Well you would be wrong. I think you are confusing noise and thrashing about with power. The Freestyle is as fast or faster than any of it's six cylinder competitors (Pacifica, Avalon, 6 cylinder 300, 6 cylinder Magnum). BTW, I think calling the Freestyle an SUV is a misnomer (even if Ford claims it is one). It is nothing more or less than a Five Hundred Station Wagon. It is said that calling something a station wagon is now a bad thing.
Just floor it! The engine management system handles matching the engine speed to the gear ratio to achieve the maximum speed. Even my Vue handled that well. The CVT Vue was significantly faster to 60 than the 5 speed manual Vue with the same engine (or the current models with a conventional automatic). You just have to get over the idea that you have to feel shifts.
I didn't pit a Toyota Camry against the V-6 Mustang, Mike Hunter was the one who erroneously quipped off "A V6 Mustang will blow the doors off a Camry with EITHER engine LOL".
That small distinction kinda makes the rest of your comparisons somewhat irrelevant here...
Keep in mind I don't own or like the Toyota Camry, I speak up only to disprove utter bullshit.
BTW: The last Camry I drove was a 1999 190HP V-6 5 speed manual, and it was no slouch. What kind of power was the V-6 Mustang cranking out in 1999?
So Mike, are you now back peddling away from your fictitious speed to RPM comparison crap you posted? Do you now see the error of you ways, forgetting about gear ratios?
Where you are, is ALWAYS in the sweet spot of your power curve. That is why the heaver all wheel drive CVT version of the Ford 500 is quicker than its lighter front wheel drive automatic transaxle version Ford 500....
Actually I think my opinion is more in line with what the reviewers are saying.
I'm talking about stepping on the gas and having the car go..... Not waiting for the motor to catch up to the transmission.
The Freestyle is as fast or faster than any of it's six cylinder
I never said it wasn't.
Probably true, but it's Ford's choice of description.
That's what I mean about be
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"Driving a car with a continuously variable transmission, or CVT, takes some getting used to. There are no shifts, no gear changes, up or down. Instead, the driver steps on the gas, the engine speeds up and the car begins to move. The engine then commonly maintains about the same, seemingly elevated rpm while the car accelerates to the desired speed, at which point the driver eases off the gas to let the engine slow to where the car keeps moving at that speed. Of course, as elevations change and traffic ebbs and flows, the car's speed changes, as does the engine's, but not always consistently or to the same degree, and definitely not as expected with a traditional automatic."
Here's another one:
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And here's another:
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"Even so, the engine is seriously challenged by the Freestyle curb weight and provides marginal acceleration, especially with a full load of passengers and their stuff."
"Ford tries to get the most out of the engine with the CVT, but the Freestyle remains sluggish. The CVT, although very efficient, exacerbates the perception that youre waiting for the engine to catch up to your performance demands. During acceleration, the engine revs dont climb then drop with each shift; they quickly climb then stay constant as the cars speed increases, which some drivers may find disconcerting. Unfortunately, the 3.0-liter engine isnt the most refined powerplant and therefore calls greater attention to itself. The Freestyle was developed to launch with a more powerful 3.5-liter powerplant that simply wasnt available in time. The 3.0L is the Achilles heel for this otherwise well-conceived and -executed family vehicle."
And so forth......
Even my Vue handled
I hated the Vue. There might have been something wrong with the one I drove but it was very sluggish. Especially from a standing start. Well made, very comfortable but too slow.
BTW you can also look on epinions and you will see that people love the car but most say it needs more power.
It has specifically not been called a "Cobra" by Ford, it is titled the Shelby GT500. It does not use the GT engine. It is a cast iron 5.4 block (the GT uses an aluminum block) with aluminum heads from the GT.
If you are accelearating fast, you are at the sweet part of the power curve. And as you go faster, the effective gear ratio changes automatically to keep you there.
When you are cruising down the highway, you are at the sweet part of the economy curve.
This provides perforance and economy.
When I went to the NYC Auto Show, they had a model that showed how it worked. Quite simple, really. And, when they work right, really cool.
Displacement differences are made up by fuel injection, superchargers and turbochargers, and the electronics systems that allow maximum spark advance to be used because of the knock sensors. Quite simply, the stock autos from the late 60's and early 70's were not producing as much power as these new cars.
Magazine test data that compares the old and new cars has repeatedly shown that the old cars were not actually as fast as many people think.
But I am not an old fart (although my nephew farts so much that if you hooked his butt up to a tank, he could supply half the natural gas needs of a small town).
I played in a band with a guy like that. He used to eat the worst food, like Indian food, White Castle and some seafood thing his wife made. Boolabase (Sp?) or something like that.
He couldn't power a small town though because the amount of alcohol going into him was greater, energy wise, than the methane produced. A very inefficient machine his bowels were :)
Can you take one of the new dodges, slap a set of 10 inch drag slicks, and a set of slapper bars on it and pull the front wheels off the ground? The 70 cuda's and challengers would do just that. with the 426 hemi , dual four barrels and four speed tranny. Stock off the show room floor turn 1/4 miles in the low 13's at 104-113 mph . Car and Driver tested the 2005 300 with the 5.7 and turned consistent 14.4 1/4 miles times, which is not a shabby time by any means, but it aint a low 13 ether, and the 2004 Pontiac GTO beats it at 13.3, with a 4.8 , again as tested by C&D.
The hemi is a good engine, but dodge is pushing it like its a 426, and it aint, and many buying it don't know no better any ways.
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