<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/minivans/" rel="tag">Minivan/Van</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/wagons/" rel="tag">Wagon</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/crossovers-cuvs/" rel="tag">Crossover</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/ford/" rel="tag">Ford</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/reviews/" rel="tag">Reviews</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_13_opt.jpg" alt="" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><small>2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
<br /> We were headed on a road trip, because that's what you do when the summer draws to a close and something as gigantic as the Ford Flex rolls into your driveway. Destination: Brooklyn. Five miles into the journey, the Sony audio system belts out the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn," and the two sub-five-year-olds in tow agree. But we had an ace up our sleeve: our Flex SEL tester was packing a six-shooter augmented by Ford's EcoBoost turbo system, good for another 100 horsepower over the standard model. If the trip was going to be hellish, at least it would be short.<br /> <br />
<div style="border: 0px dotted black; margin: 5px; padding: 2px 3px; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; font-size: 1.5em; float: right; width: 220px; text-align: center;"><strong>There's newfound muscle to... flex.</strong></div>
There's a price premium to pay for the heavy breathing, but even at $40,000 as-tested, the kitted out Flex stickered for less than expected, and mitigating drawbacks seems to be a running theme with the EcoBoosted Flex. Its EPA estimated fuel economy of 17/24 city/highway is exactly the same as the unboosted Duratec 3.5-liter, but there's newfound muscle to... flex. A turbocharged engine immediately makes thoughts of premium fuel dance through your head, but nope, the direct-injected V6 is happy to perform tricks on regular, though Ford recommends you run higher octane for maximum performance. <br /> <br /> In search of some kind of glaring downfall, we kept the Flex EcoBoost for a while, trying to suss out what penalties you might ultimately pay for the added brawn. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/#continued">Follow the jump</a> to see how the big Ford fared.<br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="postgallery"><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/">Review: 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_11_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_02_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_13_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_04_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_05_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br /> <strong><em><font size="1">Photos copyright (C)2009 Dan Roth</font></em></strong><strong><em><font size="1"> / Weblogs, Inc.</font></em></strong><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Review: 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost turns it up to 11</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/">Review: 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost turns it up to 11</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:56:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19192260/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><small>2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
<br /> We were headed on a road trip, because that's what you do when the summer draws to a close and something as gigantic as the Ford Flex rolls into your driveway. Destination: Brooklyn. Five miles into the journey, the Sony audio system belts out the Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn," and the two sub-five-year-olds in tow agree. But we had an ace up our sleeve: our Flex SEL tester was packing a six-shooter augmented by Ford's EcoBoost turbo system, good for another 100 horsepower over the standard model. If the trip was going to be hellish, at least it would be short.<br /> <br />
<div style="border: 0px dotted black; margin: 5px; padding: 2px 3px; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); line-height: 120%; font-size: 1.5em; float: right; width: 220px; text-align: center;"><strong>There's newfound muscle to... flex.</strong></div>
There's a price premium to pay for the heavy breathing, but even at $40,000 as-tested, the kitted out Flex stickered for less than expected, and mitigating drawbacks seems to be a running theme with the EcoBoosted Flex. Its EPA estimated fuel economy of 17/24 city/highway is exactly the same as the unboosted Duratec 3.5-liter, but there's newfound muscle to... flex. A turbocharged engine immediately makes thoughts of premium fuel dance through your head, but nope, the direct-injected V6 is happy to perform tricks on regular, though Ford recommends you run higher octane for maximum performance. <br /> <br /> In search of some kind of glaring downfall, we kept the Flex EcoBoost for a while, trying to suss out what penalties you might ultimately pay for the added brawn. <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/#continued">Follow the jump</a> to see how the big Ford fared.<br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="postgallery"><p><strong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/">Review: 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_11_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_02_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_13_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_04_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/review-2010-ford-flex-ecoboost/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/10/flexecoboostreview_05_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br /> <strong><em><font size="1">Photos copyright (C)2009 Dan Roth</font></em></strong><strong><em><font size="1"> / Weblogs, Inc.</font></em></strong><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Review: 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost turns it up to 11</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/">Review: 2010 Ford Flex EcoBoost turns it up to 11</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblog</a> on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:56:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19192260/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a> | <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/12/2010-ford-flex-ecoboost-review/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>
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