have any long drives so can't say how they would be for a long sit.

The drive train took on Houston's massive highways with no trouble and besides a little turbo lag the little 2.0L six speed made the not so light on it's feet Fusion feel pretty sporty, all things considered.  Once off the highway, and finally out of traffic, the Fusion felt pretty tight when pushed a bit.  The breaks are strong, and I was having some fun comparing different steering modes.  Ultimately when pushed close to the edge I didn't have a very predictable feel for this car, so I ended up deciding not to push far enough to see how it would react/bite me. I just didn't feel the confidence.  Stock tires, perhaps... given a little more time and a better place to play? maybe next time.

If you're looking for a car that falls into this sort of category, think Passat, Camry, Altima, Accord, etc... I think Ford put out a good contender.  It's just not something that appeals to me at this point...


I think I'm looking for something a little more old school, like this bad boy...

Soo,

picked this up after much deliberation



2006 Acura TL Sport with Tech package
single owner (well now two!)
82k miles  6 speed manual transmission
A-Spec wheels

So what do people think of the Elio P4? Still questions about it actually being produced, but it seems promising. They have 17k pre-orders so far, not bad for a car that they've only built a couple prototypes.

www.eliomotors.com



This basically is exactly what I was looking for in the beginning, but cheaper than I ever expected. Different, small and efficient. At this price I'd be willing to go ahead with this and just use my mom's SUV to cart my nephews around.

Even at my low mileage I'd pay for it with just gas savings in 10 years, plus insurance and tag will be cheaper. If I bought the Golf I'd lose the value of the Elio in depreciation in just 4-5 years, even if it were kept in pristine condition.

I know I said I was done playing the waiting game, but I think this price point and configuration is worth it. They are supposedly starting production in early 2015. $20k+ Golf in Aug/Sept or wait 6 more months for a $7k Elio. Hard to argue with that.

Yes, I realize it is basically a slightly safer motorcycle, but they say they are trying for a 5 star crash rating, so we'll see. Most of my driving is lowish speed city driving so I'm not as concerned. The only wrecks I've ever been in were 20mph or less, mostly parking lot fender benders (none my fault). Still, I'm not going to buy one unless they have decent safety. I'm not dropping any pre-order til they prove more in many aspects, including safety.

That bladeglider looks cool but it will be $40k+.