Nothing personalizes your ride like a distinctive set of upsized rims. Our Bullitt-style 18-inchers are from Ford Racing. They're retro-stylish, factory-tough and surprisingly affordable - just what the accountant ordered for a daily driver.
A while back, we introduced you to our 2009 Fusion SEL V6 AWD. To call this a "project car" would be gross overstatement, yet here it is again. This sedan is, for us, what a similar Fusion may well be for you - a comfortable and competent daily driver with plenty of room for cargo and passengers, along with a good dose of style. Yet we couldn't leave well enough alone, because there are just too many Fusions on the road, and a little personalization is never a bad thing. But this isn't a pampered weekend toy - whatever we do to it has to be practical and (hopefully) stay within a reasonable budget.
Last time out, we began our upgrades by modifying a front-drive-spec Borla 304-stainless exhaust to work on our AWD platform - a job that required some creative fabrication talents and gave us exactly what we were looking for: tone without drone. By comparison, this time we tackle about the simplest of all bolt-on jobs - new wheels and tires. But in keeping with the "practical" theme of this project, our goal was to select new rolling stock that would best serve our SEL's regularly driven role. That meant tires that would stick like a fly's feet in both dry and wet conditions while still providing good longevity and ride qualities. And we needed to mount them on wheels that would stand up to our frequent visits to Detroit's weather-cratered pavement without deforming like a potato chip at the first Kia-sized pothole.
In researching rims, we came to the realization that an S197 Mustang's 5x4.5 bolt pattern and wheel backspacing/offset were compatible with the Fusion. Yup, odd as it may seem, many rear-drive Mustang rims will work just fine on what is essentially a front-drive platform. We had already decided on a reasonable 18-inch diameter for a practical (there's that word again) combination of style and ride comfort. This led us to peruse Ford Racing's catalog, where we came up with a rim that is both classically handsome and surprisingly affordable. While there are hundreds of wheel styles on the market that will fit a Fusion, we purposely opted for an OEM rim because we know they are impact and fatigue tested to extremely high standards. And besides, call us crazy, but we like the idea of putting Ford parts on our Ford.
We then went looking for rubber that would provide great all-weather grip for three seasons (we already have winter tires on our factory 17-inch rims) while still providing the good treadwear rating a daily driver needs. We settled on Continental's ExtremeContact DW - a new design that we've so far found to have tenacious grip partnered with very low road noise, great steering response and a generous treadwear rating.
More details follow in our captions...
 Right after purchase, our...  Right after purchase, our 2009 SEL AWD's factory 17x7.5 wheels (FWD SELs got 17x7) were mounted up with a set of Michelin winter tires in stock 225/50R17 size. In our (northern) neck of the woods, these things will probably see about six months of use every year. Having winter looked after allowed us to ignore so-called "all-season" tires for our 18-inch warm-season upgrade. |  So we opted for Continental's...  So we opted for Continental's new ExtremeContact DW (meaning Dry Wet) rubber in 225/45R18 - the same size as issued on factory Fusion Sport models, and which have the same diameter and rev-per-mile as our original 17s, therefore keeping the speedometer accurate. Amongst its many virtues, the Conti DW has a strong 340 treadwear rating, and is of low rolling resistance design for maximum fuel economy - both obviously desirable traits in a car that sees a lot of driving. |  Our wheel of choice is Ford...  Our wheel of choice is Ford Racing's 18x8.5-inch, 5-spoke (M-1007-S1885) in silver painted finish, to complement our SEL's Vapor Silver hue. These things - a factory option on some years of S197 Mustang - are pleasantly affordable at a suggested list price of just $139 apiece. We didn't even have to buy new lug nuts as our factory versions worked just fine. A bonus is that their spoke shape makes them ridiculously easy to keep clean - something much appreciated on a daily driver. |
 This is the same rim only...  This is the same rim only with black-painted centers (M-1007-S1885B, $170 apiece MSRP.) You might recognize it as the wheel that came on the 2008/2009 Bullitt Mustang. By the way, if your Fusion is new enough to have a tire-pressure monitoring system, you'll have to decide whether to spend the considerable money for TPMS hardware for each rim, or just stare at a warning light on the dash. Being financially embarrassed, we decided to just get used to the light... |  FRPP's final variation of...  FRPP's final variation of our wheel is this chromed version (M-1007-S1885C.) These list at $389 each, but we've seen then for as little as $289 online. |  All these Mustang rims, not...  All these Mustang rims, not surprisingly, normally ship with Mustang running-horse center caps as seen in the preceding photos. We opted instead for more generic "Ford Racing" caps (M-1096-FR1) which make a little more visual sense on a Fusion. |
Shine On You Crazy... Rubber??
Many of the numerous tire dressings on the market give a wet, glossy finish, making rubber look more like hard plastic. If, like us, you'd rather have your tires simply look new, dark and fresh, then Black Magic's recently introduced water-based "Titanium Matte Tire Finish" may be worth a try. It worked for us.