- crossover 140,705
- 5,999 high price
- Bridgeport, CT
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- autoshopper.com
2005 ford freestyle review this car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale. An excellent example of a successful crossover. introductionstation wagons were once mainstream suburbia. In time, it seems, everything cycles out of favor. And if history is prologue, this fate will ultimately befall sport-utility vehicles. But people still need to haul themselves, their families and friends and their stuff around. And even the roomiest sedan with a multi-golf bag-sized trunk can't do it all. into this breech slides the latest iteration of the do-everything vehicle, the so-called crossover. Not quite a wagon, not quite a minivan, not quite an suv, not quite anything that's come before, the crossover tries to combine the best features from all of these. Some succeed better than others, and into this class falls the all-new 2005 ford freestyle. in the freestyle, ford has combined space-conscious and people-friendly packaging and a new-tech powertrain offering performance and efficiency. Three rows of seats yield either six or seven adult passenger capacity, and a unique-for-the-class, continuously variable transmission eases engine load and smoothes the drive. All-wheel drive is available for owners who want all-weather capability. critics may say the freestyle is simply the station wagon version of the new ford five hundred sedan. And in many ways, they're right. All have the same 3. 0-liter v6 engine rated at 203 horsepower. All are equipped with a continuously variable transmission, or cvt. the se 24,945) comes with features not normally expected in a base model. Some of the se options are available, including the safety and security package 695). the limited 28,545) includes many of the sel's options plus an upgraded sound system with subwoofer, memory settings for driver's seat and outside mirrors, heated front seats, two-way adjustable second row seats, woodgrain dash trim, cargo net and 18-inch bright aluminum wheels. Options besides those available on the se and sel are a programmable, three-frequency remote opener system 115) and adjustable pedals with memory 175). walkaroundthe freestyle presented ford's designers with a challenge: how to make something that looked like neither a station wagon nor a minivan but promised the best of both. To a large extent, they succeeded, but, and no surprise, not without some compromise. built on the same platform and incorporating much of the mechanicals of the new ford five hundred, the freestyle nevertheless looks more like the ford escape compact suv than the car. From all angles, there are more of the escape's styling cues than any of the car's cues, from the unadorned and somewhat upright front end to the fender blisters, tall side glass and hefty c-pillar to the liftgate and heavily bumpered tail end. Thus, there's virtually nothing to make a shopper think 'station wagon,' at least not initially. parked next to the five hundred, however, similarities abound. The wheelbase is identical. (wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear wheels.) lengthwise, the freestyle is actually an inch shorter than the five hundred. Only in height is there a marked difference, where the freestyle is about five inches taller, more than an inch of which is a result of the freestyle's added ground clearance. Is it, then, merely a tall station wagon? comparing the freestyle with its demi-namesake, the freestar minivan, the compromises become apparent. These added inches endow the freestar with a maximum 130. 6 cubic feet of cargo capacity, versus the freestyle's 86. 5 cubic feet. All of which says it's not a minivan. against the escape, however, the freestyle measures up quite well. It's almost two feet longer, with a 10-inch longer wheelbase. And the escape is barely an inch and a half taller. And though less than an inch shorter in wheelbase than the explorer, the freestyle is more than an inch longer overall. While it's none of the above, it's some of the above, and some of the best of the above, at that. interiorfitting three rows of seats in a package the size of the freestyle required some compromises, but the good outweighs the bad. the front seats are decently bolstered, with adequate thigh support. Otherwise, people room is quite respectable, especially with the twin buckets in the second row. With the second-row bench alternative, the center seat bottom and back cushions are above grade and with even less lateral support relative to the outboard seats. Ford says the third-row seat was designed to comfortably accommodate a 6'1' male, but in reality, occupants of that stature will find their legs quite a bit more articulated and their knees closer to their chests than elsewhere in the freestyle's cabin. And there's the ever-popular sunglasses holder incorporated into the overhead console. That overhead unit also houses the 'conversation mirror' (a. A., the kid spy glass), although this combo feature gets displaced by the optional moonroof. Second- and third-row seats get reading lights. the dash design is quiet and uncluttered, assembled from few bits and pieces, promising minimal squeaks and rattles as the freestyle ages. Framed by the steering wheel are large, round, easy-to-scan, white-on-black (the limited gets black-on-white) tachometer (sans redline, a result of ford's ever-diligent cost cutting) and speedometer, between which are the fuel and engine water temperature gauges and, on the sel and limited, the digital informational display, all beneath a hood shading them from mid-day glare. To the left of the steering column are the headlight and dash light controls, and when ordered the rocker switch for the adjustable pedals. The high-beam, turn indicator and windshield/backlight wiper/washer levers sprout from the left and right side of the column, respectively. at finger-tip level in the center stack is the stereo control head, f.
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