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BTW, production was suposed to start on the 12th. Does a Ford insider actually know if did, and how it is coming along?
Odie
Link to scanned pages below;
2005 Ford Freestyle Preview Guide Page 1
2005 Ford Freestyle Preview Guide Page 2
2005 Ford Freestyle Preview Guide Page 3
2005 Ford Freestyle Preview Guide Page 4
2005 Ford Freestyle Preview Guide Page 5
2005 Ford Freestyle Preview Guide Page 6
2005 Ford Freestyle Preview Guide Page 7
Hope these help out anyone looking for the info like I was.
Odie
Nice to see all the references to Volvo -- makes it a lot easier to sell my wife on, since she loves the Volvo XC90, but hates the lack of space. I can't wait to test-drive on these things!!
http://www.fordinnovationdrive.com/home.htm
For those too lazy to click the link, the remaining cities are:
Chicago - August 7th
Cleveland - August 14th
Orlando - August 28th
The thing that made me laugh is that this "extensively e-developed" promo CD crashed. It's the year of the car, not the year of the well-run promos, like the test drives discussed earlier.
Hopefully, a crash-ready promo CD for the Freestyle is coming soon, like the brochure...
Sam
Odie
Production only started July 12.
Patience...as hard as I know that is!
Andrew
And there is an article in Business Week this week about the manufacturing process for these vehicles which says, in passing, some less than complimentary things about the cars. It can be found at:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_32/b3895056_mz011- .htm
A representative quote follows:
***It doesn't help that the three new cars are generating yawns. Sure, the cars, based on chasis made by partner Volvo, get high marks for smooth handling, comfortable ride, and roomy, easily reconfigured interiors. Yet their heavy weight makes them feel sluggish, say those who have driven the cars. Ford takes issue with the characterization. "We deliver better acceleration, better fuel economy, and half the emissions of some of our competitors," says a company spokesman.
Still, at a time when Chrysler Group (DCX ) is wowing buyers with its brashly styled, 300C sedan, Ford is bringing out a crop of bland cars. Ford execs point out that the Honda (HMC ) Accord and Toyota (TM ) Camry, both top rivals, aren't exactly sexy. But they are well-established contenders. To lure buyers away from Accords or Camrys, says Wesley R. Brown, an analyst at consultants Iceology, "you have to do something extraordinary."*****
Unfortunately there is no perfect vechicle for me at the moment. I am really after a beefed up wagon - a crossover to use the in vogue term. I want space for two adults, to young children (booster chair plus baby seat fo our next child - do you know how much space these things take up!) plus room for strollers and other clutter. We do not want a mini van, and many SUVs are no better than tall compact or midsize sedans with regards to legroom in the second row.
An Audi A6 would be perfect but is too expensive - same too with the new BMW 5 wagon. Subarus and Mazda 6 wagons are too small (we currently have an Audi A4 and this will soon be too small). The Dodge Magnum looked interesting but I just hate its styling, but if DC ever finally make available the 300C wagon to the US then this might be near the top of the shopping list.
Now my wife and I looked at the Freestyle at the 2004 Milwaukee auto show and the car grew on us to the point that we might actually consider it. I figured it might eventually be a toss up between a Freestyle and a Pacifica. Now with negative press at the Freestyle I am not so sure.
Perhaps in the end my wife will just have to put her minivan hatred behind her and we'll take a look at a Sienna. Personally I think that this might be the best car for up - it even looks okay - well for a minivan....
The Freestyle was high on our list, but we finally decided that there were just too many unknowns with it. The CVT in particular scares me, since GM has pulled the plug on its CVT project after only three years. Given the fact that GM is generally better than Ford in designing / building transmissions I don't think I'd want to buy a Ford CVT guinea pig.
-Jason
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Anyway this is getting off topic so back to the Freestyle. The concept is very "right". I just wish that Ford could be more daring in their styling. Come on now, I don't want a car that looks like a baby Explorer - even though Ford stated that that is what they were trying to achieve.
Now I will still look at one of these cars and will test drive one, but the styling - yawn!
Odie
Anything that a company introduces without patenting is free to be copied. No "three year" rule. However, it usually takes several years for a competitor to react and implement a copy of many innovations anyway.
Odie
I just don't think such a thing exists, except for design patents....which, as has been said earlier, run for a LOT longer than three years...
Auto Company designs and builds a vehicle, while designing it, they themselves invest a new toy on it. (Power Pedal adjustments)... Tells supplier XYZ, "Hey, we came up with this new gadget, and we want you to furnish it for us, and supply it once the vehicle goes into production".
Between them, they'll make a contract (usually 2-4 years) where supplier will only furnish that specific part, to Auto Company. After that time, the supplier can sell to ABC, DEF, GHL Auto companies. Giving the originator's (Auto Company) exclusive rights. As to how much they earn, gain, maybe XYZ Supplier will furnish it for free, for the first few years, etc.
This is why NOW you are seeing GM and other manufacturer's, use Power Adjustment Pedals, after Ford has used them for years prior.
I happened to see the new ford 500 and freestyle today in Boston. Very nice looking vehicles. Both were black w/grey leather interior. Fit and finish looked top shelf. Paint jobs on both showed no blotches. Interiors looked nicer than what you associate with Ford. Since both had Mich. manufacturers plates, I'm guessing they are early production vehicles being tested or maybe brought in for local dealers to try out. Both vehicles were badged for AWD and were top of the line models. Freestlye appears to have adequate room in second and third row for adults. You can fold all of the seats flat individually. size wise it's about 7/8ths of an explorer. not as tall or boxy.
Anyway, the only thing that "worries" us about the Freestyle is the new transmission. And the fact that GM has recently decided to no longer use this transmission in their cars. Does anyone have any comforting words on this (or warnings, as the case may be)? Will the trans be sturdy enough for this heavier vehicle? We may buy the extended warranty just because of the new design... Thanks, Nancy
CVT isn't all that new, but it's still having adoption pains:
CVT Enters the Mainstream
Steve, Host
The salespeople (and dealerships for that matter) have received the literature of the 500/Montego/Freestyles, LONG ago. I have a hard time believing he didn't know of the vehicles, and was probably trying to persuade you into a Freestar (which I advice against it). Glad you stuck to your guns...
The CVT projects has been in the works for quite some years. Ford bought controlling interest over the company who designed it, and implemented, improved, the design. Similar CVT's are being used in Ford of Europe's Focus C-Max for example... So far no issues.
Ford is obsessing over the quality of these vehicles, and are holding the line/stopping if any issues arise. Currently they bought 80K Aisin 6-speed Auto Transmission's (Aisin is 48% owned by Toyota) which they will use on non CVT versions. The vehicles will NOT leave the factory unless all issues are dealt with, and everything in inspected repeatedly.
As for GM, they never really put much effort into their CVT engineering. They teamed up with Ford to co-produce a new line of 6 Speed transmissions (which will go into the 500 to replace the current Aisin unit, when the contract expires. And be implemented in the new Ford Fusion. And in turn, killed their CVT program since the fuel savings benefits can be had with a 6 speed unit as well.
As for the salesguy, I suspect the name of the game was:
Sell what is on the lot today, don't worry about tomorrow's models, as tomorrow's sales do not pay commissions today....
As I drove home yesterday, I was thrilled with the faint smell of oil in my air ducts, and the likely transmission leak on my Contour. That added to the joy of hearing timing belt squealing as I stopped for a security ID check (just like when it got its tensioners replaced). Contour did a very faithful service to me, and even now with its health it still does that "point A to B" thing well.
I loved the Freestyle when I saw it in the NY Auto Show. Yes, I would love the 35 (MY2006+) or Hybrid version (MY2007/2008+ if it comes at all). Contour's health dictates the present model. I'm happy and even eager about getting a Freestyle 30.
I work "behind the scenes" on Lean/Six Sigma for the Army base I'm in. ("Lean" is what Toyota practices, and "Six Sigma" is what GE became famous for. The new plants are example of the first. Ford has quite some work on the latter already.) I've seen "normal Government workers" pulling near miracle feats in support of our Soldiers. Some of those directly helped today's conflicts.
In short, I believe when American Companies get to do things right, as in the 500/Freestyle plant, they achieve the unbelievable. If my co-workers can pull it within the Army's famously stubborn burro-cracy, Ford can do the same.
I hope to add my new Freestyle's pictures in webshots.com within 3 months.
Sam
P.S. - If you didn't see my NY Auto Show pictures of Freestyle, go to webshots.com, and search for FigueSam.
Also while not the most [i]exciting[/i] looking vehicle, both my wife and I can see ourselves driving one.
Hopefully once they make there way to Milwaukee, the test drive will be good. Currently I have more faith in this car than the Pacifica which would be its nearest competitor at the moment.
Kerry
The CVT that now makes it way into the Five Hundred/Montego/Freestyle is completely a Ford product. For me that does not instill confidence of quality and further demonstrates the inability to handle the higher torque of the future 3.5L Duratec engine. This is just another substantial reason for delay of implementing the 3.5L along with the fact that Ford has a UAW contract to start building the 3.5L in the Lima, Ohio engine plant but not until very late in 2005.
CVT's are out there in lower horsepower & torque models, to my knowledge, only the Nissan Murano has a CVT that is attached to a 3.5L and that is made by one of the premier tranny makers "Jatco" and this tranny is not destined for Ford, according to officials at Nissan, maker of the Murano and 82% owner of "Jatco"..
In response to the CVT discussion. I don't think that the CVT is totally a Ford design because it is made in Germany by ZF. I also don't think that a CVT would be more money than that of a 6 speed. During the innovation drive Ford had a Tech Center set up with the CVT use in the Freestyle/500 on display. They had the cover off of the CVT so that you could look around and play with the insides as well as a couple of belts on the table to play with. According to the Ford people it uses ecactly the same belt as Audi. The belt by the way was just many stainless steel links. The inside of the transmisson was very intersting. It had very few components. Just 2 pulleys with them belt between them and a couple of big spure type looking gears. There was hardly anything in it at all. The 3 speed dodge tansmission that I rebuilt in High School Shop had 10 times the components this did. I know a 6 speed automatic would have to have an incredible amount of components. At least severy planetery gear sets, cluch packs and bands not to mention an icredibly complex hydraulic system. The Ford people said the CVT is supposed to last the life of the car with the only maintnence needed is a some fluid and filter changes. There did not appears to be a single clutch pack or band to wear out. Just a steel belt riding on steel pulleys. I'm still a little concerened about the CVT but at least Ford is using a company that has succesfully been building them for some years.
By the way i took many digital photos at the innovation drive but do not know how to post them. If anyone has some good suggestions I will give it a try.
It was also very neat driving the CVT. When you put the gas to the floor the tach stay at on RPM (Ithink around 4700) yet the cars accelarates smoothly. The CVT allows the enginge to always be in the sweet spot.
CRS,
How did you like the material quality and such ?
How many laps were you able to pull on the race track ? Interestingly that's one aspect I've never been thrilled over...Continuous loops over and over at high speeds, only benefit is how toned down the 500 is at high speeds, and how substaintial and solid it feels.
Did they implement a bump course as well at that showing ? The 500's have about 7 inches of suspension travel, so you can hit bumps left and right, without jarring occupants, in fact... you feel quite comfortable and isolated from the impacts...And no steering column shaking either.
BTW for some future test driver's that will test any vehicle...Try accelerating the vehicle somewhat hard, slam the brakes, then slam the gas quickly again, see how the transmission and computers responds. CVT's handle this a bit better, but you can monitor the vehicles emphansize over it's driving dynamics, and what it favors.
The staging area was on top of a hill so when you got in the vehicle the first thing you did was go down the hill and take a sharp right of some sort of bumps that they put on the track. On the track there were signs about what that section of the track was for. For example after the hard right you drove for a while and made a couple of lefts and there was a long straight with a sign that said acceleration area. The weird thing is that there was a cop car inside of the track on that area with a radar gun. That kind of freaked my wife out a little. After the high speed acceleration are there was some cones said up and a sign that said high speed avoidance maneuver or something like that. Another place on the track had cones said up and a sign for a slalom course. There were also some other areas but I can't remember what they were. You then finished back at the top of the hill and parked the car behind all of the others in a line.
There was also an AWD demonstration of a 500. It had yellow tape on it tires so that you could see them not slip and it would drive up a long inclined trailer with rollers where the tires go with spots of solid tread area in only a few places.
I do want to thank Sam for posting his pictures on Webshots. I wish there were more.
CRS, having driven one and still being interested says a lot. Was the power consistent through acceleration? Did you feel you had enough power? How was the headroom and legroom in the driver's seat? I'm so jealous!
I read some postings way on back about what the pricing would be on this vehicle. Has anyone heard any more recent information on this? They are keeping it really close to the belt.
When we sat down with our dealer and made that small deposit to have first chance, the office manager put in an order on the computer for one just like we wanted... A Limited, pretty much loaded, but without the DVD player or moonroof. He only had one on order before ours went in. And he thought we'd be seeing some deliveries by the 3rd week of September. -- Nancy
http://autodeadline.com/Photos?Source=Ford&Model=Freestyle
buckwheat: I'm not sure if the Ford rep told me that the CVT was made in Germany or if I think I read it somewhere. The only thing that I know for sure is that the Ford rep told be the metal belt is exactly the same as the ones Audi uses. I have read that the CVT is made by ZF. And I think that I have read that ZF is in Germany. But it sounds like I am wrong.
nancyB: I thought the power was ok and consistent. It was hard to tell because we were only able to do one lap and I was really concentrating on what the CVT was doing. Also the power and acceleration seems different with a CVT because the engine stays the same RPM and the transmission never shifts. It kind of seems like you are not accelerating at all because you can not here the engine wind up. It just stays at one RPM so the sound is constant. You have to look at the spedometer needle moving to tell your accelerating. I found the drivers seat to have plenty of room. The car seems very big. It seems to be much roomier than an explorer. The car road nice but felt very big while driving it. We are used to much smaller cars. We are considering the Freestyle because we will be starting a family this November and need more of a family car now.
But I'm certainly expecting some in the media to state how disconnected they felt, with the engine. Luckily the steering has good roadfeel and feedback to let you know what's going on.
Interior quality is very good with nice accents. You sit high in the seat which everyone commented about and liked. It is very roomy and easy to get at the 3rd row. I'm six foot and fit very well in the 3rd seat with extra headroom to spare.
On the track performance with the CVT is impressive, squealed the tires on take-off and accelerated smoothly with a constant RPM on the engine. Not a big deal of difference with a 6-speed and I don't think the CVT is an issue, very satisfying.
Overall impression is Ford has a BIG winner on their hands with the Freestyle!
I just drove one today at the Chicago Ford Innovation and I liked it a lot. I pushed it as much as I could push it in a parking lot, but was impressed with the acceleration. To me it felt like a regular transmission. When I stepped on the gas, it felt like it upshifted. It was smooth, but I could feel a distinct change in RPM. I asked if they all had CVT's and they said yes. I am curious if they have a backup plan to go to 6 speed trannys if the CVT's have problems. They already have them in the 500; how hard would it be to redesign/retrofit them into the freestyle?
Any comments?
I understand the rumours you are discussing actually, but all depends on the source. I've heard some newer worker's freaking out because of the strict structure of this launch. All pertains to enterpretation and how they analyze a situation. If a worker stops the assembly line because they find an imperfection in the vehicle, some consider it a catastrophy and interpret it as being a massive issue, when it's really just one simple issue that was overlooked.
And BTW, the vehicles being produced now, will not make it to regular consumer's. Some of these will be kept around for emmissions testing, crash testing, quality, testing, etc. so again, all depends on who heard the rumor from.
CRS - My suggestion is to go to webshots. They let you sign in & post pictures for free. That's how I published mine. I'm "drooling"
Arrival to Dealers:
NANCYB - I called one of Ford's hotlines supporting the year of the car, and they said toward October. (I don't mind earlier arrivals either.)
Pricing:
NANCYB - A Ford rep at the NY Auto show (April) told me $26-34 grand. My heart sank.
A more recent post stated $24-34, but I couldn't spot it.
Transmission:
ANT14 - Media.ford.com agrees with you. This is from the Freestyle Presskit - Overview/Driving Dynamics.
..." Freestyle's architecture is inspired from a Volvo design, with class-leading torsional rigidity and fully independent suspension to assure quick, responsive handling and a quiet ride. Power comes from Ford's proven Duratec 30 3.0-liter V-6 engine, matched to an all-new continuously variable transmission produced through Ford's joint venture with ZF-Batavia. The combination of stiff chassis, high-torque V-6 and wide-ratio transmission adds up to surprising acceleration and drivability in the Freestyle..."
Sam
Joe alternately gets hot, then cold feet about the transmission. I'm the risk taker in the family. I just feel good about this vehicle!!!
I know the folks at the dealership wouldn't know any more than the rest of us about CVT reliability, but their lack of confidence certainly isn't a good sign.
-Jason
I always test drive the backseat. Do I get enough air on a hot day? I make the salesperson drive with the front seat ALL the way back and I ride in the 2nd row.
There can be a marked difference in front seat and second seat comfort.
Anyway to delete the 3rd row?