Test Drive: New SUV sports Flex appeal
NEW YORK -- Start with the obvious. Ford Flex has a squared-off styling that Ford concedes will trigger love-hate reaction, hoping, of course, for more love.
A market embrace would be heartening because Flex has integrity in form and function. It looks like a straightforward family hauler, and the boxy design creates space for it to be just that. Seldom does a design excel at both form and function.
For argument's sake, let's declare Flex the most honest- and best-looking SUV since the now-departed Jeep Cherokee.
In a sense, Ford has reinvented the station wagon. Flex sits a bit lower than usual for a crossover SUV, giving it a more carlike appearance. The long, straight roofline evokes Ford Country Squires of yore. But Flex provides optional all-wheel drive (AWD) and a higher seating position than in a pure station wagon, so still has enough SUV persona.
The style, no surprise, is called the "two-box" look. The irony is that ever since Chrysler's first minivan in 1984, very much a two-box design, automakers have been trying to move to a more flowing look for people-haulers.
Now, Flex reprises the original two-box with a vengeance and presents it as the latest thing.
The name might be misleading. While Flex is a conventional gasoline-only machine, the first question a lot of people asked about the test car was whether it is some kind of hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicle. Apparently, that's what "flex" implies.
Its fuel economy underlines the fact that there's no futuristic powerplant. The test vehicles registered midteens in the suburbs, close to 20 on a trip on mostly rural two-lanes. In its defense, others get about the same, even smaller, lighter crossovers.
If you're looking for a high-mileage family bus, you haven't found it — and you might never find one if you want full-size space and comfort.
Flex is an enlarged Taurus underneath. Ford has done a right smart job to get several quite different models from the platform: Taurus, Taurus X, Flex.
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