2006 Ford Freestyle SEL

Not exactly a car or an SUV, Freestyle debuted for 2005 as a car-based "crossover." Think of it as the legitimate love child of a family sedan and an SUV.

Styling

The fast-growing "crossover" category includes a variety of tallish cross-breeds of passenger cars with SUVs and/or minivans trying to blend the best attributes of two of those types, or even all three. Available in small, medium and larger sizes, their common mission is providing the best possible mix of van-like people and cargo capacity, SUV-like versatility and all-weather capability and car-like driving dynamics and fuel efficiency.


But Freestyle one-ups most of its competition in several ways, especially at the price. For one, it's a brilliant job of packaging a great deal of people and cargo space into a maneuverable, modest-sized body. Three-row seating is standard, with (unlike most) actual adult-size room in the third row. The majority of others either doesn't offer third-row seats or charge extra for them, and few have back-row room really suitable for grown-ups.


"Freestyle is the crossover done right," says Group Vice President, Product Creation, Phil Martens. "We didn't try to adapt an existing minivan or sport-utility platform. Freestyle is built from the ground up as a crossover with class-leading spaciousness, seven-passenger comfort, versatility and all-wheel-drive capability."


Freestyle rides on a sophisticated Volvo-derived platform (Ford owns Volvo as part of its Premier Automotive Group) with available AWD and state-of-the-art safety technology. Its 3.0-liter DOHC 24-valve aluminum V-6 (which meets very tough Federal Tier II, Bin 5 and California LEV II standards for low-emission vehicles) is not the most powerful in class at 203 hp and 207 lb.-ft. of torque, but its smooth CVT (continuously variable transmission) makes it both livelier and more fuel-efficient than it would be with a conventional automatic. Because the CVT lets the engine seek its most efficient rpm, you'll hear it race ahead of vehicle speed during brisk acceleration, but it's usually transparent as it goes about its work with no shifts interrupting the smooth power flow.