We have long believed that the 2017 Fusion Sport—which packs a 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine and an all-wheel-drive powertrain—is a perfect wolf in sheep’s clothing. It can carry you to business meetings, transport the family, and with a few mods it can haul some ass too. That’s why the Sport put together by Legacy Innovations caught our eye at last year’s SEMA show in Vegas.

The custom car builders out of York, Pennsylvania, not only restyled the car but added a few go-fast parts, notably a of plug-in performance enhancer from our friends at JMS Chip & Performance.

Main man Troy Spackman has worked with Ford on several other SEMA project vehicles, but even he was taken aback by working with the four-door sedan for the big aftermarket show.

“Ford chose the Fusion Sport for us. We were a little surprised it wasn’t a Focus RS; the disappointment quickly subsided when we realized how this revamped twin turbo sedan looked and performed,” he explained. “After developing parts for a few vehicles over the past eight years we decided to work directly with Ford on this project because of its unique, high-performance angle. We all thought there was room for some aftermarket support.”

Apparently the car was a hit with Ford sedan fans at the show, and we are surprised. Troy and his team really did a nice job spiffing-up the car.

“It’s a Fusion, so we were caught off guard numerous times with the comments of midsize car enthusiasts, like ‘Finally someone did a Fusion!’ and ‘Honestly, that Fusion is cool…’” he added.

While the Legacy Innovations machine certainly looks great, it also performs better than your average Fusion Sport. This is thanks to the addition of some choice mods like a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust and a JMS PedalMax.

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Some of the mods on the Legacy Innovations Fusion Sport include a dual-filter induction system, Forgestar bronze F14 wheels and the company’s own carbon fiber hood vents.

… The JMS PedalMAX is probably one of the biggest bang-for-the-buck additions you can make to any car, especially when your focus is increased performance,” Troy enthused. “The electronic throttle-body delay is far more annoying after you’ve had the luxury of having JMS support on a vehicle or two.”

“The first time I hit the throttle a coworker said ‘I thought you dumped the clutch!’ (it’s an automatic),” Troy added. “You quickly take it for granted, but now the lag of an OE pedal feels terrible!”

We’ll bet it does, but you needn’t be as aggressive with your modifications as Legacy Innovations did to have a fun ride.

“After dialing in air/fuel tables on the street we decided for this daily, it (dynoing) wasn’t necessary,” Troy added. “We have a clean tune in it and the car is noticeably more responsive once into boost. I’d skip the twin-filter induction for the real grocery getters.”