Wednesday 23rd October 2013

400hp Ford Fusion set for SEMA

Another mad PR stunt from Ford to promote the Ecoboost engines. We approve

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Excellent, this is what we love to hear about from SEMA. The latest Ford Fusion, which will eventually reach Britain as the next Mondeo, has been overhauled by Ford ahead of the show.

And here overhauled really is the appropriate term. Taking a Fusion SE 2.0 Ecoboost saloon as its base, Ford has handed the car to Full-Race Motorsports, seemingly with an 'anything goes' remit. So the car has returned with another 160hp and a whole heap of touring car-esque visual attitude.

The 400hp total, plus 350lb ft of torque has come from a new Borg Warner turbo (presumably a very, very large one), a cat-back exhaust and some induction tweaks.

Neither Ford nor Full-Race has released many other details yet unfortunately. It's lowered and bodykitted, but we don't know any more than that at present. You would imagine the brakes aren't standard either but, again, nothing has been mentioned. Equally mystifying is detailing the interior changes (unique Katzkin leather and a data-logging infotainment upgrade) without releasing any images. Bizarre.

So for now it's this solitary image to mull over and wait for additional info. Ford has quite a few cars heading to SEMA, which we'll keep you updated on as they're unveiled. A 400hp Mondeo is a damn cool start point though!

[Source: WCF]

[Dave G fsi]

Very nice!

New Mondeo ST anyone? (I wish!)

[dukebox9reg]

Im assuming this is still FWD or are they looking at any 4WD versions?

400bhp in a FWD Mundano, slight waste me thinks.

[Amirhussain]

Dave G fsi said:

Very nice!

New Mondeo ST anyone? (I wish!)

I wish too! With 4WD

[TNH]

Looks brilliant. Why is it taking them so long to bring this car over here? Its been available in the US for a while now.

[Hoddy910]

I like the comment about it using a presumed 'very large turbo' to get 400hp from 2.0ltr. Nah not really. A GT28 will do 400hp and standard a mk1 Focus RS comes with a GT25.

[HD Adam]

TNH said:

Looks brilliant. Why is it taking them so long to bring this car over here? Its been available in the US for a while now.

I'm currently in the US and driving one of these (not the 400hp though ) as my hire car for the week.

It's very nice and badge snobbery aside, easily as nice as an A4 or 3 series.

[Kozy]

The US model Fusions do get AWD, so it's likely.

Oh, terrible photoshop job by the way...

[Gorbyrev]

Great stuff! Drove the ecoboost 3.5 V6 in a Taurus last year and it was a great engine, loads of shove. Also, to my eyes, that is a great looking car. Just bought a Mondeo, has to be one of the most under rated jalopies money can buy (especially after the initial depreciation drop).

[Dave G fsi]

TNH said:

Looks brilliant. Why is it taking them so long to bring this car over here? Its been available in the US for a while now.

Because they closed the factory they were going to make the European model in

Was meant to be released in Europe this year, but now delayed until 2014 as a result

[TNH]

Dave G fsi said:

Because they closed the factory they were going to make the European model in

Was meant to be released in Europe this year, but now delayed until 2014 as a result

That explains a lot. Looks a lot more interesting than the car park im looking out of the window at full of 3 series and A4's.

[Ollieb7]

Doesn't matter what they do to it, its still just a tarted up Ford which is akin to a faster spinning washing machine with 'Sandra' on top and a stripe around the door. ;-D

[Dog Star]

A mate of mine turned up in a 2014 Mondeo back in April - very nice looking thing indeed (if you looked beyond the black bumpers, wrong coloured door handles, random dents and bd-cut filing of panel gaps - not to mention the front and rear screens held in with silicon sealant. On a 12 plate too).

LED headlights too!

[Kozy]

Ollieb7 said:

Doesn't matter what they do to it, its still just a tarted up Ford

Cool story Bro.

[mattyn1]

Extreme facelift. I like it - much better than the old Fusion.

[zebedee]

Ollieb7 said:

Doesn't matter what they do to it, its still just a tarted up Ford which is akin to a faster spinning washing machine with 'Sandra' on top and a stripe around the door. ;-D

other than the fact it is one of the nicest to drive and easiest owning propositions of the front wheel drive large saloon segment and well worthy of a performance derivative. It is nicer to drive than the equivalent A4, even ignoring servicing costs. Yet people think S4s and RS4s are acceptable... And sorry if I missed any intended irony in your post!

[TACottle]

mattyn1 said:

Extreme facelift. I like it - much better than the old Fusion.

I did laugh...

Nice looking motor though, the MK4 Mondeo is getting on a bit now though, isn't it? When's the new one coming?

[British Beef]

MAKE IT, MAKE IT, MAKE IT .......... !!!!

[folos]

TACottle said:

I did laugh...

Nice looking motor though, the MK4 Mondeo is getting on a bit now though, isn't it? When's the new one coming?

The only new ones I see now are taxis (cheap with a warranty) or really bog standard nasty basic leased cars.

[loudlashadjuster]

That's got to be one of the ropiest Photoshop jobs I've seen in a while!

[Thehandshake]

turboed 4 pot, I bet it's going to sound st