2009 Ford Flex: cool cube of nostalgia, luxury and utility

KATHY RENWALD FOR THE TORONTO STAR

Whatever you think of the styling of the Flex, you can't fault the roominess of the interior, which can carry seven.

Kathy Renwald

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

The turn signals on American cars have sounded the same since Dean Martin was on the charts with "That's Amore." That's the first thing I noticed when I floated off in the Ford Flex: the loud ticking of the signals. Pretty nostalgic.

My reaction should make Anthony Prozzi pretty happy; he was the senior designer of the Ford Flex. "Cars are one of the few great escapist things we have," he says from the Ford situation room in Dearborn, Mich.

The bold box on four wheels is provocative. It got thumbs up from several kids, but I heard a lot of "it's ugly" comments.

That's fine for Prozzi and the rule breakers at Ford: "I like to touch a chord. The worst response is, `It bores me.'"

Boring it's not. When I first saw the Flex I thought it was aggressively awkward, but after a week it seemed hip to be square.

Is it a van? A wagon? A "vagon"?

It's a CUV – a crossover utility vehicle – and it's now the Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year, according to the country's auto writers.

I drove the SEL all-wheel-drive Flex, which starts at $36,999. My tester bulked up to $45,529. Big-ticket items that fattened the price included a $1,700 panoramic roof, which brought light into three rows of seating, and a $1,200 DVD entertainment system.

The true calling of this vehicle must be moving people. It is spacious and gracious for rows one and two, and even the third row is dandy once you crawl back there. I had room for all four limbs, a sunroof overhead and a good view forward. Getting out, however, requires the athleticism of someone just out of boot camp.

Luckily, most of my time was spent in the driver's seat. The Flex can haul six (seven with a third-row bench seat), but it doesn't feel like a courtesy vehicle for a Days Inn. It's quiet and well-grounded because of its low ride height, steers with confidence and has good visibility despite its sharp angles and Paris Hilton tint job on the windows.

The ride quality is smooth without being mushy, and passengers will enjoy being isolated from ripped and torn roads. The all-wheel drive system powered away from stops on wet roads without any wheel spin.

The Flex has a 3.5-litre V6 that produces 262 horsepower. Some reviewers say that's not enough to give the CUV robust passing power. I never found it to be an issue on the highway, but I never had it really weighted down. A six-speed automatic transmission does its job without any drama.

For a blocky vehicle weighing in at 2,027 kilograms the Flex is spry, but it will take up every inch of a parking spot from bow to stern. I didn't have the nerve to parallel park it on a busy city street.

Inside the Flex, life is cozy. The two front seats are supersized, there are at least four drink holders and various bins for odd items. The steering wheel is good and chunky with subtle stitching. Prozzi told me the interior takes luxury cues from Kate Spade, Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

Figuring out radio and climate controls on the centre stack is pretty easy, but I think Ford could make the printing on buttons larger and bolder. Try finding the Hazard switch, which sits in the shadow of the dash overhang.

Using Sync, Ford's voice-activated in-car entertainment and communications system, requires cramming. Even with the manual, I never got my iPod to integrate: it remained an "unsupported device." However, Bluetoothing a phone with the Flex was easy.

Attention to detail is evident in the cabin. A horizontal seam of wood veneer runs around the interior, Prozzi says it evokes a water line, and the trim around gauges shines "like Audrey Hepburn jewellery."

With the fashion references, it's obvious Ford hopes women fall for the Flex. So it's useful that second row seats fold flat at the touch of a button and the liftgate opens and closes using the remote key – even manually it's easy to operate.

When all seats are upright, I could still stash a lot of stuff in the remaining cargo area – like piles of holiday greenery. If second and third row seats are folded flat, there is 2,356 litres of capacity.

I grew to appreciate the boxy styling with all its horizontal cues, and its minimalist contours means $2 in a car wash will get it clean.

It did feel odd, though, almost wasteful, when I drove it solo, and it's so quiet and smooth I found myself curiously inattentive to driving.

But if you need space for people and things, and have a strong sense of self, then the Flex delivers utility, nostalgia and style in one cool cube.

Freelance auto reviewer Kathy Renwald can be reached at kathyrenwald.com

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