Vehicle: 2005 Ford Freestyle Limited AWD with DVD entertainment system and leather seats
Price as tested: CDN$45580

Performance: If you expect the Freestyle to provide breathtaking performance, you are looking at the wrong vehicle. With 203 horses and 207 lb/ft of torque, this Duratec’s performance is barely adequate for a vehicle weights over 3300 pounds. While its adequtely provide acceptable performance when one person is on board, this engine will surely feel sluggish with 6-7 passengers, along with AWD and their cargoes. Without the benefit of its continuously variable transmission that doesn’t have torque converter to slip its power, like regular automatic transmissions do. The Freestyle would feel even slower off-the-line. However, this engine is not without saving grace. The level of refinement is more than acceptable given you have to push this vehicle in full throttle every time exiting a highway off-ramp or traffic light. Despite that, it feels rather noisy when pushed enthuisastically on high rpm.

Handling: The Freestyle, just like its Five Hundred silibing, benefitted from Ford Premier Auto Group’s chassis sharing. It shares the same stiff and stout platform as Volvo’s proven S80 luxury sedan. The chassis is completely feel of flex and rattles regardless of how aggressively you pushed it on rough pavements. However, it receives the same dynamic shortcoming as its Volvo silibing. That is the wide turning circle I experienced in S60, V70, XC90 and S80. The pleasant surprise is Freestyle has the same sure-footness feel as S80, in terms of steering weight. Unfortunately, it doesn’t receive the same steering feedback and responsivenss as its Volvo silibings. Same as Volvo’s AWD system, Freestyle uses Haldex set-up. That means the system is FWD until it detects slippage. Its an effective system that transfer power to the offending wheel which lost traction. Dynamically speakinng, Freestyle is more than acceptable for a crossover. There are plenty of body rolls and understeer when pushed as with any other crossovers. In terms of ride quality, its as comfortable as its direct competitor, Chrysler Pacifica, when driving through washboard pavements and expansion joints even with optional 18″ wheels.

Interior: The interior of the Freestyle is uncluttered. With a nice set of instrumentation gauges that are clear and easy-to-read. The automatic climate control works effectively under the 18 degrees winter day with decent air-conditioning and deforster. However, the use of materials have nothing to write home about. There are tons of hard and brittle plastics everywhere from the dashboard to the door panels. The use of leather also feels more plastic than some’s leatherette, which is a synthetic leather made from vinyl.

The 2nd row of seat is comfortable with decent leg and headroom. As for 3rd-row seating, the leg and headrooms are adequate given the size of Freestyle. The most impressive feature of Freestyle’s cargo space is you can fold completely flat. You can put a 4X8 plywood in it without any problem.

Conclusion: Despite of my criticisms, Freestyle should serve well as a cargo hauler with its smart interior configuration. If you are looking for performance to match its practicality, the upcoming 3.5L V6 is something to look forward to.

OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2005 FORD FREESTYLE LIMITED AWD
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Performance: 1/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 2/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 3/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 2.25/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 4.5/5
Value-for-money: 2/5

Overall rating: 2/5