I was really going to slam this particular Ford. I was going to call it a heap, a mistake, a dog, a car that didn't know where it belongs, and worse, that Ford themselves didn't know where it belongs.

Which just goes to show that everything deserves a second chance. And a second format with that chance. Because - unless the car I had first just happened to be a lemon - the diesel version is not great.

That surprised me. The 1.4-litre unit is the one developed along with PSA Peugeot-Citroen. It works well in the Fiesta on whose platform the larger, heavier Fusion is based. It is considerably better again in the Citroen C3, where better soundproofing seems to have been applied.

On the other hand, in the Peugeot 307 it is underpowered with the same engine, and the larger diesels there are more comfortable. Which might give a clue to the Fusion problem. Just a little too much weight for comfort, maybe. And anyway, it had a propensity to stall on me too.

Also that first Fusion was black, a colour that doesn't do its quite pleasant shape justice. And I suppose the fact that somebody using it before me had impregnated its fabric with cigarette smoke put the kybosh on me being positively predisposed to it.

So, in all fairness, let me draw a veil over the first, and take up the second. The saviour, if you will.

It was Champagne in colour, a tone I like, though the drink itself has no charm. It was Fusion 3 in specification, which provided amongst other things a very well chosen velour upholstery and trim.

It had a 100hp 1.6-litre petrol engine, which has a decently broad band of pulling power that means you don't have to row the car through traffic.

That last comment is important, because Ford's selling point on the Fusion is that it is an Urban Activity Vehicle (UAV), geared for the needs of the suburban city dweller with an active lifestyle, or an equally active family.

(And, to revert, I couldn't say that the diesel version was a car I would like to hassle every day through the typical Irish urban driving environment.)

So, what is Fusion? Hmm, apart from the foregone Ford description of its place in motordom, and an unkind reference from a colleague that it was a late take on the Mazda Demio, It is essentially a mini-MPV. More headroom, a bit of space for the kids before they become teenagers and you need to by the as-yet-not-available Focus C-Max, not a bad parking ability, and a place in Dublin somewhere above the traffic eyeline.

There's a big back door that you have to stand away from, but which then gives a fair space for luggage. The seats are comfortable, and flexible in folding and use. There's a new Fusion Plus I saw at Geneva which adds some comforts as well as an entertainment system to keep those kids even more out of the driver's hair.

Colleagues - particularly from that other island - constantly carp about the plastics in the dashboard and other places. I'm not sure where they're coming from. Plastic is what we use these days because it gives us a durable, designable, mouldable way of covering up the not-always-nice-bits of what is under the skin.

On the road, leaving the engines aside, it is a tall vehicle, and you won't be tempted more than once to throw it around a bend or few. It doesn't aspire to that kind of work. Neither do most drivers. So, along the road, Ford will have a place for the Fusion.

Just be careful about the engines. Unless your need is long-distance highway travelling, where I must admit the 1.4 TDCi worked well, don't be tempted to anything else but the 1.6.

And, y'know, as someone who learned to drive in a Ford car powered by a 1.6-litre engine, I'm glad to be able to be positive about a Fusion I never thought I'd like.