CARS.COM — For 2017, the Ford[1] Fusion[2] gets an updated exterior and multimedia system. What's all new is its Sport trim[3] that's powered by a twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter V-6 engine that should add excitement to the most mundane commute. We recently put the Fusion Sport through our Car Seat Check, installing three styles of car seats into this mid-size sedan. We last tested the 2015 Fusion[4], which was equipped with optional inflatable rear seat belts. We're happy to report that the 2017 Fusion's car-seat grades have moved up a notch or two, though there's still room for improvement.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The three top tether anchors behind the head restraints on the sedan's rear shelf are easy to find and use.
- Thanks to the infant seat's hooklike Latch connectors, installing this car seat was easy. There was plenty of room in the backseat for this rear-facing car seat; we didn't need to adjust the front passenger seat's position.
- Our high-back booster seat fit well in the Fusion once we raised the head restraint. The seat belt buckles are on stable bases, making them easy for little ones to use independently.
What We Don't Like
- The Fusion's two sets of lower Latch anchors sit about 2 inches into the leather seat cushions, which made it somewhat difficult to connect to them despite the cushions moving easily out of the way.
- We struggled with the installation of our rear- and forward-facing convertible because of the Latch anchor positioning. Both the rear- and forward-facing convertible fit well in the Fusion after we finally connected the car seats to the Latch anchors. There was no need to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the rear convertible behind it.
Grading Scale
A: Plenty of room for the car seat and the child; doesn't impact driver or front-passenger legroom. Easy to find and connect to Latch and tether anchors. No fit issues involving head restraint or seat contouring. Easy access to the third row.
B: Plenty of room. One fit or connection issue. Some problems accessing third row when available.
C: Marginal room. Two fit or connection issues. Difficult to access third row when available.
D: Insufficient room. Two or more fit or connection issues.
F: Does not fit or is unsafe.
About Cars.com's Car Seat Checks
Editors Jennifer Geiger, Jennifer Newman and Matt Schmitz are certified child safety seat installation technicians.
For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco[6] SnugRide Classic Connect 30 infant-safety seat, a Britax[7] Marathon convertible seat and Graco TurboBooster seat. The front seats are adjusted for a 6-foot driver and a shorter passenger. The three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver's seat, and the infant and convertible seats are installed behind the front passenger seat.
We also install the forward-facing convertible in the second row's middle seat with the booster and infant seat in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit; a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. If there's a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible. Learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks[8].
Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat, and that Latch anchors have a weight limit of 65 pounds, including the weight of the child and the weight of the seat itself.
References
- ^ Ford (www.ford.com)
- ^ Fusion (www.cars.com)
- ^ Sport trim (www.cars.com)
- ^ 2015 Fusion (www.cars.com)
- ^ More Car Seat Checks (www.cars.com)
- ^ Graco (www.gracobaby.com)
- ^ Britax (us.britax.com)
- ^ Car Seat Checks (www.cars.com)
