New Ford Flex Almost as Slippery as Edmunds. But Not Quite.
You know it's a slow news day when a Ford press release touts a wheeled-brick's aerodynamics and the story (such as it is) is picked up by a blog. Granted, we've just done juts that. And Ford needs every little bit of help it can spin to launch their 2.25 ton, 6.5 foot wide Taurus X derivative— especially in this dismal economic climate. " Boxy is the New Swoopy" gushes Edmunds. Our pals quote Ford's press release liberally, "revealing" how squaring the Fairlane's roof and bumper (among other equally subtle changes) gives the Flex a 0.02 aerodynamic edge (so to speak) over the Toyota Highlander and GMC Acadia. FoMoCo claims a one mpg advantage over the competition. Fueleconomy.gov has the Flex FWD pegged at 17/24. As well as the 2009 Acadia FWD with its new DI 3.6L V6. Oops. Nowhere in Edmunds/Ford gusher is the Flex's pesky frontal area number. Nor is mention made of the 500lbs. weight gain over the Freestyle, or the Freestyle's EPA 18/25 rating (2008 corrected #'s). We expect selective stats from Ford. But Edmunds? Yeah, OK, Edmunds too.
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I never thought I would say this about any car, but black with a black roof just isn't a good color combo for the Flex.
1 mpg advantage over Highlander!!!!!! 1 mpg advantage!!
A lot you need to realize that not everyone is in the market for a Prius or Civic. The recent gas prices have not yet forced me to reconsider anything under a V6 ... Simply because of my requirements. I like the car, for 2010, i may return the 06 Fusion and pick this one up.
btw, my uncle just leased a Civic for a good $20/m more than my SE V6 Fusion. The price advantage is something that cannot be ignored with Ford few models. Crysler and most of GM are worse than plague