The 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid

SENIOR WEB REPORTER GREG MIGLIORE: 

                      The watershed moment in the Mercury Milan Hybrid came for me as I was dashing across town for a lunch meeting. Merging onto an expressway in close quarters where lanes begin and end rapidly, I was able to punch the throttle, bring the car up to speed to avoid a guy in a Camaro and set sail down the interstate.

It was perfectly normal.

The Milan is more representative of the direction hybrids are going: mainstream. And that's what this car is. It drives normal. Your can put stuff in it. It has enough power for regular driving. It's neither eye-catching nor offensive.

All of this stands out to me because this could be a decent family car, if a midsized sedan is what your family needs. That's in contrast to the driving characteristics of the Honda Insight, the most recent hybrid I've driven. That car makes more of a design statement and has a creative interior, but frankly, driving the Insight on the expressway--in the rain--was not something to relish.

The area where the Milan does stand out is the dash, which is colorful, informative and--dare I say--fun to use. This is part of a concentrated effort by Ford to dress up its hybrids and make them enjoyable to drive--without beating you over the head with green feelings. The eco gauges open with the turn of the key and offer plenty of useful info. The instantaneous fuel economy was nice, the leaves were cool, and in general it was fairly easy to comprehend, considering the wealth of information you can configure it to show you.

I also give props to the navigation system, which returns eco information about the car's internals, as well as useful info such as local gas prices. It's a typical Mercury interior--comfortable, nice leathers and well-done overall. At idle, the car is eerily quiet, especially in electric mode. The stop/start feature works well for the most part, particularly at traffic lights.

The steering is a touch light, but that's the Milan, not any indictment on the hybrid version. And the car handles and brakes fine.

I made a point being heavy on the accelerator a couple times and was surprised that this car never really wheezed. I also got fuel mileage pretty close to the EPA numbers. I didn't crack 40 mpg, but mid- to upper-30s readings were no problem.

It was not an adrenaline-inducing weekend for me. But this is a fine execution of a contemporary hybrid, in my judgment.

COPY EDITOR CYNTHIA OROSCO: It's nice to get the look and feel of the Milan/Ford Fusion/Lincoln MKZ with the fuel economy and green goodness of a hybrid--especially when the car has such good power. Even clipping down the expressways at nearly 80, I was still getting 30-plus mpg, according to the cool instrument cluster that shows you how well (or poorly) you're doing on fuel economy. I like the gauges and the leaves and watching how well you're doing on the mileage, but it can be distracting.

Something that also can be distracting is the navigation screen in the center stack, although I really like it. The screen is nice and bright and provides a variety of information in a compact space. But it would be nice to have the screen and controls angled a bit. It's sometimes difficult to read/reach with the vertical setup. Otherwise, the interior of the Milan looked good, the seats were comfy and there was good space throughout. Ditto for the trunk. And thankfully, the start/stop feature wasn't jerky at takeoff, like some other hybrids. It was very smooth, as was the night overall in the Milan Hybrid.

2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid

Base Price: $28,225

As-Tested Price: $33,075

Drivetrain: 2.5-liter I4; FWD, continuously variable transmission

Output: 156 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 136 lb-ft @ 2,250 rpm

Curb Weight: 3,729 lb

Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 39/23.2 mpg

Options: Rapid spec 300A including moon-and-tune package moon roof, Sony sound system/CDx6/MP3 capable with 12 speakers, driver's vision package including blind-spot information system with cross-traffic alert, rear-view camera, rear spoiler, leather-trimmed seats with heated front ($3,735); dual-zone air conditioning ($1,775)