The term “Sport” is now absolutely meaningless when it comes to trim levels and model names. It could mean a cut-down, more budget-friendly version of something like the Range Rover Sport, it could be a base model, or it could be a slightly sporty appearance package that might have some mechanical changes. However, every so often, sport means sport. It sure did with the second-generation Ford Fusion Sport, which stealthily packed twin-turbo power.
Flash back to 2016, and the midsize sedan segment seems to be hanging in there. The two Japanese juggernauts known as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord were obviously present, but there was so much more than that. Mazda would sell you the post-Ford-breakup thirst trap that was the third-generation Mazda 6, and Chrysler would sell you a 200 with a V6 and all-wheel-drive. Meanwhile, Volkswagen offered a VR6-powered Passat, and the second-generation Ford Fusion made waves for looking a bit like an Aston Martin, assuming it was a foggy night and you’d had eleven units of fernet.
However, the Fusion also had something that most midsize sedans didn’t have, and that was a platform that could accept a genuinely astonishing array of engines. Dropping the boosted V6 from a Lincoln MKX into a mainstream family sedan would likely create, if we consult the Viagra Boys rubric, a sport. A Ford Fusion Sport, to be specific.
So, what does the 2.7-liter twin-turbocharged V6 make? A stout 325 horsepower and a whopping 380 lb.-ft. of torque, enough to blow the entire mainstream midsize sedan segment into the middle of last week. Granted, the only transmission offered was a six-speed automatic, but all-wheel drive still helped the Fusion Sport to scoot from zero-to-60 mph in 5.1 seconds during Car and Driver instrumented testing. Plus, there was a little more to the Sport moniker than just power, as the magazine wrote:
Push the S button in the center of the new-for-’17 dial-operated shifter to sharpen the Sport’s reflexes. It tautens the adaptive-damping system, increases steering effort, quickens throttle response, and amps up the artificially enhanced engine sounds. The S button also engages a more aggressive shift program from the six-speed automatic transmission (a heavier-duty unit than in other Fusions) and gives you more control through the standard paddle shifters. It upshifts automatically at 6000 rpm no matter what you do with the paddles, but it will hold gears through corners and rev-match downshifts under braking. None of this changed the measurable on-track performance, but it does make driving the car more entertaining. The dampers, especially, did a great job of supporting aggressive assaults on curving roads while maintaining a ride quality that wouldn’t alarm your grandmother. Adaptive dampers are all but commonplace in pricier, near-luxury sedans and many crossover-utility vehicles but are overdue to trickle into the mass market.
Good stuff, but keep in mind that the Fusion Sport wasn’t the spiritual successor to the SVT Contour. Although the pothole-detecting suspension and added combustion fury worked wonders, we’re still looking at a 4,128-pound midsize sedan with electric power steering, a six-speed automatic, and open differentials. It’s not badged as an ST, it’s just well-damped and capable of running away from the rest of the midsize sedan pack. You know what? In daily driving, that’s probably enough.
Then, just two years into the production run of the second-generation Fusion Sport, Ford dropped a bombshell. It was going to discontinue every sedan it sold in North America, and niche offerings were low-hanging fruit. As a result, the Fusion Sport bowed out after the 2019 model year, meaning this sleeper was only around for a rather limited time.
However, perhaps due to flying under the radar, you certainly won’t have to pay an arm and a leg if you’re shopping for a Fusion Sport in 2025. Want a low-mileage example in an actual color? This Burgundy Velvet 2017 example might be what you’re looking for. It’s up for sale in Pennsylvania with 63,365 miles on the clock for $17,282, has a clean history report, and is a perfectly sensible second-hand buy with a bit of a wild side.
If you’re the type of person to sort your used car listing by cheapest first, there are Fusion Sports out there for you, too. Check out this mall goth-spec 2018 model with nigh-on 139,000 miles on the clock, up for sale in Illinois for a mere $10,950. That’s not a lot of dough for a 325-horsepower family sedan with Apple CarPlay, sueded upholstery, and LED headlights.
That being said, the oldest second-generation Ford Fusion Sport examples are knocking on the door of a decade old, so what can you expect to go wrong? Well, some models built in 2016 and on New Year’s Day 2017 had valve guide issues, resulting in excessive oil consumption. According to a technical service bulletin, the solution is to replace one or both cylinder heads. While not every Fusion Sport built in 2016 is affected, it’s worth checking for smoke and oil consumption. However, there really isn’t much that goes wrong on these cars beyond that. Battery drain issues caused by cycling CD players were largely fixed by a software update. You might encounter a leaky oil pan that’s fixable with a new part, and that’s about it. Not bad, all things considered.
If you’re shopping for a second-hand family car and want one with some kick to it, why not check out a second-generation Ford Fusion Sport? It’s quick, roomy, well-equipped, and generally seem fairly stout. Sure, it won’t hang with a sport compact car in the corners, but it’ll give you a thrill when you’re hammering down an on-ramp.
Top graphic image: Ford
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I had a 2.0 Ecoboost Fusion for like a decade. It was a great car, very practical, lots of room, comfortable, and actually rather quick for a big sedan. I’ve always kind of wanted the Sport version.
I’ve always liked these, if I could afford a daily driver and a sports car I’d consider one of these. As is I’ll just happily keep dailying my sports car.
Every generation of Mondeo looked pretty darn great and they won a bunch of Car of the Year awards in Europe. Even the one in China now looks great. And yet even with all that we only got 2 of them in the US. Such a darn shame.
And we never got the wagon version. 🙁
A Fusion Sport wagon would have been SO COOL.
The Mondeo wagon was available in the USA for a short time as a Jaguar X-Type Sportwagon
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/t-Used-Jaguar-X-TYPE-3.0L-Sportwagon-AWD-t32792
My wife is going to be so mad at you when I get back from Tampa or Phoenix. (Kidding. Sort of. I think.)
Yeah but that’s the previous generation of Fusion/Mondeo.
Picky little bastid, ain’t ya?
Huh!
The second gen Fusion was the car that made me consider buying an American car, after enjoying a rental Fusion hybrid and getting 40mpg. When it came time to buy a new car, went to the dealer to check out the plug-in hybrid version. The one they had didn’t have a charged battery. Went for a drive in a Focus EV instead, and went home with that car. Bad choice, as the battery went bad after a couple of years and several stop vehicle now instances.
Back to imports for me.
I would never criticize someone’s decisions for why they buy the car they do if that’s what they want, but it hardly seems fair to write off Ford or domestics because you wanted to buy a really well engineered and built car (Fusion Energi) but ended up taking home an awful compliance car that very little thought or engineering went into (Focus EV). I’m not defending Ford per se, but hardly seems fair to condemn Ford and all domestic manufacturers because you made a poor uninformed unresearched decision hastily.
I remember thinking one of these would be a cool buy back when they were new. I completely forgot they existed, otherwise I probably would have looked for one before buying my Accord earlier this year.
I always wanted one of those. I’ve had many Fusions as rentals and always thought they were pretty good, but I never drove the Sport.
Get the Lincoln MKZ 3.0 with 350-400hp. 4.8 sec with AWD.
THose are ugly. Fords look better
the facelifted 2017-2020 models looked alright.
And I prefer the split grille pre-facelift version.
I always thought the nicest looking part of those cars was the sculpted rear and sides, which never changed. But definitely prefer the facelift. They have really swank interiors too.
And the torque vectoring system from the freakin’ Focus RS! There was something so cool about sneaking that into a Lincoln.
Yeah put it in sport mode and turn traction control off, fun on a snowy road!
I had a 17’ MKZ with the 3.0L V6, loaded with the drivers package. All black, was stealth speed and actually handled fairly decent. They depreciate hard, good buy used…
I will look into one of these if my ’17 Accord V6 gets slaughtered by somebody.
I had a 2010 Fusion Sport AWD with the 3.5. It wasn’t a muscle car but it was plenty quick and handled well. I was really interested in this model when it was released but Ford capped it before I was ready to buy. One thing I did hear about these cars was that Ford had given the exhaust the “speaker” treatment, which was disappointing (admittedly never checked it out personally, just what I had read from others). Ultimately, I wound up buying a Mazda6 in their last model year. It may not be as quick, but at least the exhaust note is real.
I leased a 2017 Sport, mostly because I couldn’t afford a Focus RS and Ford didn’t offer a lease program on that car.
It certainly wasn’t as hardcore as the RS, but it was a hoot. Acceleration was hilariously fast for a midsize sedan. The only issue was the battery drain that was finally sorted by a recall. The AWD system was a champ, even in 2 feet of snow. I tried getting the damn thing stuck but it refused.
I should’ve kept that car. That was a good example of when Ford used to do fun stuff for regular folk, not the 1%-ers (cough GTD cough).
According to Jim at Ford, they are exciting truck company now. What is exciting in a truck? Body roll? Poor braking? Recalls? Using step stool to check oil?
Good ol’ Jim is misguided.
Incredibly blinding headlights on two-lane roads. I hate those things. Their owners deserve everything you mentioned.
Two comments:
1) I wish I fit in these better, and
2) Turbo issues would most likely mechanically total one of these. It’s bad enough fixing turbos on a Taurus SHO, and this has a much smaller engine bay.
A guy I work with has one in fleet spec white with a decent exhaust. This car is a sleeper to be sure
My wife has one – same pearl white. I thoroughly look forward to driving it whenever she lets me. Thing def pulls way harder than anyone would think. Those leather and suede seats are mighty comfortable, too
This is true SHO.
I’ll keep my FiST and it’s 1400-less lbs. . . Even with the small interior. My kids aren’t gonna be tall anyway.
A question for the engineers here: How the hell do you get a car that size up over 4100lbs in weight? Was this originally engineered in 1972?
Yeah good call – everything is heavy these days! Funny enough, a similar size car in 1972 was probably closer to 3500 lbs. All that tech and safety add up!
I don’t play football, but I find it hard to believe a helmet, pads and tape could add 50% or more to the weight of a player.
I swear they line cars with lead these days. My e91 BMW wagon is less than 3500lbs, and I consider that car to be a bit porky.
2001 Lincoln LS was 3600 lbs but guys at Jag designed it.
2022 GTI is 3600 lbs with 241HP so its like my old LS, but runs on 87 octane instead of 91, uses half the cheaper fuel, has a manual, LSD but FWD and no trunk.
Headlights are a lot better though
Wow. A 2017 Accord V6 is 500 pounds lighter. I know it doesn’t have AWD, but that does seem a bit ponderous. And a V6 Camry was even lighter.
I knew several people who have or had the hybrid version and one that had the sport. The hybrid is quick. Very similar feeling as the sport to me. Felt like it had plenty of power to pull it around and reacted well. They seem to be holding their value too and people keep them. But some fleets had them so you see them at auction for a deal sometimes. Really an underrated car.
I have the PHEV one from 2020, last model year they made them. It’s comfortable and has all of the niceties you’d want. It has a hard time getting out of it’s own way whiile merging onto the interstate, but is perfectly cromulent as a daily driver. Would recommend.
I haven’t driven the PHEV the older hybrids I drove seemed to be able to merge fine on to a 55 or 65 mph interstate. They felt like they had more to give. They would pass fine. But never tried getting on the 75/ 80 interstates.
My PHEV C-Max has gobs ‘o pep in any driving situation. Zero-60 in eight seconds, as reviewed.
Yeah that sounds about right for fusion hybrids I’ve driven. I have a few first gen highlander hybrids and they are maybe a little quicker but not much.
Ford bought back my boss’s Fusion plugin hybrid already
They didn’t offer me enough, so I took the new battery. Should outlast the car now.
A buddy of mine has one of these, I think its a ’17? White over Red interior. They are quick feeling for sure.
I received a free Fusion from my grandfather when he could no longer drive. I paid too much.
I had no idea these existed. Looks like you can get tunes worth nearly 100HP for them and they’re in the mid 12’s with an intercooler upgrade, but the transmission doesn’t like it. If these lived long enough to gain a better trans they could’ve been a budget import fighter.
The detail of the cars built on “New Years Day 2017” is the type of thing I want to know more about.
I was curious too, but the TSB says April 1 – Jan 1, so I’m assuming they figured out the problem started after April, but was likely identified Nov/Dec, and by Jan 1 they were sure the defective parts were destroyed.
However I am secretly hoping that disgruntled workers forced to come in on New years day dipped into their secret stash of defective parts and slapped them on because their managers got the day off and they didn’t.
Because 12/31/16 is harder to type than 1/1/17
I briefly had a Fusion as a company car, albeit with the (I presume) base 1.6 Ecoboost. That was…..not enough. It felt fairly underpowered and a small displacement/boosted engine needed a lot of RPM to get out of it’s own way, but the transmission was economy-car tuned, so it tended to lug/bog the engine, and was reluctant to downshift unless you basically floored it. To put it another way, you could very much tell the difference if the AC was on or not.
The rest of the car was pretty decent- comfortable, good ride/handling/steering, so I could see it with the turbo v6 being a far nicer car to live with.
The 1.6 was phenomenal compared to the NA 2.5L 4 banger they offered in the base models, but yes, it was still a dog. I had a couple Fusions with the 2.0 Ecoboost before the Sport, and that was a much better motor for the car.
Is that the same 2.5L that is in my 2013 Mazda5? Because gas mileage on that engine is terrible for that era!
Same ratings as a new Civic Type R at exactly half of the HP.
Probably is, given Ford’s relationship with Mazda back in the day.
Wheezy piece of crap, that motor is!
I lovecthe car design, and wish other engines had been available. The Skyactive was in the Mazda3 when we bought our Mazda5. Thought I was getting the good engine. Still serving us well as a car.
I looked for one of these in 2017 and found exactly ONE of them in the entire SF bay area, and it had 5K worth of dealer bullshit on the sticker. I really wanted a stick shift anyway, so I went with a V6 Accord coupe, which is only a tick slower and doesn’t look like a rental car. I just checked a minute ago and there are only two of them for sale from Sacramento to the Bay to Modesto, so availability is….not good.
This was my experience too. Only one for sale in the entire state, stacked with markups. The dealer said I could order one, but then they may not get allocation for one for me, so I should just buy the one they have. Needless to say, Ford didn’t get my business that day. Unfortunately, when I was car shopping a few weeks ago I looked at these again, and there were two within 300 miles of me, both with well over 150,000 miles and both at buy-here, pay-here lots. I guess I missed my window for a nice one…
I wish a manual was available when I bought my ’17 Accord V6 sedan, but it’s been a great car so far. The V6 is a fun engine. I grew up in Davis, so I’m very familiar with your geography.
I had a ’14 Fusion Platinum. I still think it was the best car I ever owned. I think it was better than the ’19 Mercedes C-class I have now, purchased new in ’19. It was quiet and comfortable on long road trips, it looked good and had decent power, producing (if I remember right) 240 HP if you used premium gas. It was the car that introduced me to the heated steering wheel and ventilated leather seats. Damn that hailstorm that totalled it.
Ford really did a great job on the Fusion. I only rented them, but they looked good and drove nicely. I also thought GM did a great job on Impalas of that era. Dodge/Chyrsler? Not so much.
So sorry about the hailstorm. We don’t get them like that in the PNW, but I was happy to have a garage back when I was in Texas, where we did. Got a new roof from insurance after a bad one.
My car is garaged here, so I don’t really need a heated steering wheel, but my Texas ex-wife is a dentist and her hands really appreciated that feature in her X5, our MDX and now her Lincoln Aviator. (She goes through cars like she does husbands.)
I lived in Colorado at the time. I was parked in the lot at work that afternoon when a big hailstorm came through. Golf ball sized chunks of ice caused massive damage to the entire area. I actually drove the car home later with no rear windshield, shattered front windshield, broken mirrors, etc. It wasn’t legal, but it was far from the only car that looked like that on the road that afternoon and no tow trucks were available.
I live in northern Maryland now and we haven’t had any hail in the 5 years I’ve been here.
Owned the Edge version of this car, and it is faster and more fun to drive than it has any right being. One of the cars I regret selling.
That’s the true unicorn for sure. Ford really seemed onto something with the Sport level as an everyday performance level. Even developed it’s own emblem IIRC.
They drove like shit. The Taurus SHO felt much more interesting and actually felt like a fast car, the Fusion Sport really just felt like a slightly faster Fusion. Big disappointment considering all the parts they had available to them.