To Black Out or Not? How does this look? 2010 Fusion

[JDS]

Originally Posted by pilotsmith

It is my company car and I trade it in within 2 years. Don't want to make too drastic of a change to it or put much cash into the car...

Remember that you can install a mesh grille, and when you're finished, just put the old one back in. At least that's how the grille on my car is.

And you can usually find them very cheap.

Originally Posted by pilotsmith

Years ago when I had to buy my own cars, I also blacked out the chrome on them all the time. Volvo sold a satin black spray paint that worked amazingly well and was extremely durable. Not sure if they still sell it.

You can always use Rustoleum or Duplicolor. I used a Duplicolor specifically designed to match my VW's Black Magic Pearl along with their clearcoat.

[Stealth Stalker]

Wow, I'm surprised that everyone thinks the black looks good. I love a blacked out car, but the look just fails for me on a silver car. I think it looks horribly cheap and totally takes away from the lines of the car.

And, of course, to reiterate that this is not going to negate the need for a jammer. And if you get a good jammer, you don't need to black anything out.

[JDS]

I think that huge chrome thing looks cheap too. And UGLY. Especially with the extremely thick slats.

[scull20]

I am usually pretty critical on American auto designs, but I do actually like the look of the new Fusions. I was not really crazy about the previous generation. The only thing I am not too fond of about this generation is the chrome part of the grill that extends over the top of the headlights, I think if they removed that it would 10 time better.

The black out looks good, but I would be careful extra careful with painting the plastic grill. I've heard nightmare stories about people painting plastic on cars only to have it start peeling and chipping off shortly after painting. I would be a bit weary about painting the grill only because of the higher risk of the paint getting chipped from debris getting kicked up into the grill from the road.

-Ryan

[JDS]

It's very important to thoroughly sand the entire surface being painted and then to paint in many thin coats in order to avoid peeling, cracking, or chipping.

[trailtow]

Originally Posted by scull20

I am usually pretty critical on American auto designs, but I do actually like the look of the new Fusions. I was not really crazy about the previous generation. The only thing I am not too fond of about this generation is the chrome part of the grill that extends over the top of the headlights, I think if they removed that it would 10 time better.

The black out looks good, but I would be careful extra careful with painting the plastic grill. I've heard nightmare stories about people painting plastic on cars only to have it start peeling and chipping off shortly after painting. I would be a bit weary about painting the grill only because of the higher risk of the paint getting chipped from debris getting kicked up into the grill from the road.

-Ryan

You just have to sand very well and ude a good primer and It will turn out good and if it starts chipping just rip it of and paint again only lie 5 bucks for a new can of spray paint

[srtga]

I say black it out. I like the lines of the fusion. Seems like I always find myself looking at them on the highway kind of thinking "What's that?"

If they put some serious boogie in it I'd drive one!

[904nm]

Originally Posted by srtga

I say black it out. I like the lines of the fusion. Seems like I always find myself looking at them on the highway kind of thinking "What's that?"

If they put some serious boogie in it I'd drive one!

I was surprised with the looks too. I notice people looking at it more than I expected. It drives pretty nice. I didn't have a choice on the power plant. The L4 drives okay but you need to keep it wound up in the high RPM range for it to be any fun. I'm guessing the V6 Fusion should drive nice. Most of the cars I have had have been pretty boring fleet cars. But I can't complain for free. This is the first one that is actually fun to drive even with the smaller engine.

[supercowpowers]

Originally Posted by pilotsmith

I was surprised with the looks too. I notice people looking at it more than I expected. It drives pretty nice. I didn't have a choice on the power plant. The L4 drives okay but you need to keep it wound up in the high RPM range for it to be any fun. I'm guessing the V6 Fusion should drive nice. Most of the cars I have had have been pretty boring fleet cars. But I can't complain for free. This is the first one that is actually fun to drive even with the smaller engine.

I have an older version of the 3.0 Duratec in my car that makes 212 HP/197 lb/ft. Ironically, it also likes to be wound out to make any decent power, but it's rewarding to do so and it works well on the highway.

And I'm pretty sure it's an inline 4.

I think it looks tougher blacked out. It highlights the angry-looking angled headlights and there's something that seems right about it matching the lower grille and the foglight surrounds.

I'm not sure if a mesh grille would be an improvement. The sides of the upper grille and of the hole in the lower grille seem to be drawn along the same line, and since they're both composed of parallel lines, in black my eyes see it as one large V-shaped piece that's tastefully interrupted by the silver body. A mesh grille would just look like another black piece that doesn't really match anything else on the front.

[JDS]

I suppose if you replaced it with a mesh grille, you'd probably have to replace the lower opening with mesh also, like I did on my car. It never looked quite right until I did that.