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Comments
For that reason, this car had best do well. The Asians are making real inroads into the truck/SUV business. Perhaps too late, the American makers are realizing they virtually abdicated the car business to Toyota/Honda etc.
The Five Hundred looks great on paper. Much will depend on execution, quality and marketing.
Perhaps as your classmate learns more about the car, you can share some of the details with us!
Too early to tell, there's various factor that need to be reached before such a answer can be made. I could tell you Aug 2005, and some supplier worker's go on strike and might push it back some weeks.
The Aviator will be the first vehicle to receive the 3.5L, I can say.
Best in class safety (only best pick at www.highwaysafety.org)
Best in class performance with highest cargo and towing capacity not to mention must available low end torque.
Best Frame, fully boxed with hydro-formed front rails, most cross members and exclusive through frame welds of cross-members.
Best in drivability with only independent front suspension on a full size truck, class exclusive cast aluminum control arms and best rear suspension with exclusive outboard mounted shocks and the widest, strongest leaf springs in a light duty truck
Best cargo box. Highest volume in all bed lengths. built in cargo management features. double walled. standard rail caps. bolted not welded to the frame.
Best utility. 3 cab sizes, 4 doors with every cab. only super cab with power rear windows.
Super cab interior volume is greater than a Crown Vics. Don't forget standard tailgate assist... reduces effort to close the tailgate by 50%.
Best Ergonomics... just sit in the cab. Only full size pickup with a center console shifter.
Asians are even attempting to capture the work truck market.
Maximum F-150 payload 3000lb
Maximum Titan payload 1640lbs
Maximum Ranger payload 1620lbs...thats right, Titan is closer to a ranger than an F-150...
No Asian pickup has yet to have an 8 foot bed.
I know this post doesn't really belong here but the previous post about Asian trucks just had to be responded 2.
Also if Asians ever do decide to make a truck as big as an F-150 well Ford already has F-250, and F-350. (for really hard core truckers there are several body companies that will put a pickup box on your F-450 or F-550 chassis for you.)
Mark
Claims made should be truthful, or at least attempting to disclose the truth.
But yea, this doesnt belong here. Fords F150, and the Focus are just about the only current offerings with anything going for them.
I hope the Five Hundred hits the competition harder than the Freestar has.
~alpha
It starts with an F.
It is, therefore, grand.
Blasphemer!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
BTW: Taurus/Sable production ended at the Chicago plant 4/23. 500/etc starts July 12th!
Isn't the Chicago plant setting a new standard for flexibility in the Ford empire? If demand for one vehicle wanes, production can easily be switched over the other model. Isn't the Chicago plant the template for future Ford plant makeovers?
As for "build, hold, ship" yes you might see this initially. Although, NOT as severe as when the F-150 was released. So expect to see them 2-3 weeks after that. Dealerships will begin taking orders soon (wish I could confirm a date for you, but I don't have that info with me at this time).
As for CVT, yes it increases fuel economy in vehicles. Instead of the engine having to rev up and down needlessly, the CVT keeps the engine power at the heart of the torque line at all times. Instead of wasting time downshifting to seek power, a nulge of the gas will zip you up to the needed RPM, and KEEP the engine at that revoluation till you reach the speed you need (and ease off the pedal).
As for the 6 Speed automatic, it's a joint venture with GM. The benefits of an extra gear (as six speeds) is also improved gas milage and acceleration. Ford currently uses 4 speed automatics on the Taurus and Focus (and some other vehicles), but instead of going to 5 speeds as the competition, they are one-upping them into 6 speed automatics. Something only seen on more expensive premium brands.
I'm attaching a link, from Ford's Media site that explains the benefits of CVT, and how it works.
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=16906
The GM/Ford units come NEXT calendar year, not now...
"2006 Ford Fairlane: Fairlane is the working name for this rear-drive sedan conjure nostalgic images, though Galaxy has been mentioned, too. To be based on the DEW Lite platform, the Fairlane is rumored to fit in above the Taurus, making it the likely Crown Vic replacement."
That's from Motor Trend's website. That sounds just like the 500 with rear wheel drive. Or is it an actual fullsize sedan like the Crown Victoria? If it is, I think it should be a watered down Marauder with better styling. And then Mercury can keep the Marauder, but give it new styling too. Those 2 would be a rather good opponents for Chrysler's 300C.
Crysler has a bombshell with 340hp/390 tq and RWD coming fast... what does ford have? An exposed midsection, thats what!
Dam it, am i the only one that feels horrible about the fact that it takes a foreign company (DC) to make a truly American sedan (300C)?
Although, Ford NA does have, and ARE studying some Ford Falcon's from Australia. And don't think they are falling asleep at the idea of a RWD sedan. If Chrysler does well with the 300, don't be surprised to see Ford answer it.
Now, as the information previously mentioned about the Fairlane (I believe Popular Science has a similar spy report) it's incorrect.
If you truly think the 300 is such a wonderful and exciting car, buy one and be done with it. Life is too short to try to change something as monstrous as a car company, particularly when one's power is limited to being, or not being, a customer. If you really believe what you say, send Ford the message they will best understand. Buy the Chrysler.
Ford, and other than the magazines which would denigrate them for being a 20 year old platform, nobody would know.
Not exactly, Chrysler's 2.7L isn't very advanced technologically, and rather crude. It must try that much harder to make it's power, and suffer's from a bit of parasitic power loses.
Ford's Duratec 3.0L is much more advanced, and the 6Speed Automatics and CVT will allow it to post better fuel efficiency number's than the 2.7L.
It all depends on how you define advanced. I agree with you that fords V6 could be held as more "modern" than the 2.7, we will see the fuel numbers i guess.
Either way, the 2.7L does not compete with the 3l from ford, no, Chrysler has the 3.5/250 hp for the ford and the poor mercury montego will fight it off with a 5.7L v8 with cylinder deactivation! now who is talking advancement! And don't give me the "ford cyclone is coming" banner b/c we all know it will be roughly 240-250hp based on fords own website and some of the stuff I've read here.
Which is good, Ford will match One of Chryslers engines and out perform a low end version. What about the V8? RWD? What does ford have inside? Do they have a navigation system I can show off to my friends? Do they have an automanual transmission so I can have fun in the corners? The Ford we can forgive, at least put these as options on the Mercury. Whether or not anyone needs one, this is one of those things, like a few generations before us, talked about automatic transmissions. Yes, you don't need one of those, either.
I understand Ford and GM are working on a new tranny, I hope it has an automanual gate.
I am a Ford fan; don't get me wrong, I am utterly and disgustingly abhorred at the Ford product pipeline with FWD and backseat imagination. I really hope Ford shapes up, or else all of the foreign competition is going to force it to ship out.
Yesterday I took my wife's 04 Mountaineer on a road trip. This vehicle was astoundingly solid, exceptionally quiet even at 85 MPH, and smooth as glass. If they build the Five Hundred with that kind of attention to detail and quality, it'll do just fine. I just don't see things so negatively I guess. I think this is the dawn of a new age for Ford, frankly.....
Ford wasn't answering anything when designing the new 500, and closest thing comparible to it would have been Chrysler's previous LHS sedans. With so many choices in the market, you can find something about a vehicle to cross shop it against another. Using the best "spin" to credit your example.
I just had a friend cross-shopping the 500 with a Audi A4. In his case, he was looking for AWD/V6 under $30K, and the deciding factor was the 500's space.
Performance wise, the Duratec 3.0L in the 500, will perform closely to that of the 3.5L Chrysler has in the 300. Mainly because of the transmission gearing, aswell as the weight penalty the 300 possesses.
If Ford wanted to answer the Chrysler 300, they would bring over the Australian Falcon. If need be, lets hope the 300 sales do quite well, and hopefully Ford will watch and respond. And as I've stated previous, Ford DOES have Australian Falcon's here in the U.S. they are studying....
Click on Falcon.
Don't miss the video!
Those vehicles have received quite a bit of attention down there and abroad for their performance, drivability, and handling. Which is why Ford US has a few of them at hand, they are studying.
So if Ford really wanted to, they could bring over the next generation Falcon to battle the 300 if need be.
Just like GM brought over the Pontiac GTO (overthere it's the Holden Monaro). Although I highly doubt the UAW would allow Ford to do such a thing, and then if so, in very limited amounts as the GTO.
But again, all these are examples of high performance RWD mid-size sedans. When the 500 is definitely targeting another type of consumer.
Hmmm, a 2 door 500, wouldn't that be interesting to see....
a. Is the potential strike at the Chicago plant that I hear is slated for Job One day still a possibility?
b. Does anyone know what the embargo date for reviews and outside information on the Five Hundred is? I would like to see others' impressions of the Ford before jumping into a Subaru I fear will be too small for me but much more powerful than what I suspect may be the anemic Five Hundred. Time is of the essence, as my old car has 156,000 miles on it now and I travel a LOT. I need reliability, and I need it soon!
Decisions, decisions.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
GTO Sales disappointing? IMO, it's a direct result of typical anemic styling. The car looks like a Bland Am unles you eye it closely. May run well, but it's not eye catching at all. Unless you despise Fords, anybody would likely prefer the Mustang..... I'm not surprised at all.
STRIKE: Don't it figure....we don't have enough trouble with jobs moving overseas, which nobody is complaining more about than the UAW, and they're threatening to strike on Job One day! If they do, and I were Bill Ford, I'd never make another damn Ford in Dearborn. I'd move them all systematically off shore as soon as I could build the new plants. With the condition GM and Ford are in right now, anybody with the brains of Daryl Hanna could figure out that labor trouble can only cost the union jobs and why jobs are leaving, and this is #1 on the list. Sorry for the rant. I need my medication now......