It’s no longer enough for a car to be good in the mid-size-sedan class. Reliable, comfortable, and quiet family sedans that get good fuel economy are thick on dealer lots no matter which brand you shop. To be a star in this segment a car needs personality—style that stands out, luxury beyond its price, or exceptional performance. Set the bar there and the number of family sedans worth considering dwindles to fewer than five, with the Ford Fusion right in the hunt.

Style and Luxury Beyond Its Price

While the competition is almost universally defined by conservative, mass-appeal styling, the Fusion stands apart with a shapely body and sharp details. A sticker price of $36,415 suggests a car at the top of its mid-size segment, yet our Fusion Titanium test car reaches even higher. With deep red leather seats ($695) and more technology than a $45,000 BMW, the Fusion does a convincing impression of a luxury car. On top of a long list of standard equipment, our test example added heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, 19-inch wheels, inflatable rear seatbelts, and navigation. On that last item, we’re pleased to report that the MyFord Touch system has evolved into something friendlier than it was in early iterations. It is far quicker and the touch-sensitive controls below the eight-inch screen react reliably and promptly to the first tap. It’s possible that a half-decade of slow, tedious, and just plain dangerous navigation systems has made it too easy to impress us, but we heard few complaints.

View Photos MICHAEL SIMARI

Quiet, Competent Dynamics

Those who seek driving pleasure in a sensible package will be better served with one of our two 2014 10Best–winning family sedans, the Honda Accord and the Mazda 6. The Fusion’s steering isn’t as sharp, its chassis isn’t as buttoned down, and its transmission isn’t as snappy. But if you seek comfort and composure, the Fusion delivers with a touch of European sensibility in the chassis tuning. The Fusion steps over heaves and potholes in a way that suggests its dampers and bushings were selected with the care and budget usually reserved for luxury cars. And while it doesn’t bait you into swinging around corners, the steering has nice heft and good on-center surety. A 70-mph stopping distance of 172 feet places the Fusion right in the mix with the competition. That’s a marked improvement over the previous-generation Fusion, which had abysmal brakes with distances sometimes stretching beyond 200 feet.

The 240-hp turbocharged four-cylinder in our test car is the only engine choice that opens this all-wheel-drive option. The 2.0-liter EcoBoost is the top performer in a crowded engine lineup that includes three four-cylinders, a hybrid powertrain, and the Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid. You can pair it with front-wheel drive, but the $2000 all-wheel-drive system is a good buy for those in northern climates, especially since you’re already $33,425 deep with the motor and Titanium trim. While the drivetrain typically routes all power through the front wheels, an electronically controlled clutch pack seamlessly dispatches the engine’s 270 lb-ft of torque to the ground through all four wheels when necessary. On a rainy day, we mashed the throttle over and over, around corners, off the line, and from a roll with no signs of wheelspin or torque steer.

View Photos MICHAEL SIMARI

At 7.3 seconds to 60 mph, acceleration of this most powerful model is only middling for the segment. Older Fusion V-6s were half a second quicker. More disappointingly, the turbo four is just as thirsty as a V-6. We averaged 20 mpg, below even the Fusion’s EPA city rating of 22 and nowhere near the 31-mpg highway rating. For those who’ve been paying attention to Ford’s EcoBoost strategy, this comes as no surprise. Whether they’re installed in F-150s, family crossovers, or Fiestas, these downsized turbo engines have rarely lived up to the promises made by the fuel-economy label.

A Qualified Segment Leader

We like the Ford Fusion for its fetching style and its competent chassis. While we rank the Honda Accord and the Mazda 6 as more fun and just as pragmatic, Ford does have one undeniable advantage over that pair. The Fusion is one of very few mid-size sedans that offers all-wheel drive. If that takes a higher priority than performance or fuel economy in your search for a family sedan, you can’t do better than a Ford Fusion.

Specifications VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $36,415 (base price: $33,425)

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 122 cu in, 1999 cc

Power: 240 hp @ 5500 rpm

Torque: 270 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 112.2 in

Length: 191.7 in

Width: 72.9 in Height: 58.1 in

Curb weight: 3743 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:

Zero to 60 mph: 7.3 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 21.1 sec

Zero to 120 mph: 38.4 sec

Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 7.7 sec

Top gear, 30-50 mph: 3.7 sec

Top gear, 50-70 mph: 5.1 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 15.7 sec @ 88 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 124 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 172 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.87 g FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway: 22/31 mpg

C/D observed: 20 mpg

*Stability-control-inhibited

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