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Comments
Let me adjust the CVT pulley ratios, oops, change gears,
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Freebie owners agree it's NOT underpowered. It's NOT overpowered either. In short, in the words of the uninvited house guest of the three bears
I drove our Freebie from NJ to FL and back, plus trips in & around Orlando. I only felt it needing a bit more power for 5-10 seconds out of 4,000 miles.
The key is that the CVT delivers more horse & torque INTO THE PAVEMENT than a "n-gear" transmission would (with the same engine). That's what critics miss.
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Regarding new engines, we expect 2007 Freebies to start carrying Duratec 35s. This engine will power many Fords, Mercs, etc. thanks to its wide tuning range. (ANT14, one of the best sources here, noted it could exceed 300 HP, depending on its tuning.)
My "guesstimate" is that they'll tune Freebie 35s' engines to have an equal HP-torque value, AKA mimic 30s' performance curve.
* This should reduce CVT performance adjustments, as the new Duratec 35 engine will 1.x times the performance of the 30s. ("x" means how much more output the new engine brings.) The horse & torque curves would be about the same, only higher numbers.
* Recall current Duratec 30 Freebies are 203 & 207 respectively.
My "guesstimate".
Sam
This follows the 500s' claim as it received its ratings earlier. (The 500 & Freebie use the same chassis, etc.)
I got my LTD Freebie with the side bags. Does that count for six stars?
Sam
Maybe they aren't doing this up your way, but I got a phone call from Ford wanting me to do a phone survey abou the car and add in anything else I wanted. I was out so my husband took the call and talked with the person. So, I guess they are interested in what we think. Yeah, I'm with you on the silly stuff like no light in the glove box and how cool would it be to have a itty bitty light in the cubby on the dash? Of course, it doesn't hold a lot so you can find what you need by feel, but still...
I'm still amazed at how well thought-out all the creature comforts are. I traded in my 2003 Expedition, which I thought was pretty well done, but the Freestyle is mo' bettah by a bunch.
I drove by a group of nice looking gentlemen today and they were checking me out as I drove by but then I realized, no, they were checking out the car! And when you are sitting at a stop light and you notice someone looking at the car and trying to figure out what it is, pop the dash cubby--oh the look of envy ;-) Is that little detail in the Chrysler Pacifica? It's a great place for the phone charger and Chapstick!
I was thinking it'd be a great place for the .357 Magnum.
What would be cool is if you could somehow build a charger for you iPod and a connection back to the Aux-In inputs on the DVD player in that area.
Simple is good.
Someone will figure out how to use that Aux button soon.
barnstormer: oh my--wouldn't fit in the first place, and I'm in California, in the Bay Area no less, so noooooo, ixnay on the unsgnay (and pig latin, too!). Nah, I'll just pull my Chapstick outta there or pull the phone charger out and plug it in real quick (you know the drill, you're talking on the cell, it beeps that your battery is about dead, but if you can plug the charger in real quick--voila! Keep on talking (and driving, I know.....) All that is probably scarier than that other thing you were talking about :-0
So it arrived on time but we don't have it yet....
FYI- We ordered right at Tgiving. Build date was 1/10 and it was there today 1/25.
Lumbar support is also NOT retained.
It'll be worth the wait.
I agree that the tilt wheel adjustment requires more effort than other systems I've used (eg, Taurus).
Thanks!
CVT Enters the Mainstream
You can also do a Discussion Search in here for transmission (or CVT) for other posts if you don't want to scroll through page by page.
Steve, Host
Everything ok?
Sounds like you got yours a little faster than mine. I ordered on 10/28 and got it on 1/7. It arrived on the morning of 1/7 and I drove it home that afternoon. Let us know how you like it. I am still loving mine.
We actually went car shopping last weekend for a 2004 Explorer, since the deals were getting so good. The family consensus was that the V8 Explorer was a lot of fun to actually drive, but the Freestyle was a lot more comfortable for passengers. We wanted one without a moonroof, so the dealer found one in North Arkansas, that he had someone drive up for us. It's T-green, with everything but the moonroof and the DVD. The dealership was easy to work with, pricing it out at essentially invoice minus $750 using the X Plan. I don't usually get extended warranties, but since this is a new model with a drivetrain that would be expensive to repair, I opted to get one for 100K/6 years. The dealer wanted $2200 for his Ford sponsored plan, but when I let him know that I found one on the internet from Ford for $600 less, he agreed to match the internet price. It seems that this is the kind of stuff that dealers are making into real profit generators.
Before turning over the check to the dealer, I took the car out for a test to see if I could replicate some of the issues mentioned in this forum. I found just a little bit of torque steer to the right when I accelerated hard from a stop, but it was very minor compared to other cars I've had. I did find that when I cornered hard, faster than the law or common sense dictates, the front end feels a little light if you let up on the gas. I think this is somewhat due to the tires and wheels that come with the limited. Won't be an issue if I drive like a sane person and don't go into a corner so hard fast that I have to slow dramatically.
Anyway, I also have a question. Can anyone tell me how the heated outside mirrors work? The owner's manual does not address that option. I'm guessing that they work when you turn on the rear defrost, but would appreciate an answer from someone who knows for sure. Thanks!
I'm fine thanks. Just had vacation for the past 2 weeks, and where I was spending it, only had dialup. I was quite frustrated.
Thanks-
Enjoy your new Freebie. Have had my Redfire AWD/SEL for a month and a half and it has been great!
Thanks very much for the info; with any luck the weather will stay nice enough around here that I won't have to try them out. It is also encouraging that you and so many others are having such great experiences with their Freebies.
Check the prices on http://www.fordwarrantys.com (y, not ie) and insist that the dealer match the prices. Or just buy it there. Be sure for the email to wait for the special they're offering that month.
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I always thought the heated mirrors worked whenever you started the car. My mirrors seem to be heating without having the defrost or other systems going.
What about the cargo holder - anyone see that in person yet...
About the heated mirror--I'm assuming it's the same as my Explorer and Expedition: they come on when you turn on the defrosters--now the question is (and I will try this out): either defroster? just the front? just the back? I'll bet if I read the manual...but it's in my glove box and it's raining outside (I'm such a wuss). Besides, it's so much more fun getting answers here ;-)
for extended warranty prices, do a search on 'ford warranties'. look for lombard ford. they will sell you a ford warranty. otoh, you could take that price and run it by your local dealer.
maybe instead of 'good try' they might say 'it's a deal'.
I also opted not to buy the extended warranty. From my experience on my pervious 2 cars (Chevy and Toyota), the major breakage usually happens after the warranty is over, regular or extended. I needed to replace the trans on my Camry at 90,000 miles, and that wasn't a CVT.
While I personally like the Freestyle and have one on order, I'm curious it there is some reason you
didn't check out the Honda Pilot, which a lot of people seem to like.
The Freestyle does seem to have more room though.
Yes, a minivan would also fit our needs. I would have a hard time convincing the wife that that was the way to go. And after all, if the wife isn't happy, noone is happy. (Okay you can say what you want about who is wearing the pants). Thanks, folks
Dear smithed: you sound like a very wise man to me. This is how we get around cars in my house: Who will be driving it the most? Who will be making the payments? So, my better half has his F-150 Lariat that he will probably drive until the wheels fall off. I'm driving the Freestyle and I buy a new car when I get about 50K (usually about 2 years) on the previous one and if technology is around that will allow me to get better mileage, fewer emissions, etc. Two completely different approaches--his car owning smarts are much better than mine to be sure. We both work, we have completely different needs in cars so we each take care of own. Everybody's happy!
The option for the 2nd console - all depends on what you want.
Don't have to remove headrest to fold out seats.
More leg room in the 3rd seat - we had the 12 year old test it out.
Also, the Pilot felt a lot like driving a van and the Freestyle was a bit more fun.
And, hubby didn't like the shifter on the steering wheel.
We just liked the Freestyle package better.
Oh and the Pilot was a little more "step up" to get in to....
I then went to the information center and reset the oil change (said it was still 42% good, or something to that effect). One weird thing was that my mileage was reading 22.1 MPG in the message center. After I got my oil changed, it read 14MPG. I guess a battery disconnect might do that, but wouldn't that wipe out everything else (clock, trip meter, etc.)? Anyway, the MPG is changing rapidly back up and I assume that it will end up I where it was before the oil change before too long.
I hope I didn't screw up back not taking it to the dealership for the oil change. I found myself feeling faint for just a moment when they said they checked the transmission fluid. If they screwed something up, the system info isn't registering it yet. Burn incense for me.....
The dealer did get two sales off of our car. It is the only one like it in the SE right now and they could have sold it 4 times in the past two days. Another couple ordered one based on seeing ours.
I'm off to read the ol'manual and then lala land.
Chuck