Ford Freestyle: anyone else really like the styling?

I love the clean lines of a wagon, and I think Ford's done a great job with the Freestyle. If I were in the market for a new car (which I'm not, I :heart: my Accord), I'd seriously consider the Freestyle, especially with AWD.

It's got three rows of seating, a full center console in the second row, and tons of cargo room without the rear seats.

EDIT: comes with a CVT too!

pic1 (exterior)
pic2 (rear seat)
pic3 (exterior)
pic4 (with third-row seats folded)
pic5 (exterior, not the best color, but whatever)

 

[saltedeggman]

from the last pic it looks like a forester

 

Originally posted by: saltedeggman
from the last pic it looks like a forester

In person I've found it to be very appealing. Living in Metro Detroit, all the auto company employees drive the newest cars, and I've seen plenty of them here.

 

[ElFenix]

much nicer looking than the average ford, i'll give it that. those middle seats have nice headrests. a bit more side bolstering would make them look more appealing, though it would negatively affect any fold-flat ability.

 

Just read that it comes with a CVT too! I think I'm in love! :heart:

 

[NFS4]

I can sum it up with one word...UNDERPOWERED.

Add the family and some luggage and you'll be puttin' around like an Escalade with a 4-banger engine.

 

Engine type Duratec 30 ? 3.0L V6 engine
Engine electronics Electronic engine controls
Displacement 3.0L (183 CID)
Horsepower (SAE net@rpm) 203@5,750
Torque (lb.-ft.@rpm) 207@4,500

Seems fine to me. Nowadays it seems like a car has to have 240hp to even be looked at by 'enthusiasts.' I'm just fine with 203/207.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Engine type Duratec 30 ? 3.0L V6 engine
Engine electronics Electronic engine controls
Displacement 3.0L (183 CID)
Horsepower (SAE net@rpm) 203@5,750
Torque (lb.-ft.@rpm) 207@4,500

Seems fine to me. Nowadays it seems like a car has to have 240hp to even be looked at by 'enthusiasts.' I'm just fine with 203/207.

200HP is borderline sluggish in the Ford 500. Try it a vehicle that weighs 4112 lbs.

When it comes to acceleration, the Freestyle's around-town performance isn't all that bad given its moderate horsepower rating, but we weren't as pleased during our lengthy freeway trip which included several long uphill grades. Not only did the Freestyle struggle to make the climb, but the drone of the engine became annoying for everyone aboard. At one point, we even fell victim to an ordinarily pokey first-generation Toyota Prius that dogged us for nearly an hour. As desperately as we tried to pull away from the mid-50ish couple driving the Prius, we could never find enough reserve power to leave them behind.

:laugh:

 

[HardcoreRobot]

nothing special

 

[PlatinumGold]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: jumpr

Engine type Duratec 30 ? 3.0L V6 engine
Engine electronics Electronic engine controls
Displacement 3.0L (183 CID)
Horsepower (SAE net@rpm) 203@5,750
Torque (lb.-ft.@rpm) 207@4,500

Seems fine to me. Nowadays it seems like a car has to have 240hp to even be looked at by 'enthusiasts.' I'm just fine with 203/207.

200HP is borderline sluggish in the Ford 500. Try it a vehicle that weighs 4112 lbs.

i test drove it with my whole family in it, and no, it wasn't sluggish. it was very nice.

i'm with jumpr, i don't get the obsession with excessive hp.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: jumpr

Engine type Duratec 30 ? 3.0L V6 engine
Engine electronics Electronic engine controls
Displacement 3.0L (183 CID)
Horsepower (SAE net@rpm) 203@5,750
Torque (lb.-ft.@rpm) 207@4,500

Seems fine to me. Nowadays it seems like a car has to have 240hp to even be looked at by 'enthusiasts.' I'm just fine with 203/207.

200HP is borderline sluggish in the Ford 500. Try it a vehicle that weighs 4112 lbs.

When it comes to acceleration, the Freestyle's around-town performance isn't all that bad given its moderate horsepower rating, but we weren't as pleased during our lengthy freeway trip which included several long uphill grades. Not only did the Freestyle struggle to make the climb, but the drone of the engine became annoying for everyone aboard. At one point, we even fell victim to an ordinarily pokey first-generation Toyota Prius that dogged us for nearly an hour. As desperately as we tried to pull away from the mid-50ish couple driving the Prius, we could never find enough reserve power to leave them behind.

:laugh:

kinda like the pacifica.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: jumpr

Engine type Duratec 30 ? 3.0L V6 engine
Engine electronics Electronic engine controls
Displacement 3.0L (183 CID)
Horsepower (SAE net@rpm) 203@5,750
Torque (lb.-ft.@rpm) 207@4,500

Seems fine to me. Nowadays it seems like a car has to have 240hp to even be looked at by 'enthusiasts.' I'm just fine with 203/207.

200HP is borderline sluggish in the Ford 500. Try it a vehicle that weighs 4112 lbs.

When it comes to acceleration, the Freestyle's around-town performance isn't all that bad given its moderate horsepower rating, but we weren't as pleased during our lengthy freeway trip which included several long uphill grades. Not only did the Freestyle struggle to make the climb, but the drone of the engine became annoying for everyone aboard. At one point, we even fell victim to an ordinarily pokey first-generation Toyota Prius that dogged us for nearly an hour. As desperately as we tried to pull away from the mid-50ish couple driving the Prius, we could never find enough reserve power to leave them behind.

:laugh:

Sounds to me like someone forgot that the accelerator goes ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. Honestly, if I can do 120 in a 3/4 ton van whistlesinnocently a 200hp lightweight SUV can handle it. The engine in my van is 255hp, and it weighs in at 6 tons.

Then again, this kind of stuff is highly transmission-dependent.

 

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Sounds to me like someone forgot that the accelerator goes ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. Honestly, if I can do 120 in a 3/4 ton van whistlesinnocently a 200hp lightweight SUV can handle it. The engine in my van is 255hp, and it weighs in at 6 tons.

Then again, this kind of stuff is highly transmission-dependent.

Yup, and with a CVT, acceleration *should* be smooth and steady. However, this *is* Ford we're talking about. :roll:

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Sounds to me like someone forgot that the accelerator goes ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. Honestly, if I can do 120 in a 3/4 ton van whistlesinnocently a 200hp lightweight SUV can handle it. The engine in my van is 255hp, and it weighs in at 6 tons.

Then again, this kind of stuff is highly transmission-dependent.

Yup, and with a CVT, acceleration *should* be smooth and steady. However, this *is* Ford we're talking about. :roll:

While the acceleration would be smooth and steady, the engine **can** settle into a steady RPM regardless of how hard your pushing on the pedal. In a normal transmission, the engine RPMs rises and falls as you accelerate. You could accelerate in a CVT and possible not really hear the engine note change at all...this is possibly what the reviewer was siting in the quote I posted above about about the engine droning on. The Duratec isn't that refined an engine anyway in it's unaltered "Ford" state (it's been around since '95 basically unchanged)...Jaguar, Lincoln and Mazda have made their own refinements to the engine, but Ford version has pretty much stayed the same. Get that engine at RPM level that's annoying with a CVT and it could possibly be hell.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: jumpr

When it comes to acceleration, the Freestyle's around-town performance isn't all that bad given its moderate horsepower rating, but we weren't as pleased during our lengthy freeway trip which included several long uphill grades. Not only did the Freestyle struggle to make the climb, but the drone of the engine became annoying for everyone aboard. At one point, we even fell victim to an ordinarily pokey first-generation Toyota Prius that dogged us for nearly an hour. As desperately as we tried to pull away from the mid-50ish couple driving the Prius, we could never find enough reserve power to leave them behind.

:laugh:

Sounds to me like someone forgot that the accelerator goes ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. Honestly, if I can do 120 in a 3/4 ton van whistlesinnocently a 200hp lightweight SUV can handle it. The engine in my van is 255hp, and it weighs in at 6 tons.

Then again, this kind of stuff is highly transmission-dependent.

Actually, with the CVT it would be even more of a guarantee. Pedal-to-the-metal, the engine SHOULD have been at its peak HP, and unless they were towing the Titanic at the time, it should have been more than enough to reach good illegal speeds.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: EyeMWing

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: jumpr

When it comes to acceleration, the Freestyle's around-town performance isn't all that bad given its moderate horsepower rating, but we weren't as pleased during our lengthy freeway trip which included several long uphill grades. Not only did the Freestyle struggle to make the climb, but the drone of the engine became annoying for everyone aboard. At one point, we even fell victim to an ordinarily pokey first-generation Toyota Prius that dogged us for nearly an hour. As desperately as we tried to pull away from the mid-50ish couple driving the Prius, we could never find enough reserve power to leave them behind.

:laugh:

Sounds to me like someone forgot that the accelerator goes ALL THE WAY TO THE FLOOR. Honestly, if I can do 120 in a 3/4 ton van whistlesinnocently a 200hp lightweight SUV can handle it. The engine in my van is 255hp, and it weighs in at 6 tons.

Then again, this kind of stuff is highly transmission-dependent.

Actually, with the CVT it would be even more of a guarantee. Pedal-to-the-metal, the engine SHOULD have been at its peak HP, and unless they were towing the Titanic at the time, it should have been more than enough to reach good illegal speeds.

Maybe the speed limiter is low as hell or something.

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

no, good to see ford is sinking money into developing more suvs with the rising gas prices and the falling sales of suvs.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: iwantanewcomputer
no, good to see ford is sinking money into developing more suvs with the rising gas prices and the falling sales of suvs.

Uhhhh... this engine is used in cars as well and has OK gas mileage. Not everyone wants to drive a Civic. :roll:

 

[imthebadguy]

its nice It has the Duratech engine same v6 as the taurus/escape and their variants ~200hp imo its got good pickup for what its intended use is. Another winner for Ford in my books.

 

[bootymac]

Looks like a Subaru

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Yeah, it's not bad!

I'll take a Chryselr Pacifica over a Frod Freestyle any day!

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: imthebadguy
its nice It has the Duratech engine same v6 as the taurus/escape and their variants ~200hp imo its got good pickup for what its intended use is. Another winner for Ford in my books.

Freestyle AWD weighs 4112 lbs
Escape V6 AWD weighs 3406 lbs
Taurus V6 weighs 3306 lbs

What has "good pickup" in a Taurus or Escape isn't the same in something that weighs 700 - 800 lbs more. Especially when you throw in a full load.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: iwantanewcomputer
no, good to see ford is sinking money into developing more suvs with the rising gas prices and the falling sales of suvs.

hint: its a station wagon

 

[thedarkwolf]

They just need to get the 3.5l duratech out soon.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
They just need to get the 3.5l duratech out soon.

Exactly