2004 Ford Crown Victoria LX

Ford's Personal Safety System includes dual-stage front airbags and a sensor to detect whether the front passenger seat is occupied.

Thanks to an aluminum crossmember, and hydroformed steel front rails with a large crumple zone, the Crown Vic's frame provides additional cockpit crash protection to what has always been a very crash-worthy car. Ford's Personal Safety System includes dual-stage front air bags—deployed according to crash severity, seat belt usage and driver's seat position relative to the steering wheel—plus buckle-mounted belt pretensioners and a sensor to detect whether the front passenger seat is occupied. LATCH mounts for child safety seats are standard, and front seat-mounted side-impact airbags are optional.


Our test car—equipped with the Handling and Performance Package, which includes a quicker 3.27:1 rear axle ratio, slightly stiffer suspension tuning and dual exhaust—provided surprisingly responsive steering and agile cornering for such a large sedan. Ride was well damped, not overly firm, and braking was strong from any speed. The 239 hp 4.6-liter SOHC V-8 engine enabled great launches from rest and enthusiastic acceleration through all four gears of the electronic overdrive automatic transmission.


With driver's seat-adjustment travel increased by an inch last year, interior roominess front and rear is excellent. The cloth-covered front bench seat is predictably flat yet fairly comfortable. The trunk (even with its conventional full-size spare) holds 20.6 cubic feet of stuff. Two great Ford features on our test car were fore-aft power-adjustable pedals and a lockable power decklid release. A cleverly designed pullout center tray includes a small ash receiver, two cupholders and a 12-volt outlet that pivots to accommodate bulky accessory plugs.

New changes for 2004 include a revised torque converter for enhanced acceleration, upgraded overhead console design, and the availability of laminated side glass.

However, unlike some domestic competitive cars, there is only one 12-volt plug and no "retained accessory power" to keep radio, windows and wipers running for a while after the ignition is turned off. Most annoying was the automatic door-lock feature: all doors lock when underway but only the driver's door unlocks when stopped. Fortunately, this feature can be turned off. Also, as on too many GM cars, the interior lamps have minds of their own, illuminating whenever a door is open whether you want them to or not, with no override switch.


The 2004 Crown Victoria is base-priced at $23,620. Our up-level LX model started at $29,590 with standard equipment including automatic climate control, a digital sound system with both tape and CD players, 8-way power adjustable front seats, power-adjustable pedals and a well-designed set of steering-wheel controls for cruise, audio and climate systems. (www.fordvehicles.com)