dr_theopolis's Full Review: 2005 Ford Freestyle AWD
We traded our 2001 Ford Windstar up to the 2005 Freestyle limited. If you read our review of the Windstar, you will note that one of the main reasons for purchase is that the adjustable pedals allowed my 5' wife to reach the pedals comfortably while maintaining a safe distance from the air bag in the steering wheel. At the time of the windstar purchase, it was one of the few vehicles which contained this option. At this point, almost all large vehicles from all manufacturers have this option available. Unlike the windstar, the adjustable pedals are only available on the Limited model, at a definite premium.
For those who haven't yet done the research, the freestyle is based on the Volvo P2 platform (shared by the XC90, V70, S80, and closer cousins Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego). This is undoubtedly the reason for its excellent 5 star safety ratings, even without the side curtain airbags. It also brings to the table handling which is unlike any ford I have ever driven. This includes an excellent AWD system, although I have been unable to put it through its paces until the bad weather arrives. Like its sedan brethren with AWD, it has a CVT, which drives quite a bit differently than traditional automatics. It has been stated in several reviews I have read that americans like the way their cars shift, and have been resistant to changes in transmissions (which is why BMW introduced an americanized shift pattern into their CVT in the MINI). I, however, welcome the CVT. I have driven a fair number of vehicles over the years, and fords automatics are somewhat jerky compared to GM and other manufacturers. The CVT while a little strange to listen to at first, is a welcomed improvement. Several auto reviewers have also complained that the 3L is just too small an engine for this vehicle. I don't understand this complaint, since the performance with the CVT is very similar to other crossover vehicles (Chrysler Pacifica, Chevy Equinox). Like these other vehicles, they are really wagons as opposed to SUVs and should be reviewed as such. If you are looking to offroad, I would suggest looking at real suvs. The other advantage of the CVT is the improved mileage in vehicles of this size. EPA ratings are 19/24 with the AWD, and 20/27 with the FWD model. In practice, we have gotten close to 20MPG with our barely broken in Freestyle while running the A/C constantly. This is quite a bit more than the people I know who have midsize SUVs.
The handling of the Freestar is also quite nice. Although it still doesn't handle like a performance car, it exhibits very little body-roll, and the drive is much closer to a car than an SUV or Minivan. So much so that my wife took it out the other day instead of the BMW. The brakes, at least on the limited with the 18" wheels are absolutely huge (see more below for the effect on the wheels), and stop this 4000lb vehicle without blinking. Visibility is excellent, better than any minivan due to the fact that the pillars are closer and totally unobtrusive, and the dash seems quite a bit lower. Compared to the in-class Pacifica and Magnum, the visibility is much better in the Freestyle.
The interior is nice, but not overly plush, perhaps too "functional" for some tastes. The controls for the stereo and hvac are easy to use and reach. A/c performance is adequate, although for place where it reaches over 100F I would definitely recommend the auxilary a/c option, since it takes quite a while to cool the vehicle when it is over 95F. The stereo in the limited is good, although I disagree with Fords definition of "audiophile" stereo. While it is adequate for a functional family car, it needs 2-4 more speakers in order to fill the car sufficiently for my taste (compared to Inifinity system in my 300, Harman Kardon in the BMW, and Bose in the Chevrolets) Unless you are a musician though, I think you will enjoy the system. One major downside is that the system is too new to be able to add an auxiliary input for satellite or mp3 player. I called pie.net, and they said it would be available by september. The bonus is that the dash is very easy to disassemble, and has a convenient storage compartment directly above it in the dash (I don't understand why they didn't just run a cable up their for us). If you need to use it immediately, I would recommend purchasing the entertainment system, which I believes has an auxiliary input built in.
The seating options are rather strange, including 7 passenger with a middle split bench, 6 passenger with two seats in the second row, with or without a second row console. The limited model comes with the middle console, which means that the seats must be folded forward in order to reach the third row seats (unless the kids climb over the console (which is what we must do because of the car seats in the second row). Both the front and rear leather seats are comfortable, but do not have as much padding as the volvo sister vehicles (in my opinion, volvo has some of the most comfortable seats in the industry). Although the side bolsters are insufficient for my taste, they are far superior to the soft couch-like cloth seats that were in our previous windstar. They are certainly comfortable for long trips, and even though the brochure stated that the third row seat would have cloth, ours came with leather like the other seats. The only significant complaint I have about the seats is that the headrests in the rear two rows are appear to more for design than for comfort. I had to remove them (swapped backwards) for use with the child seats, and they are not nearly as comfortable as the front ones. I really wish ford would install the built in boosters that volvo has in their v70 wagons, it would make this much less painful. Even with this though, it is much less painful to fold the seats down than removing the seats in the old windstar, which were heavy enough that I would guess the great majority of windstar drivers never bothered removing them. In addition, only the driver side second row seat moves forward/backward, which is quite unfortunate. There is also no easy way to store things under the seats when they are folded down since they are locked from the front. It is not a lot of space, but some of us like to pack the car full. As someone else mentioned, the crossbars are not included for the roof rack, and will cost you another 175$. I believe this is unacceptable for a car in the 30000 price range. My windstar that sold for quite a bit less included the crossbars, and I expected nothing less. They are ugly as well, and probably reduce milage, so I would probably recommend removing them when they are not in use.
With respect to the storage inside, the consoles front and 2nd row are quite roomy, and the rear one actually folds forward for use as a little table with closer cupholders (kids love this one). The cup holders are nice and deep (something often missed when people switch to european cars), and there are plenty of them. When the third row seats are in use, their is quite a bit of room behind it in order to store groceries and other things. And after folding the seats down there is plenty of room for hauling.
On the downside, the tires are a really strange size. The limited model comes with P6 pirelli 225/60 x 18. The jury is still out on how this will perform in the winter, but snow tires are barely an option. There was only one tire i could find that would fit these rims last week, and this week there are many more (look for 235/60x18 or 235/55x18). I doubt you could use 17" rims due to the huge size of the brakes on the limited model, they are quite a bit larger than my BMW 325 sport, and may even be larger than the ones in the 330 sport, which had 17" rims. I would expect a fair choice by the time winter hits due to the popularity of the Five Hundred and Freestyle.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30000
Condition: New Model Year: 2005 Model and Options: Limited Adjustable Pedals Safety Package Moonroof
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