The Ford Flex is the Perfect Road Trip Car

Our 2009 Ford Flex is, in my opinion, the perfect road trip car. Ok, it's not a car: Ford tags it a 'crossover', my wife sometimes refers to it as our van, some call it an SUV, I just call it "the Flex". Whatever you want to call this new style vehicle, our family has found a perfect blend of size, comfort, safety and economy.

Photographs of our Flex are attached to this article: No glossy showroom images of a crystal clean vehicle, just some shots of our Flex as it sits in the driveway, complete with bugs on the bumper, Happy Meal toys in the door storage, and the Garmin suctioned cupped to the windshield.

The Flex model we chose was the 'base model' version: It does not have the onboard navigation system, nor does it have DVD players or that white roof, which I personally do not find attractive. However, the base model has everything you need and then some. It has the 3.5 liter 268 horsepower Duratec V6 engine, full power everything, and that neat Sync system which I'll cover in a bit.

Why is this the perfect road trip car? For one thing, it is incredibly roomy. The leg room in the second seat of this seven passenger rated vehicle is phenomenal. Our son, who is over 6 feet tall, can sit in the front passenger seat with the seat slid back, and there is still leg room behind him for a full grown adult. The seats themselves are very wide, and you don't feel cramped. Our first long trip was from Indiana to Naples, Florida. We all commented that even though the trip was very long (we drove straight through, about 20 hours) we did not feel as tired as we usually did in other vehicles, including a previously owned minivan. One caveat needs be mentioned, however. The third seat, designed for two, is somewhat cramped legroom-wise for an adult. No problem for us, as one or two of the grandkids always sits back there.

List of features contributing to my assessment of the Ford Flex as the perfect road trip car:

• Mileage on the open road has been 24.7 to 25 mpg. I have never gotten less than 19 mpg regardless of driving, city or open road. Very respectable for a large vehicle with a V6.

• Speaking of the 3.5 liter Duratech V6 with 268 HP, I have to say that the Flex has plenty of "get up and go" when you have to punch it to merge into, or pass traffic.

• Multiple power ports (4) for any device needing power: computers, games, portable DVD players, etc. Also a USB port in the center armrest for charging cameras, etc. as well as hooking in your IPod or MP3 player into the sound system. The Sync system allows for voice activation commands. I don't understand all of how it works, but I do know this: My son can plug in his IPod or Zune and say "Play Beatles" and or say "Play Hey Jude" and voila! It plays.

• Gobs of room for luggage behind rear seat (If you don't need the third seat, you have gobs X 5)

• AC/Heater controls for the back seat passengers available if you want. Or control the separate AC/Heater systems from the front seat, keeping the grandkids from fussing over who gets control.

• Did I mention all the leg room and comfortable seats providing long trip comfort?

• When traveling through the mountains, there is a button on the gear shift to cut out the overdrive: no more erratic gear shifting in and out of overdrive. Hit this button, the tranny drops into 3^rd, and you smoothly climb those hills!

• The interior rearview mirror automatically adjusts for night time glare. No more messing with that "day/night" flipper thing.

• Remarkable visibility from all seats. (This can help with motion sickness for some folks.)

• Other features we love: No gas cap to lose or fumble with, keyless entry on driver's side door, well designed instrument panel, steering wheel mounted controls for cruise control and audio system, and seat configuration that allow all seats (including front passenger) to go flat for hauling tons of stuff.

Yes our Ford Flex is, in my opinion, the perfect road trip car. It has features that make it adaptable to any road trip that we take, be it a long vacation trip to Florida, a one day trip to visit our grandkids, or a weekend trip we take ourselves. If you are in the market for a versatile vehicle, you owe it to yourself to take a look at the Ford Flex.

Source: Personal experience!