Fuel Infection
Automotive Reviews
2005 Ford Freestyle
Dec 7th
Wagon fans, rejoice! The full-size station wagon is back! For that lunatic fringe of unabashed station wagon fans, the Ford Freestyle is just what we’ve been looking for. Forget the Dodge Magnum, whose butch posturing is just masking the fact that it’s a station wagon. The Freestyle is a big wagon in the Country Squire tradition, and it’s proud of it.
Well, maybe that’s overstating the case a little. After all, it’s wearing SUV-style contrasting color fender flares and tall tires instead of fake wood down the sides, and Ford calls it lots of things but never a “station wagon.” But we all know what this big boy really is, even if Ford’s afraid to admit it. The Freestyle hits the streets just in time to serve the needs of buyers who like the spaciousness of a full-size SUV but are tired of the poor handling and fuel economy common to those vehicles. The Freestyle shares underpinnings with the Ford Five Hundred sedan, as well as a 3.0 liter V6 engine, available all-wheel drive and an SUV-like high seating position. More >
2005 Ford Focus ST ZX4
Dec 7th
In general, small cars are either grown-up, like the Toyota Corolla and Kia Spectra, or they’re playful. The Volkswagen Golf, Mazda3 and Ford Focus fall solidly into the latter category. Like the Golf and Mazda3, the Focus’ mission in life is to prove that frugal and sensible don’t have to mean “no fun to drive.”
A light redesign for 2005 gives the Focus a more grown up face, but its happy-go-lucky nature has only been strengthened. The hard-core SVT Focus model has gone into the bunker with the rest of Ford’s Special Vehicle Team and is not available for ’05, but many of the SVT Focus’ go-fast goodies are available on a new mainstream model, the Focus ST. The new design also (hopefully) means that the quality control problems that surfaced on the early Focus models in 1999 are long gone. More >
2005 Honda Odyssey Touring
Dec 7th
Ah, minivans. These unsung heroes of the automotive world just can’t be cool, no matter how hard they try. It’s not unlike having a fancy toaster or washing machine; regardless of the number of exciting, high-tech features it’s got, most of your friends are going to smile politely, shrug, and think, “It’s just a toaster.” Honda’s amazing new-for-2005 Odyssey is unfortunately in the same boat. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a great product, one of the best out there. Just don’t expect anyone to be particularly impressed.
Honda’s gone to a lot of effort to make sure that you’re so happy with the Odyssey you don’t have to spend time worrying about impressing your friends, of course. This ground-up redesign shows that Honda considered all of minivan-dom, took the best ideas, and combined them into one vehicle. The Odyssey has a larger interior with more comfort and convenience features, a more powerful engine, and a new level of suspension and body refinement. The new Touring model combines a variety of exclusive features into a single high-quality, high-class package. More >