Major Options / Build: Navigation System, Alloy Wheels

Additional Description: 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost Click above for high-res image gallery Just a year after the Ford Flex first appeared the Blue Oval has revamped its lineup in ways that make the 2010 model quite different from its forebearer. First among the changes is the Blue Oval's EcoBoost engine which packs 3.5 liters of displacement and a duo of turbochargers to produce V8 power with V6 fuel economy. Autoblog went to the Colorado hinterlands to spend some with with the Flex and its new powerplant and as we found out there's more to Ford's boxy crossover than boosted performance and fuel economy. %Gallery-68377% Photos Copyright ©2009 Jonathon R. Ramsey / Weblogs Inc. First came wagons and they ruled the American landscape for decades. Then body-on-frame SUVs (previously known simply as "trucks") remade the wagon by hoisting it up and adding four-wheel-drive. When the price of SUV feedstock gas went ballistic their owners fled into crossovers which remade the SUV by being lighter nicer to drive and easier on the debit card. Then came the Ford Flex which set out to rework both the SUV and CUV by providing 'ute-like room with a car-like ride even though the car-like seating position is what drove wagons into the swamps and tarpits in the first place. The design theory behind the Flex to an outsider at least is simple: a little box and a big box on wheels. And not far off the ground. The crucial aspect of the theory is that the Flex isn't meant to be compared against traditional CUVs; Ford has put it in the pit with full-sized SUVs like Chevrolet's Suburban and Tahoe Dodge's Durango Toyota's Sequoia and Jeep's Commander. And while it fights the heavyweights it's also meant to dispatch miscellaneous challengers like General Motors' Lambda quadrouplets the GMC Acadia/Saturn Outlook/Chevrolet Traverse/Buick Enclave and oh yeah minivans. Forty-percent of buyers are conquest sales more than half coming from Toyota and Honda. The theory is starting to meet ith some success: the Flex sold 20016 units through the first six months of 2009. That's well down on blustery initial projections of 100000 units per year but well above full-sized SUVs like the Suburban and Sequoia. It's also well outpaced by incumbents like the Dodge Caravan and Acadia yet nearly matching the Enclave's numbers. However May and June were both sales records for the Flex and with the EcoBoost model and its improvements we suspect Ford can look ahead to more gains. According to the automaker's research the Flex is doing all the right things from a brand perspective. Forty-percent of buyers are conquest sales more than half of that coming from Toyota and Honda and 49% of them are new to the Ford family. If they're after simplicity of design they've come to the right place.ABS Brakes,Adjustable Foot Pedals,Air Conditioning,Alloy Wheels,AM/FM Radio,Automatic Headlights,Cargo Area Tiedowns,Cargo Net,CD Changer,CD Player,Child Safety Door Locks,Cruise Control,Deep Tinted Glass,Driver Airbag,Driver Multi-Adjustable Power Seat,DVD Player,Electrochromic Interior Rearview Mirror,Electronic Brake Assistance,Electronic Parking Aid,Fog Lights,Front Air Dam,Front Heated Seat,Front Power Memory Seat,Front Side Airbag,Heated Exterior Mirror,High Intensity Discharge Headlights,Interval Wipers,Keyless Entry,Leather Seat,Leather Steering Wheel,Navigation Aid,Passenger Airbag,Passenger Multi-Adjustable Power Seat,Power Adjustable Exterior Mirror,Power Door Locks,Power Trunk Lid,Power Windows,Rear Window Defogger,Rear Wiper,Second Row Folding Seat,Separate Driver/Front Passenger Climate Controls,Side Head Curtain Airbag,Steering Wheel Mounted Controls,Subwoofer,Tachometer,Telematics System,Third Row Removable Seat,Tilt Steering,Tilt Steering Column,Tire Pressure Monitor,Traction Control,Trip Computer,Vehicle Anti-Theft,Vehicle Stability Control System