Weekend Athlete: 2008 Ford Taurus X

It was the largest vehicle I’d tested up to this point, so there was enough room to put my bike in without removing the wheel. It’s also the first vehicle since the Honda Element that held all my gear and my bike without taking the wheel off. If you plan on carrying a lot of stuff, don’t get the optional center console in the second row — doing so eliminates a nice storage cubby.

It’s an outstanding camping car, because there’s plenty of room to take four people and gear on a camping trip if you fold the third row flat.

The downside is the Taurus X is quite long, and visibility — especially to the rear — is poor. I couldn’t parallel park this car on the first time out, and that’s unusual. There’s also a massive rear blind spot that hampered passing.

The rear seats require two hands to operate, and I’m not a fan of that. However, Ford scores major points for putting the instructions for folding the various seats on the seats themselves. There’s no rooting around for the owner’s manual. If the third row had a non-scuff, washable plastic surface (rather than carpet for the cargo area), it’d be perfect.

This is the first car I’d tried with a power hatch. It’s a nice feature to have, but far from a necessity. What is necessary is that if you buy the power hatch, you’ll have to use it to raise and lower the hatch — doing so manually requires more effort than I think most people would want to put forth.

I can’t rank the Taurus X with the champs, though. Passing isn’t easy, and its poor visibility exacerbates that problem at highway speeds. Mileage isn’t great, and this car is on the high end of the pricing scale. Must be all that sheet metal.

Rating: 7.75 out of 10.

It’s not the type of car I’d buy, but if you’re a mom or dad, don’t have to parallel park, want to camp with the family (and sneak off for the occasional race by yourself), it deserves to be on your “Must Test Drive” list. The extra size I found vexing might be just what you need.

But I write Weekend Athlete from the perspective of a single guy, living in the city, parallel parking a lot and not carrying kids. That’s why it gets a 7.75.