Many thanks to our local Ford dealer, for loaning us a 2013 Ford Flex SEL AWD with the 3.5 liter V6 for an afternoon test drive! Our tester was pearl white with matching roof and mirrors, and first thing first, the recent styling tweaks have gone a long way towards improving the looks of the Flex. It is a sharp looking vehicle with the darker grille and headlights, and the letters F-L-E-X in a dark aluminum look on the leading edge of the hood.
On the road there were good sight lines for the front, sides, and directly back. The rear 3/4 view was somewhat compromised by the chunky C-pillars. Thank goodness our tester had the excellent BLIS blind-spot monitoring system. BLIS was well integrated, and showed up as a small yellow light in the corresponding outer mirror when there was an obstructing vehicle in our blind spot. Elegantly integrated, and not obnoxious. Handling was very confidence inspiring, especially when equipped with all-wheel-drive and all of the various safety nannies that come standard. The Flex is not a sports car, but when driven with a little red-mist, it was eager and capable.
This car is available with the 3.5 liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 from the Taurus SHO, or with the engine that we drove, the 3.5L Ti-VCT V6 and 6-speed Automatic. The base Flex is available with front wheel drive as well. The EPA rates the Flex SEL AWD without EcoBoost at 16mpg city, 23mpg highway, for a combined rating of 18mpg. This tester thought that the engine sounded great, a nice growl when pushed, but otherwise unobtrusive. The SelectShift Automatic had a +/- rocker on the shifter for manual control of the transmission. The V6 had plenty of grunt, at no point did I want for more power, though if I were going to tow a camper (up to 4500 lbs) I might feel differently.
The interior looked and felt well constructed, with leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift-knob, and soft-touch plastics on the dash. The well-matched plastics around the dash vents were of a much harder finish. LATCH-ing our stage 2 car seat into the middle row was simple and straight-forward. One negative I'd be remiss not too mention is the heated driver's seat. I found it very difficult to get and stay comfortable with my particular body shape. While not instantly intuitive, I was able to quickly and easily pair my smartphone wirelessly to the SYNC system and stream a song in under 30 seconds. Lots of other reviews that I have read of SYNC equipped Ford products are eager to bash the system. You will need to spend some time with the system while parked, but with a little practice, it is very useable.
There are 2 configurable displays in the instrument cluster, one on either side of the speedometer. They are easy to configure and can show a wide variety of info on the go. I especially enjoyed the fact that a tachometer with gear indicator popped up whenever I shifted into manual mode. Said displays can be configured through some of the 10 various buttons and rocker switched on the steering wheel face. Again, a little play time before trying to adjust them on the move is recommended. The high beltline did make me feel like a kid playing in dad's car occasionally, but that was part of the charm. I found the Flex easy to park with good sight lines. The combination of the back-up camera and the park assist sensors is very confidence inspiring. While I have always enjoyed parallel parking, its a lost art I believe, modern park assist systems make it fun!
The Ford Flex is a very capable and competent family hauler, but ultimately for me, the inability to get comfortable in the driver's seat would be a deal-breaker.
