If the exterior’s enough to wet your appetite, you should consider a look inside.  There’s nothing absolutely boring with the Fuzion’s interior.  The overall scheme is an eclectic mix of maroon and beige two-tone with wood and silver trim accents.  It sounds odd on paper, but gives a very modern feel to the cabin.  Most of the controls (perhaps the dash for that matter) are taken from the Strada pick-up, so expect sweeping surves and funky shaped buttons to dominate the cabin.  Like the Strada, the Fuzion has blue-backed instrumentation with white lighting which is never distracting and always appealing to look at.  The Strada’s automatic climate control system also makes its way to the Fuzion (the rear’s powered by a manual slide control air con unit) and so did the 1-DIN JVC head unit with CD/DVD/MP3/USB.  There’s a center-mounted LCD screen that plays movies on the test unit, and because of possible driving distractions, I hope it becomes an on-board computer/vehicle diagnostics system instead.  There’s even an electronically adjustable driver’s seat on the Fuzion—something that can’t be said with any of its rivals.

Comfort in the Fuzion’s hard to fault as the seats are wide and long for nice hip and lower back support.  The cushions look flat, and they are, but three hours of straight driving still prove acceptable with minimal bum discomfort.  The steering wheel position is more upright than the Innova, but it’s just a mild distraction to the driving experience.  The second row seats are just as wide (and flat) as the front, and offer a sliding function for more storage/people carrying flexibility.  It splits 60/40 with a fold-tumble option opening up to a third row bench for two additional occupants.  The forward facing third row is a tad tight with a knees up position.  It’s decisively less comfortable than the Toyota Innova’s third row, and Mitsubishi seems to have accepted this fact opting for a lap belt configuration (space constraints) to the Innova’s third row shoulder/lap belt combination for the outboard occupants.  Plus, the third row merely folds as a single piece, severely limiting the Fuzion’s ability to ferry people and cargo at the same time.

Another severely limiting factor to the Fuzion’s possible market domination is the lack of a diesel option.  For the foreseeable future, this car’s offered with just one engine and transmission option: the 4G64 2.4-liter SOHC inline-4 from the previous Outlander mated to a four-speed automatic.  Because of the Fuzion’s Taiwan origins, which like the USA, shuns diesels, only a strong clamor for a CRDi engine would make Mitsubishi reconsider this option.  There’s nothing to fret though, with 136 horsepower and 210 Nm of torque, the Fuzion easily squares off against both the Innova diesel and gasoline variants.  Easily, it’s a case of ‘the best of both worlds’, as the Fuzion has good torque to pull it from standstill but enough power for triple digit cruising.

next page >