Bill Pierre Ford

Ford Flex 2008 offers some interesting features like a refrigerator in the console that can actually freeze items or keep them cold, a hard-drive music/navigation system, and a power-fold second-row seat, the overall package was underwhelming. The example on the
stand was a pre-production unit and we were encouraged not to touch it, but the second-row manual fold looks clunky. The dash and driver’s area looks great. The ability to fold third-, second-, and first-row passenger seats flat makes it easier to carry long items, but with second and third rows folded, the floor didn’t look particularly flat nor did was the cargo space particularly impressive.

Cool Features Built Right In

Flex is set apart from other vehicles thanks to a long list of surprising features. They include:

* Class-exclusive refrigerator, mounted between the second-row captain’s chairs. Unlike competitors’ systems that merely keep cold beverages cool, the Flex’s available compressor-driven refrigerator can cool up to seven 12-ounce cans, four half-liter bottles or two 20-ounce bottles from room temperature to 41 degrees in just more than two-and-one-half hours. That’s 40 percent faster than a standard home refrigerator.

*    Multi-Panel Vista Roof™. It not only brightens the interior, it gives Flex occupants seated in each row their own special skylight.

* Second-row, best-in-class legroom, including class-exclusive adjustable and removable footrests. The Flex’s second-row seats fold and tumble to provide access to the third-row and fold flat into the floor for added cargo space.

*   Seven-color programmable ambient lighting. Flex owners can choose interior lighting to fit their mood. With this feature – which also is being introduced on the 2008 Ford Focus – customers use a dashboard switch to change the lighting on two LEDs mounted on the front console, two on the footwells and two around the cupholders.

* Capless fuel filler system.

* Ford’s exclusive second-generation door-entry keypad.

Safety advancements include:
* Rear back-up camera. Mounted in the bottom of Flex’s liftgate badge, the available camera is activated when the vehicle is shifted into reverse, giving the driver a view of what’s behind the vehicle.

The system works in conjunction with the vehicle’s reverse sensing system and uses the navigation screen as a display.

* AdvanceTrac ® with RSC ® (Roll Stability Control). This system can predict a vehicle’s path, using a sensor to measure oversteer and yaw by monitoring the vehicle’s speed, throttle position and steering wheel angle. When the system senses wheel slip or the loss
of traction, it applies braking where needed to keep the vehicle safely on its intended path.

Ford’s BeltMinder safety belt reminder for driver and front passenger. Flex also comes equipped with such standard features as child safety locks on the rear doors, the trunk LATCH system and Ford’s tire pressure monitoring system.

Ford’s next-generation navigation system, featuring voice recognition technology and more than 150 hours of music storage.

Users can browse the music jukebox via touch-screen or by using voice recognition. They can also create custom play lists and burn CDs for storage on the system’s hard drive. The system also integrates the climate control and SIRIUS Satellite Radio into one easy-to-use, smudge-resistant, 8-inch touch-screen display. Premium AM/FM/MP3 audio systems also are available with a six-CD changer, auxiliary jack to accommodate MP3 players and the latest generation DVD entertainment system with a large 8-inch, drop-down screen.