Fuel efficiency? The Freestyle achieves gets 8.7 L/100 km on the highway and 11.8 L/100 km in the city in
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| For those looking to reduce monthly budgets without sacrificing interior roominess, the Freestyle could be an ideal fit. (Photo: Ford Motor Company of Canada) |
front-wheel drive trim and 9.8 city and 12.4 city when set up with all-wheel drive. Comparatively the Chrysler Pacifica gets 10.2 L/100 km on the highway and 13.8 in the city, plus 10.7 on the highway and 13.8 in the city in front- and all-wheel drive configurations respectively. Buick's Rendezvous comes close to the Ford at 9.0 L/100 km on the highway and 12.4 in the city when fitted with front-wheel drive, and 9.8 L/100 km on the highway and 13.1 in the city in AWD mode. How does the Toyota fare? In V6 trim the front-wheel drive Highlander manages 9.4 L/100 km on the highway and 12.4 in the city, while the all-wheel drive Toyota gets 9.8 on the highway and 13.1 in the city. Like the Camry, Toyota will introduce a Highlander HEV for 2006, which will improve on the 3.3-liter V6's power while reducing fuel consumption too. Ford will no doubt be considering the adaptation
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| If fuel prices don't drop, Ford could be sitting pretty with its thrifty new entries. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
of its Escape Hybrid powertrain into the larger Freelander to combat Toyota. With the clear fuel economy advantage currently in Ford's court, those looking to reduce monthly budgets without sacrificing interior roominess and style may want to consider the Freestyle.
As expensive as gasoline has become, North American buyers haven't shown a major shift away from larger V8-powered vehicles such as SUVs. Still, with slow sales overall it is difficult to speculate whether the sales of large vehicles will pick up with sales of all vehicles, if and when the economy improves, or when fuel prices fall back toward affordability. If fuel prices don't drop, however, Ford could be sitting pretty with its thrifty new entries.
