But this system just like the one Honda has in its CIVIC / cars.. is the reason why I refuse to buy either.

It looks like its just been stuffed in there. The least ya could do is get / build a panel better so this device / waste of 300bux doesn’t get yanked out in some easy car theft.

The CNG system is also available for the Fusion and Milan.

The Fusion has an AUX jack as well, but I’ve never used it. Like you say, not only is it dangerous to be browsing your MP3 player while driving, it’s also not really any faster. SYNC allows you to verbally specify the artist, the track, playlist, etc., so it’s really quick.

To CrownVic, it may be that you weren’t saying the commands correctly. It takes a little while at first, but once you know the proper commands it works like a charm.

I think SYNC is terrible. I was at a dealer recently (so you know there was no ‘outside’ noise), inside a Flex and the thing could not understand me at all. It was terrible.

Wow – have you seen the light and realized the greatness of Ford product at last – I hope you have decided to buy a Flex – ours is brilliant.

SYNC is fantastic! 1 million customers would seem to agree – that is democratization of technology at work!
To those that reckon an AUX in point is better so that they can play with their ipod as they drive along at 80mph I ask you (politely) to do the following:
- Grow up!
- Don’t drive anywhere near me
- Consider the huge implication of what you are doing.
- Buy a car with SYNC quick. If you get a 2010MY vehicle, you also get (free) Traffic, Directions and Information which is simple to use and set up.

The main advantage to SYNC to me is that it works extremely well with just about every MP3 player on the market, not just iPods. As an avowed Apple hater, this alone is a great feature.

But on the whole, the voice commands work really well for most words. Beyond that, the system is just incredibly easy to setup. Pairing my iPhone and downloading my complete address book and call history took all of about 20 seconds over bluetooth. And connecting my 80 GB iPod was as simple as plugging it into the USB port under the armrest. It seems that any band or artist name works with the voice command, and few of them are really long, like 9 or 10 words.

If I had one complaint, it would be that the SYNC integrated navigation system takes awhile to set a ‘point of interest’ destination using voice commands. I wish there was a way to simplify this, as it seems like I often have to go through a series of hoops to find the POI. The Garmin GPS menu system is easier to use except that it’s not voice operated (and not as pretty).

That said, SYNC was a selling point for me. Not ‘THE’ selling point, but that along with the hybrid fuel economy and a couple other things steered me away from getting a premium fuel gulping Acura or other foreign make and surprisingly enough into buying my first Ford.

I am also wondering when the key ignition on the car will become a USB port for your encrypted starter-code carried on your thumbdrive, perhaps?

If the car biz utilized industry-standard connectors for the vehicle’s electronics, costs would come down so much. No more billion-dollar ECU; with standardized connectors you could build a Linux box to run the whole car and plug all the sensors in with standardized connectors.

Plus, home diagnosis of problems would be feasible just by going to your dealer’s or mechanic’s website so the car can “talk” to them. McLaren had a primitive version of a setup like that with the F1 waaay back in the 90’s.

Both Sync systems work well enough considering the point is to try and keep your eyes on the road. The basic commands are almost flawless (play artist Joe Satriani for example, play album Crystal Planet, call XXXX on cell or call XXXX at home, etc.). Also, beyond just voice commands, you can use the radio controls to access all of your music and playlists. Both systems charge the players respectively too. My only complaint about the Escape’s Sync system, is that the USB input is located under the radio stack in a cubbie and not in the console as in the Flex.

BTW, P71_CrownVic, your hatred of everything that is Ford (it appears this way at least) is evident in all of your comments. You’re the only person whom I’ve seen said the Sync system couldn’t recognize a voice. Are you sure you were pushing the talk button? It’s not perfect, but it sure beats the living piss out of what else is out there right now.

You know, I have never tried testing it with foreign terms adopted into English with their foreign pronunciation. If I have some down time tomorrow I am going to jump in a car and try it out though, just to see what happens, and will report back the results.

As far as thick accents go, the best bet for Sync is to get the car with the HD nav system, as it has (as I mentioned above) a voice profile setup steps the user through pronouncing lots of words, and lets the car ‘learn’ the accent. I did it with a customer who had a very thick German accent and it worked like a charm after setting up the voice profile.

How do you pronounce “Notre Dame” or “Grand Prix”?

On a funnier note, ask someone from Newfoundland to say “I saw a bear on the way to the bar”, or someone from certain parts of New York or New England “Tidy Thirty Toddies” and you’ll start to see the problem.

You’ll fully appreciate it when you have to get your boss’ 760Li to work with his new cell phone, whilst avoiding telling him that the problem is his brick-thick Punjabi accent.

Sync can be set to accept input in spanish or French as well as English, but as stated above certain foreign words still need to be pronounced like they would be in English.

Anything in all caps is treated as an acronym, so, if Bob is in your cell phone as BOB, you have to say ‘Call B – O – B’. Also, with all 2009+ cars, and even later 2008s, you can say ‘Call Bob on cell’ or ‘Call Bob at work’ if you have multiple numbers under one name, and the car will do what you want it to.

If Toyota or Honda adds SYNC to their options list, it will be a blow to Ford and the rest of the business who lacks SYNC already. It seems sad to me that Ford would be beating companies like Honda and Toyota to technology like this. Toyota needs better iPod intergration and help with their voice command tech.

Voice recognition is one of those things that computers have and always will do badly. Machines don’t do this well, and frankly never will until someone manages to do in hardware and software the same tasks that a much-more-complex human brain is capable of performing effortlessly. Good luck with that—I’m expecting hydrogen fuel cells will be done first.

Everything else about the system is well done. It’s quick, simple, works with anything thrown at it and, despite that, has pretty rich functionality. It utterly shames MMI/COMAND/iDrive. It also shames Windows Mobile, which shares much of the same codebase.

As much fun as it is to bash Microsoft, their products are orders of magnitude better than they once were (and I’m a Mac user). The Sync system is particularly good and I’m not aware of another manufacturer offering a similar system on as wide a range of models as Ford is.

Things like Sync will have an influence on my next car purchase and would push a new fusion way up on my list.

My 2005 TL had voice navigation and bluetooth phone intergration. It was generally a good system, but Sync does a much better job at getting commands right.

For what many manufacturers charge for this level of technology, FORD did get alot of things right.

I think manufacturers can just stop bothering to offer voice control altogether until they can get it to work for everyone regardless how poorly they speak english.

For now, I like the fact Ford/Lincoln put enough buttons on the steering wheel to control most things with hands on steering. Lincolns have a [ Fan +/-] button for example.

Otherwise, its easy to use after training on it a week or too.

Its easier to use than many of the systems in luxury car’s over $80,000.

i-Drive isn’t as easy. (its a nightmare)
COMMAND isn’t as easy. (and I have an S550 so I know)

The only other Navigation system I like is the one in the Chrysler 300 though it doesn’t have as many features as SYNC does.

Say what you will about it, but Sync in a 2010 Fusion or Taurus is a great deal and helps the fun factor a great deal.

But.. voice control that would force me to pronounce artist’s names as a computer wants to hear them? There has to be a better way.

@reclusive_in_nature :
Don’t know if Ford offers Bose systems in their cars, but if they do/did I’d definitely be sold on the Sync.

I have yet the hear a Bose system I like – the old saying still holds some truth. (No mids, no lows – must be Bose).
The nastiest version is the one in the Mazda3.