Flex Time

"Do not paint or modify the vehicle," the letter from Ford admonished. Pity, because if I was keeping this Flex, I’d be going to town on it. Ford lent me the Flex for a week so I could get a solid feel for the car that I think is going to be the next big thing in the modification scene. It got a ton of attention on the road everywhere I took it, and quite a few people wanted to see the inside. My verdict: I love it! My Flex had the cool parts of a big luxury SUV, like every option imaginable (skip the fridge, don’t skip the well-integrated navi) and tons of space to stretch out in. The low-slung chassis gives the Flex the good manners of a highway cruiser and the low stepout height I crave. I also got 17.1mpg city and 23.4mpg highway over almost 1000 logged miles, versus the EPA rating of 16/22. Since I can’t play with the real thing, I’ll be doing a virtual trick-out of the Ford Flex over the next couple of weeks via Photoshop and some cool details I’ve picked up from Ford’s EcoBoost engine team. But first, read more about my week with the Flex after the jump.

I’ve been an Epsilon fan since the GM triplets debuted, but the Flex lowers the limbo bar in this category by squishing more cool stuff and more cool factor into a package that can clear it with ease. The visual aspect of the exterior is what makes the Flex click. The long, straight body lines and contrast roof bring it close to the ground as if it were already bagged and laying frame. The same lines make it lean and long, giving it Art Deco air and flair and also recalling the gold standard of the rocket age wagons: the Chevy Nomad. The visual trickery hides the actual size of the vehicle–about 16" longer than my wagon and nearly a foot taller! It also hides more than a little bit of Land Rover style language, which Landie fans quickly pointed out to me.

The interior is no slouch, either. The usual electronics are accompanied by a comprehensive navi unit that shares data with the instrument cluster. At fifty miles to empty, fuel stations appeared on the navi screen (set to 1 mile resolution). I was both amused and impressed by this use of CAN-BUS data. The adaptive mapping made changes to planned routes as long as I was going in the general direction of my destination. The touch screen was responsive to my fingernail taps, and the voice unit had little trouble with commands, as long as I waited for the prompt.

My limited knowledge of car audio means that I’m impressed with SYNC. It does all of the basics and after about two minutes (first interface), successfully connected to my iPod nano. An older iPod was not so lucky. The steering wheel controls were sufficient and sufficiently tactile, reminding me of the switches in an older Honda that I still hold out as an ergonomic standard. Cruise control was not intrusive and kept speeds stable on most hill climbs.

A lot of bigger vehicles do not get proper brake treatment. This is not the case with the Flex. Brakes are an important thing to me thanks to my HPDE experience and this setup is worthy of note. The front brakes stop the car with ease and are substantial enough to test the seat belts. This results in some nose dive during heavy braking–nothing a little adjustment to the bias wouldn’t fix. With seven days of sunny, dry weather, I didn’t get into the ABS or getto experiment with the traction control. Unlike when driving larger SUVs, I was never worried about needing them–the Flex’s car-like manners shine brightest when you push it around a bit.

The second row seats are adjustable to allow for more room in the third row. This kept my kids busy as they immediately chose to sit in separate rows. The center console freezer/chiller unit is neat and works well, but I’d skip it in favor of a full second row and flatter loading area. The load floor is bit higher than I expected, but at the same time, there is also plenty of room under the seats to stash stuff. The high roofline and large hatch do not compromise the cargo capacity as in, say, a Dodge Magnum. If you’ve been avoiding a minivan or want to step down from a big SUV, the Flex deserves a serious look.

In sum, I really like the Flex, and in true enthusiast fashion, that means I would buy one with the express intention of throwing money at it. My choice is a 2WD model at the SEL trim level in Cinnamon Metallic, with SYNC, navi (coming soon to this trim level) and the convenience package. The convenience package adds power seats and mirrors and a power inverter, and the all-important wiring harnesses. I’ve already started making plans for a workover of the exterior and interior, along with some powertrain and suspension work that will make this Flex, MY Flex. Stay tuned for my virtual trick-out!