Everybody knows that Ford makes some of the best trucks on the road, but the automaker still has a problem getting its car message across.
Here it is: This company sells cars, really good cars, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in the past.
Over the past three years, Ford has rolled out a new stable full of up-to-date, highly competitive new car models that can compete with the best of the Japanese makes. And at the top of the list is the Ford Five Hundred sedan, introduced for 2005 as the first of two cars designed to replace the venerable Taurus.
The Five Hundred is offered in two trim levels and either front- or all-wheel drive, with 2007 prices ranging from $22,980 (plus $750 freight) for the base SEL front-wheel-drive version to $28,405 for the top-of-the-line Limited model with all-wheel drive.
In between are the SEL with all-wheel drive for $24,830 and the Limited with front drive for $26,555.
The Limited is the most impressive one, and has a long list of standard amenities – including leather interior – that fully justifies the price.
The Five Hundred is larger than the Taurus it replaces, but smaller than the venerable taxi/police favorite Crown Victoria.
It is part of Ford’s strategy to revitalize its car business after years of concentrating on trucks and sport utility vehicles.
After the Taurus lost favor with consumers in the late ’90s, Ford – whether by accident or ill-conceived design — ceded its car business to the Japanese, losing out in the lucrative midsize sedan market to the likes of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
With the Five Hundred, then the addition of the Fusion for 2006, Ford has finally said “Enough!” and mounted a serious attack on the Japanese automakers’ dominance of the car market.
The Five Hundred is part of a two-vehicle strategy that Ford says “brackets” the discontinued Taurus, giving sedan customers two strong products to choose from. The Five Hundred is on the upper end of the bracket in price as well as size. The Fusion, which is Ford’s entry midsize model, ranges from just over $17,000 to just under $24,000 (plus freight).
But where the Fusion leaves off, the Five Hundred begins, and it gives Ford not only a competitor to the Camry and Accord, but even to the Toyota Avalon, a larger version of the Camry that some observers have described as “the best Buick money can buy.”
This car is as upscale as Buick’s new LaCrosse, and a credible alternative to both the LaCrosse and Avalon, among others.
The Five Hundred is based on the architecture of Volvo’s flagship S80 sedan. Volvo, the Swedish automaker known for its safe cars, is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Co.
The Five Hundred is for consumers who want something a bit more modern and upscale – not to mention larger – than the Taurus, yet not as large as the Crown Vic.
Although the Five Hundred’s styling certainly can’t be described as radical or even cutting-edge, it does offer a refreshing new look in a Ford sedan.
Ford designers have avoided the stodgy looks of the Crown Vic and Taurus. And the Five Hundred isn’t nearly as bland as the generically styled Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.
The Five Hundred doesn’t have the stodgy handling of a Taurus or Crown Vic, either.
This is a Ford sedan that has decent styling, a comfortable ride, room for five full-size adults, yet surprisingly nimble handling.
The Five Hundred handles more like a sport sedan or coupe, quite surprising for a car whose back seat offers more passenger room than a new Rolls-Royce.
Although a Limited model I drove came with a sticker that totaled more than $31,000 with options, it’s not necessary to pay that much to get a nicely equipped Five Hundred.
The least-expensive model last year was the SE, but that one has been discontinued for 2007, leaving the better-equipped SEL as the base model – with more standard equipment than last year’s SE, but with a price just a few hundred dollars more.
Even at the base price, the Five Hundred comes with a long list of standard equipment, including “Command Seating” for the driver and front-seat passenger. That means the front seats are about four inches higher than those of a conventional sedan, giving the driver and front passenger a better view of the road.
Ford claims best-in-class rear headroom and legroom, plus the largest trunk of any sedan – a whopping 21.2 cubic feet of space.
Under the hood of all Five Hundreds is a 3.0-liter V-6 engine, connected to a six-speed automatic transmission on front-drive models, or a continuously-variable transmission on all-wheel-drive versions.
This engine is rated at 203 horsepower and 207 foot-pounds of torque, which isn’t at the top of the class, but quite adequate for moving this car along with the rest of the traffic.
For 2007, Ford is adding front seat-mounted side air bags and a side-curtain canopy air bag system for both rows of seating as standard equipment.
Other standard features include four-wheel antilock disc brakes; 17-inch cast-aluminum wheels with all-season tires; AM/FM stereo with single CD player; power door locks with remote keyless entry and door-mounted keyless entry key pad; power windows with driver’s door one-touch up/down; five-passenger seating with a six-way power driver’s seat with manual lumbar adjustment; bright painted grille; halogen headlamps; air-conditioning ducts in rear of front console; six-way power driver’s seat; two-way power front-passenger seat; split fold-flat rear bench seat; two 12-volt power points; automatic dimming rearview mirror; fold-flat front passenger seat; leather-wrapped shift knob and steering wheel with audio controls; message center with electronic compass; wood-grain appliqué on center stack and console; tilt steering wheel with cruise control; and Ford’s SecuriLock anti-theft system.
The upgrade to the Limited model brings 18-inch bright aluminum wheels; heated chrome exterior mirrors with puddle lamps; an Audiophile audio system with a six-CD changer and subwoofer; analog clock; dual electronic automatic climate control; eight-way power driver’s seat; heated driver and passenger seats with leather surfaces, four-way power passenger seat, and a memory for the driver’s seat and exterior mirrors The leather seats and seat heaters are offered as options on the SEL model.
Other options include Sirius satellite radio; power-adjustable pedals; moon roof; navigation system; reverse sensing system; traction control; chrome mesh grille; a Limited convenience package; a chrome package; a safety package; a safety and security package; an interior power package; and an interior convenience package.
No manual gearbox is offered in either model.
Inside, there is 107.5 cubic feet of passenger space, which is huge – especially when you consider that the exterior of the car is almost the same size as most of the popular midsize sedans.
This is a case where Ford designers, using the Volvo platform, were able to optimize interior space without a correspondingly large increase in exterior dimensions.
With the rear seat folded (it’s a 60-40 split) and the front passenger seat also folded to increase cargo space, an eight-foot ladder can be carried inside the car with the trunk lid closed.
Steering is a precise power rack-and-pinion setup, and the brakes also come with electronic brake-force distribution – standard on all models.
Because the Five Hundred’s chassis and body structure are borrowed from the S80, the car comes with the same crash-safety engineering features found on the Volvo, which have made that car one of the safest on the road.
Fuel economy ratings for front-drive models with the automatic are 21 miles per gallon in the city and 29 mpg on the highway, impressive for a car this large.
All-wheel-drive models with the continuously variable transmission are rated at 19 mpg city/26 highway.
