Feature
First Look: 2009 Ford Flex
Finally, a Bold Move
Now that the slogan has been relegated to the dustbin of marketing history, Ford is finally making a Bold Move with the 2009 Ford Flex.
The Freestyle/Taurus X? Not so bold a move. The Five Hundred/Taurus? Timid move. The new Focus? Well, you get the point.
But introducing a crazy, slab-sided non-minivan that shares its proportions with a coffin and is called the Flex? Now that is brash. And, all right, even bold. After spending a couple of days crawling around the Flex and considering it from all angles, we must say that we hope the thing pays off for the usually hide-bound crew from the Blue Oval.
But not because we think it's a great drive. We haven't even been allowed behind the wheel of a moving 2009 Ford Flex yet. And not because it's beautiful. It's not.
We hope it succeeds because it's not boring. We hope it succeeds because it's straight-up weird. And we hope it succeeds because we don't ever want to type the word "crossover" again.
The Path Not Taken
Ford and General Motors hate them some minivans. They'll talk your ear off about the declining market for vans and the insurmountable Mommy-mobile stigma of owning one. What they won't usually mention is that neither of them built truly competitive vans. Ford might not have unleashed any epic stinkers such as the GM Dustbuster-style vans or the swollen Chevy Uplander, but in a comic move that shall stain the reputation of the Dearborn company forever and ever, Ford conceived and produced the "King Door" in 1998.
The King Door was an extremely long driver-side door that didn't really help rear-seat passengers enter as intended but did make it impossible for you to open this door in just about any parking lot. Ford simply was trying to deny the obvious fact that its competitors had all developed minivans with dual sliding rear doors.
The expected response to minivan-aversion is to launch a crossover. (Dammit, there it is again.) Near as we can define, the C-word denotes a people mover that's had some of its minivan utility replaced by a pinch of SUV pretense. General Motors' so-called Lambda vehicles (Acadia, Outlook, Enclave and Traverse) are some of the better examples of the breed.
You'll remember that Ford tried that route, too. Now, it seems, the company would like the few people who actually remember the Freestyle/Taurus X to go ahead and just forget it.
One Fairlane, Hold the Raffia
It became apparent that strangeness was afoot in Dearborn as early as the 2005 Detroit Auto Show, where Ford unveiled a curiosity called the Fairlane. This was a concept-ized version of a vehicle that Ford designers were already working on. It was presented as a sort of cross between a Range Rover and a station wagon and used what appeared to be raffia for the door panels. Its vibe was decidedly the Hamptons.
Lose the concept's preppy getup and the suicide doors and you've pretty much got the vehicle that will hit Ford dealers in July. In place of the wickerwork, the door panels of the production car are inspired by that most domestic of modern appliances, the vacuum cleaner. Seriously. Richard Gresens, chief designer for the Flex, collects vintage streamlined canister vacuums. He says his office is littered with them, including the 1955 Electrolux LX that inspired the panel.
"'Breadbox' is exactly what we wanted to hear [from customers]," says the affable Gresens. "We wanted reaction. We didn't want a vanilla car."
And, oh, how it gets reactions. From the four horizontal grooves stamped into the outer door panels to the Range Rover-like blacked-out pillars to the Mini-with-elephantiasis roof, the Flex is a rolling stare magnet.
Yet none of those details really confound the eye so much as the vehicle's proportions. At 117.9 inches in overall length, the Flex is shorter by a little more than 3 inches than a Dodge Grand Caravan. But it rides on a nearly identical wheelbase. With a perfectly horizontal shoulder line, roof line and those grooved doors, the Flex appears to the eye to be even longer. It's striking, awkward and bewildering.
Inside the Box
These proportions produce truly remarkable second-row legroom. There is 7.5 inches more legroom in the second row of the Flex than in the slightly longer Chevy Traverse crossover. Of course, third-row legroom is somewhat compromised by Ford's emphasis on second-row passengers, but the Flex's way-back passengers will still find 33.4 inches of legroom, some 8 inches more than a Chevy Tahoe.
The interior of the Flex also feels exceptionally spacious, perhaps in part because of the nearly vertical side glass. Order the Vista Roof (a $1,600 option) and passengers in each of the three rows get a little peek of daylight through the roof — although the little porthole openings above the second-row seats seem a bit odd the first time you sit under them.
Underneath the wacky body sits an updated version of the Ford Freestyle/Taurus X crossover with a 5-inch stretch between the wheels. This version shares a reworked multilink independent rear suspension with the upcoming Lincoln MKS sedan. Chief Engineer Gary Boes says this setup works with the upright dampers to allow the installation of the large-diameter wheel and tire package that the slab-sided body needs to improve load capacity.
Not Just Weird; Powerfully Weird
For all its oddness, the Flex is squarely in the middle of the people mover segment when it comes to powertrain specifications.
Initially, the Flex will be powered exclusively by Ford's familiar 3.5-liter DOHC V6, which should put out 262 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque in the Flex. That means the Flex will pack 11 hp more than the Caravan's optional 4.0-liter V6 and 24 hp fewer than the Chevy Traverse's 3.6-liter V6. All three vehicles use six-speed transmissions and all power their front wheels. The Ford and Chevy offer optional all-wheel drive.
At an estimated curb weight of 4,650 pounds, Ford says the Flex will accelerate to 60 mph in about 9 seconds. The company also claims that this is quicker than the Flex's competitors. It's not. In our testing, the GMC Acadia does the deed in 8.0 seconds. The 2008 Honda Pilot does it in 8.6.
The Flex will almost certainly be the quickest in its class when equipped with the twin-turbo Ecoboost V6, which should make about 340 hp and be available in 2010.
And we're not yet sure what to make of the company's claim that the Flex has the same amount of body roll as a BMW 335i. It's clear that the company is presenting the Flex as a response to the image of the wallowing minivan. We'll wait until we actually get to drive one to make any remarks on that front.
Boes estimates that the Flex will get a class-competitive 23 mpg highway. It can tow up to 4,500 pounds.
The Deluxe Family Truckster
What is for certain is that the 2009 Ford Flex will not be the cheapest entry in the market. At a base price of $28,995 (including destination charge), the Flex will be more expensive than a 2008 Honda Pilot, about $1,000 cheaper than a base-level GMC Acadia and a bit more than a decently equipped Dodge Grand Caravan SXT minivan.
Add to this the all-wheel-drive system, voice-activated navigation, second-row captains chairs, Sync, upgraded Sony-branded stereo, rearview camera and the Vista Roof, and you'll find your Flex nearing the $40,000 mark.
If you look only at the specifications sheets of the Flex and its main competitors — whether minivan or three-row crossover — you might conclude there's effectively no significant difference among the lot of them.
But appearance is reality. So if you drive a minivan, then you're a suburban mom. If you drive a crossover, then you're a suburban mom who doesn't want to appear to be one. If you drive a Flex, then you're — what? — a weird suburban mom? Whatever, because Jim Farley, Ford's new chief of marketing newly arrived from Toyota, believes there will be more than 100,000 new Flex drivers each year. That's pretty bold.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
The Freestyle/Taurus X? Not so bold a move. The Five Hundred/Taurus? Timid move. The new Focus? Well, you get the point.
But introducing a crazy, slab-sided non-minivan that shares its proportions with a coffin and is called the Flex? Now that is brash. And, all right, even bold. After spending a couple of days crawling around the Flex and considering it from all angles, we must say that we hope the thing pays off for the usually hide-bound crew from the Blue Oval.
But not because we think it's a great drive. We haven't even been allowed behind the wheel of a moving 2009 Ford Flex yet. And not because it's beautiful. It's not.
We hope it succeeds because it's not boring. We hope it succeeds because it's straight-up weird. And we hope it succeeds because we don't ever want to type the word "crossover" again.
The Path Not Taken
Ford and General Motors hate them some minivans. They'll talk your ear off about the declining market for vans and the insurmountable Mommy-mobile stigma of owning one. What they won't usually mention is that neither of them built truly competitive vans. Ford might not have unleashed any epic stinkers such as the GM Dustbuster-style vans or the swollen Chevy Uplander, but in a comic move that shall stain the reputation of the Dearborn company forever and ever, Ford conceived and produced the "King Door" in 1998.
The King Door was an extremely long driver-side door that didn't really help rear-seat passengers enter as intended but did make it impossible for you to open this door in just about any parking lot. Ford simply was trying to deny the obvious fact that its competitors had all developed minivans with dual sliding rear doors.
The expected response to minivan-aversion is to launch a crossover. (Dammit, there it is again.) Near as we can define, the C-word denotes a people mover that's had some of its minivan utility replaced by a pinch of SUV pretense. General Motors' so-called Lambda vehicles (Acadia, Outlook, Enclave and Traverse) are some of the better examples of the breed.
You'll remember that Ford tried that route, too. Now, it seems, the company would like the few people who actually remember the Freestyle/Taurus X to go ahead and just forget it.
One Fairlane, Hold the Raffia
It became apparent that strangeness was afoot in Dearborn as early as the 2005 Detroit Auto Show, where Ford unveiled a curiosity called the Fairlane. This was a concept-ized version of a vehicle that Ford designers were already working on. It was presented as a sort of cross between a Range Rover and a station wagon and used what appeared to be raffia for the door panels. Its vibe was decidedly the Hamptons.
Lose the concept's preppy getup and the suicide doors and you've pretty much got the vehicle that will hit Ford dealers in July. In place of the wickerwork, the door panels of the production car are inspired by that most domestic of modern appliances, the vacuum cleaner. Seriously. Richard Gresens, chief designer for the Flex, collects vintage streamlined canister vacuums. He says his office is littered with them, including the 1955 Electrolux LX that inspired the panel.
"'Breadbox' is exactly what we wanted to hear [from customers]," says the affable Gresens. "We wanted reaction. We didn't want a vanilla car."
And, oh, how it gets reactions. From the four horizontal grooves stamped into the outer door panels to the Range Rover-like blacked-out pillars to the Mini-with-elephantiasis roof, the Flex is a rolling stare magnet.
Yet none of those details really confound the eye so much as the vehicle's proportions. At 117.9 inches in overall length, the Flex is shorter by a little more than 3 inches than a Dodge Grand Caravan. But it rides on a nearly identical wheelbase. With a perfectly horizontal shoulder line, roof line and those grooved doors, the Flex appears to the eye to be even longer. It's striking, awkward and bewildering.
Inside the Box
These proportions produce truly remarkable second-row legroom. There is 7.5 inches more legroom in the second row of the Flex than in the slightly longer Chevy Traverse crossover. Of course, third-row legroom is somewhat compromised by Ford's emphasis on second-row passengers, but the Flex's way-back passengers will still find 33.4 inches of legroom, some 8 inches more than a Chevy Tahoe.
The interior of the Flex also feels exceptionally spacious, perhaps in part because of the nearly vertical side glass. Order the Vista Roof (a $1,600 option) and passengers in each of the three rows get a little peek of daylight through the roof — although the little porthole openings above the second-row seats seem a bit odd the first time you sit under them.
Underneath the wacky body sits an updated version of the Ford Freestyle/Taurus X crossover with a 5-inch stretch between the wheels. This version shares a reworked multilink independent rear suspension with the upcoming Lincoln MKS sedan. Chief Engineer Gary Boes says this setup works with the upright dampers to allow the installation of the large-diameter wheel and tire package that the slab-sided body needs to improve load capacity.
Not Just Weird; Powerfully Weird
For all its oddness, the Flex is squarely in the middle of the people mover segment when it comes to powertrain specifications.
Initially, the Flex will be powered exclusively by Ford's familiar 3.5-liter DOHC V6, which should put out 262 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque in the Flex. That means the Flex will pack 11 hp more than the Caravan's optional 4.0-liter V6 and 24 hp fewer than the Chevy Traverse's 3.6-liter V6. All three vehicles use six-speed transmissions and all power their front wheels. The Ford and Chevy offer optional all-wheel drive.
At an estimated curb weight of 4,650 pounds, Ford says the Flex will accelerate to 60 mph in about 9 seconds. The company also claims that this is quicker than the Flex's competitors. It's not. In our testing, the GMC Acadia does the deed in 8.0 seconds. The 2008 Honda Pilot does it in 8.6.
The Flex will almost certainly be the quickest in its class when equipped with the twin-turbo Ecoboost V6, which should make about 340 hp and be available in 2010.
And we're not yet sure what to make of the company's claim that the Flex has the same amount of body roll as a BMW 335i. It's clear that the company is presenting the Flex as a response to the image of the wallowing minivan. We'll wait until we actually get to drive one to make any remarks on that front.
Boes estimates that the Flex will get a class-competitive 23 mpg highway. It can tow up to 4,500 pounds.
The Deluxe Family Truckster
What is for certain is that the 2009 Ford Flex will not be the cheapest entry in the market. At a base price of $28,995 (including destination charge), the Flex will be more expensive than a 2008 Honda Pilot, about $1,000 cheaper than a base-level GMC Acadia and a bit more than a decently equipped Dodge Grand Caravan SXT minivan.
Add to this the all-wheel-drive system, voice-activated navigation, second-row captains chairs, Sync, upgraded Sony-branded stereo, rearview camera and the Vista Roof, and you'll find your Flex nearing the $40,000 mark.
If you look only at the specifications sheets of the Flex and its main competitors — whether minivan or three-row crossover — you might conclude there's effectively no significant difference among the lot of them.
But appearance is reality. So if you drive a minivan, then you're a suburban mom. If you drive a crossover, then you're a suburban mom who doesn't want to appear to be one. If you drive a Flex, then you're — what? — a weird suburban mom? Whatever, because Jim Farley, Ford's new chief of marketing newly arrived from Toyota, believes there will be more than 100,000 new Flex drivers each year. That's pretty bold.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
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