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Comments
On inclines, I turn off the Traction Control because it will actually stop the car on a steep incline to prevent the wheels from spinning. The first time I had no power on a snowy hill because of TC it was quite a surprise! The TC really helps in slippery turns. I know that it saved me from a spin out at least once, but it hasn't helped on slippery hills.
Buy the AWD.
Add to this the rollover testing done with the Freestyle and having it pass with flying colors.
But as far as product placement, I know Ford not only supplies vehicles for the Fox show "24", they pay for the privilege to do so."
It's called "Promotional Consideration".
The casual observer might think that the Pilot or Highlander results were actually better than the Freestyle', but of course the tables on page 36-37 show that they are exactly the same.
Mysterious, eh?
Some of the "transmission issues" are alleged issues. The number of reports of "red stains" on the garage floor were of interest, until it was pointed out that the CVT transmission fluid is blue-green. Curious.
CR reports this as a 2006 Freestyle Review. It sounds like they are mixing metaphors with the early 2005 versions. That being said, those reported afflictions did not find their way into every early Freestyle either - mine is the best vehicle I have ever owned. Many of the posters here with early Freestyles would concur. :shades:
That might be so, but they do not work to well when you stick 1600 lbs of dirt in the back of your freestyle
My AWD Freestyle SEL has a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 5520 lbs. With a Curb Weight of ~4000 lbs, my load capacity is 5520-4000=1520 lbs. Subtract another 200 lbs for a driver, and 100+ lbs for gas, and that leaves about 1200lbs for dirt. You probably were nose-up.
I am glad that your Freestyle took a licking and kept on ticking. :shades:
You can't have it both ways. If your going to quote NHTSA star-ratings about crash-worthiness in your argument, you must also accept their rollover ratings for each vehicle. Both are rated 4-star in that dept.. and therefore, according to your logic, the Freestyle is no more likely to rollover than a Hyundai Sonata.
But do I actually believe that? NO. No more than I believe that a Hyundai Sonata would give an equal amount of protection to it's occupants in a serious accident compared to the protection that the Volvo-based Freestyle would.
Well, that is good to know!
Did you mean to say "7 passengers"?
Nope. NHTSB rollover ratings:
Freestyle: 0.14
Sante Fe: 0.22
One must remember that the FS is low to the ground and has a wider track than the "classic" SUV style. One of the reasons for not having stability control is that the Freestyle doesn't really need it...
http://www.safercar.gov/RollRatings2.cfm
Take note where the Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander place in the ratings. Sure they're only off by a percentage or two, but they're still worse.
Consumer Reports are you reading this?
:-)
It doesn't need it as much as a taller vehicle, but skidding off the road is a problem for any vehicle that stability control can help with. My previous BMW 5-series had it (DSC), and its worth its weight in gold on any car.
Knowledge and experience can do a lot more to keeping cars from skidding off of the road than having a computer control it. Today's drivers have become lazy and dependant on technology to save their butts.
Does anyone if this is true and if it will be available in Canada?
Thanks,
Robert Birch
The Limited is already avaiable here in the US as FWD.
So that tells me that last years Freestyle respondants to the survey only had their car for approx. 6 months at the most. It seems to me that CR should have left alot of the information blank in their survey due to the Freestyle being a new vehicle.
I call foul on CR for jumping the gun and providing poor data. A 6 month sample of repondants of a BRAND NEW vehicle is hardly indicative of the overall cras performance.
It will be interestingto see how next years annual car issue looks.
The 5-series was an '01 model, and the Freestyle is similar as long as you don't push the limits. The main point, though, is that stability control can keep any vehicle from skidding, regardless of the vehicle's performance on dry pavement.
It's that kind of attitude and statement towards technology that is going to get people killed. ESP will improve your chances to maintain control it will not be the solution to all extreme situations or complete stupidity and irresponsibility when making driving decisions.
I hate seeing statements like that on forums because people are going to believe them and think their car just because it has ESP will bail their sorry, stupid backsides out of bad driving situations that are of their own creation because they think the ESP will make up for lack of judgement and driving skills. They just DO NOT understand that all technology has limitations and is not all things at all times. How many people still do not realize how to CORRECTLY use ABS and now we tell them ESP is going to solve other things for them. Good luck, the roads just got a little UN-safer, the bottom line is the majority of people still do not begin to understand what their cars can/cannot do.
Well, of course one can still exceed physical limits with stability control on. That's obvious to even the biggest dummies out there. Nobody ever said or implied otherwise.
Your point is well taken, though. Since they invented seat belts, airbags, crumple zones, ABS, stability control, HR high-speed tires, rack-and-pinion steering, high-horsepower engines, and auto insurance, people think they can drive faster and corner harder, and they do. Our Freestyles have most of those innovations, and are more crashworthy than most cars out there! But lets keep that a secret from all those dummies you've identified out there.
Safety always has to be balanced against cost...if not, the only car out there would cost $50K, all homes would be super-safe to protect against all extreme weather, all street lanes would be twice as wide to make them safer, etc... We sacrifice safety for cost all the time in our lives, but we're willing to live with a reasonable level of safety. Business and the government all put a dollar value on the cost of human lives when making decisions. You have to draw a line somewhere between safety and cost, but I guess ESP is in the gray part of the line for now like a lot of other new safety devices.
So if ESP is not on the Freestyle to keep the cost down, that's okay with me. If some people feel they need every possible safety device available on their car, the they can buy another vehicle. But if safety was the primary reason for people's buying decisions, then they'd buy giant SUVs with every safety option, never drive over the speed limit, etc...
They were impressed by the room, ease of access, flexible seats, AWD and the price.
The word is getting out!!
webbcam
Is there something I can do to fix this myself, or do I just need to take it in to the dealer? Any idea on the cost of that repair?
Thank you!
Andy
I agree safety is a relative concept. Almost everybody understands that seat belts, for example, only help you avoid injury. They know you can still get injured in a car with seat belts. I've never met anyone who thinks seat belts have unlimited powers to protect you. Its the same with ESP (stability control, anti-skid). People understand that ESP can prevent skids in any car, but, like seat belts, have limited effect. People just aren't as stupid as Freealfa says they are. Freealfa's fears regarding safety devices is unfounded, as people know driving is dangerous compared to staying at home. Therefore, seat belts, airbags, and ESP are all an improvement.
Your response is a glib one, I did not imply it was not an improvement, and I do not have a "fear" of safety devices as you seem to believe. I put a lot of miles on a car in a year and have no fear of getting in a car and driving my family anywhere.
You really give people way too much credit as people don't understand as much as you think, to read the this and other forums is an exercise in finding as much inaccurate information about issues/questions/opinions as there is accurate. I trust no one on the roadway around me, as I would expect anyone else to do to me, to know what they are doing at any given time. I drive very defensively and it has saved me more than once. I have spent time on tracks at a cars limits, been trained and educated in driving/car control, I know the roads are not race tracks but to watch what happens around one on just a ride to the store some days is just laughable. Am I the best driver on the road, no, nor will I ever say that I am, but I do take it seriously I understand what my cars can/can't do. I sincerely believe I am in the small minority of driver's out there of that mindset hence my complete and total belief that giving the majority of driver's the credit of understanding of what driving actually encompass' could cost one their life.
I just wish more people had the access to better driver training, took driving more seriously and paid more attention to their driving as opposed to relying on electronic crutches that are legislated into existence to save them from their own stupidity, inexperience, or lack of judgement. I believe you give people too much credit understanding all the acronyms that are thrown at them these days when shopping for a car yet alone having a full understanding of their true effect and limitations. To the average driver all most want to know is where to put the key, where to put the gas and with any luck where to get the car serviced when it breaks. They rarely take time to understand how to use ABS correctly because there is a correct way to use it, they wear their seatbelts because the law says so as opposed to having been taught or understand that an airbag without a seatbelt is not nearly as effective and to tell them that ESP will keep them from losing control without actually trying the system in a controlled environment to understand the different sensations that a car may give off when it is in effect I imagine could be a little startling.
So yes, bottom line all of this technology is indeed an improvement I'd be ignorant to say otherwise, but wouldn't it be nice to know the driver next to you on the highway at 70mph and has a tire blow actually knows what to do when his car that does NOT have ESP because he/she can't afford it has the driving skills to control their auto in a safe manner. It's going to be a LONG time before the majority of cars on the road have ESP, imagine the amount of lives saved if the money spent on acronyms was spent on better driver's education. I'd sure sleep better at night if I knew my wife and child were on the road in that world.
But your basic premise of spending money on driver's education versus technology fixes is similar to the argument about spending money on diet/health education instead of on new drugs, or giving people education on finances and savings instead of funding social security. We've never been a society of prevention. If we were, then once a year everyone would be required to spend a week in the classroom on driving education with hands on emergency handling training, and equally training on budget, finance, diet, exercise, health, and training on a lot of other things to prevent future accidents, health problems, financial difficulties, etc. But we don't do that because we live in a society where it's an individual responsibility for all of these things and as individuals, we don't want to spend the time/money on high quality driver training and neither do we want to pay for it as a society. Hence, we allow the manufactures to develop new safety technologies not because they're interested in our safety, but because it will give them an edge over the competion.
Man, I wish my 2006 SEL would do that, it only scans to the next frequency, rather than the next preset, which I would prefer.
The Freestyle offered a combination of fuel economy, flexibility, and styling that is unmatched by any other car.
If you told me 4 years ago I would be looking for a car on a Ford lot, let alone buying one I would have said you were crazy(quality concerns/lack of innovation). I think Ford has really turned a corner in terms of engineering, I just hope the marketting types can figure out what to do with it.
xnappo
Its always good to hear Ford win a customer back from foreign makes! Unfortunately, that doesn't happen often enough.