Normally, we stay away from straight-up auto reviews on this blog. For one thing, MSN Autos already has a ton of them, and they cover pretty much every new car out there. And while Lawrence and James may cover some cars, they do it in a way that pulls out some particularly trenchant bit of driver or buyer info and present their take on it. So, no straight-up reviews here; however, on this slow news day Friday, I did want to comment that Ford, it seems, really hit a home run with the Fusion -- a car I honestly wouldn't have thought twice about if not for the fact that a colleague pointed out it's getting pretty much top marks everywhere it shows up.

For starters, the consensus over at AutoWeek -- among editorial assistant James Wong, senior Web reporter Greg Migliore and Executive Editor Wes Raynal -- was that the Fusion's chassis (the same basic platform as the sporty Mazda6) delivers a soft ride that can nonetheless feel sporty when put to the test. The low- to mid-20-grand price tag is obviously attractive, and the interior layout worked for everyone -- with one exception: Apparently the cloth pattern on the seats is some sort of cross between '80s fashion textiles and bad wallpaper.

Likewise on MSN Autos: Tom Wilson gave the Fusion a 9.4 out of 10 rating for much the same reasons: bang-for-buck chassis, sporty trim, smart interior controls. The Fusion Hybrid scored even better with Wilson, with a 9.6 out of 10 rating.

So, there you have it: Despite flying pretty low on the radar (at least in my neck of the woods), the Fusion is one of the better-reviewed rides in all of Ford's fleet. I do love discovering the sleepers.