To enter any Ford SUV you climb up into the seat; with their cars you duck and fall into a hole. Not so in the Freestyle. Here you open the door, do a sideways slide, and enjoy a stature on the road that lets you see over any car without being the big jerk blocking everyone's view. Call it an agreeable compromise.
The Five Hundred is remarkable for how well it seats five. In the Freestyle, the first four passengers will feel the same way; the rest is a wild card. Freestyles come standard with 2+2+2 seating. That middle 2 becomes a "3" if you get the middle-row bench, but that makes third-row access awkward since the Freestyle isn't a mom-mobile minivan with long sliding doors (that would be the Freestar). Each row sits a few inches higher than the one before it to minimize claustrophobia (Ford calls it "theater seating"), but the third row's floor got raised disproportionately, leaving thigh support wanting. Since leg- and head-room are both fine, let's say the Freestyle does an adequate job seating six adults and an excellent job seating four adults and two kids.
Everyone's head restraint goes up high enough for safety and low enough for perfect driver vision. Like the better minivans, the Freestyle also has a third row seat that you can knock out of the way in two steps. The second row and passenger seat also fold flat; do it all and the 91.7-foot cube is yours to fill. By not making these seats removable, Ford missed an opportunity to lure shoppers away from those 150 cubic foot minivans, but 91.7 is competitive as far as wagons and SUVs go.
Front passengers are treated to an interior nearly identical to the Five Hundred's, which is a functional if slightly cheap place. The radio could be better from both a sonic and ergonomic standpoint, the cruise and radio controls on the steering wheel (which both need help) should switch places, and some things either feel unpleasing to the eye or flimsy to the touch. But the seats are comfortable, the leather wheel is plush, most switches feel solid, the console is roomy, the air vents look cool, and best of all, the instrumentation of our SEL model is much easier on the eyes than the Five Hundred Limited.
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