2005 Ford Five Hundred Review (continued)
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Walkaround

Ford first used the Five Hundred designation in numerical form on the highest trim version of its 1957 Fairlane model and the car helped Ford overtake Chevrolet in the sales race. When Ford launched a new flagship, the Galaxie, in 1959, it again used the 500" badge to indicate the most upscale version. Now, Ford brings back the Five Hundred (spelled out) as a separate model and as the new flagship of its fleet of cars.

Compared to the Taurus, the Five Hundred is more than three inches longer, an inch and a half wider and four inches taller. It also rides on a wheelbase that is 4.5 inches longer, which not only gives the car its solid, luxury-car stance but enhances smooth ride quality.

The chief designer says it was a challenge to sculpt a Ford-styled body around a Volvo chassis, and adds that designers used what he calls "plainer surfaces with taut lines" to give the car a modern look without losing its passenger car proportions. The Five Hundred's rounded forms offer a definite alternative to the more upright, angular Chrysler 300.

The Five Hundred's face has large, jewel-styled and multi-bulb triangular headlight elements on either side of a wide, trapezoidal grille. Chrome accents the front edges of the bumper. There are similar chrome accents on the rear bumper and another that bisects the doors and provides a visual bridge between slightly flared wheel arches. Chrome also frames the side windows, which include large third windows that give the Five Hundred more of a luxury car profile.

The tall trunk lid has a spoiler-like lip along its top trailing edge. The rear of the car features large, multi-element and triangular shaped tail lamps and dual, down turned exhaust tips.

The SE and SEL ride on seven-spoke aluminum wheels and Continental tires while the Limited gets distinctive eight-spoke 18-inch wheels and Pirelli tires.

The Five Hundred is part of Ford's strategy to replace the old Taurus with more specialized vehicles that better fit the needs of individual buyers. Those who need even more space for people and cargo can opt for the Freestyle, a crossover wagon based on the Five Hundred. Those who want a smaller and less expensive vehicle will next year be able to get the Fusion, another mid-size sedan that's smaller than the Taurus."

Interior Features

Although the 2005 Ford Five Hundred's exterior is a foot shorter than the full-size Ford Crown Victoria sedan, the new car has nearly as much passenger room (107.1 cubic feet for the Five Hundred vs. 108.2 for the Crown Vic). The Five Hundred also has a larger trunk (21.1 cu. ft.) that can hold eight sets of golf clubs, should it be your week to caddie the high school golf team's equipment to the course.

One very impressive statistic about the Five Hundred's interior is that it provides the same leg room, 41.3 inches, in both the front and rear seats. That rear-seat legroom is enhanced because the front seats are mounted above the rear floor, leaving room for your feet underneath.

Those front seats are mounted on a Volvo-devised cross-body beam that runs from the bottom of the B pillar (the post between the front and rear doors) that adds strength to the car's shell and that helps provide protection in the event of a side impact.

Each of the car's four doors has a beverage holder, and additional cup holders are located in the center console between the front seats with two more in the center console that folds down from the back of the back middle seat.

The rear seatbacks fold forward to provide enlarged luggage space, and the front passenger's seat (SEL and Limited versions) also folds down to provide space for a 10-foot long ladder or other object to fit inside the Five Hundred with the trunk lid closed.

All seats feature what Ford calls command" view of the road, with seat bottom cushions that are some four inches higher than those of a typical mid-sized sedan, yet some two inches closer to the road than those in the Freestyle crossover wagon.

The dashboard has a covered storage compartment in its top center section. The center stack has audio controls at the top with climate and other controls beneath. The dashboard has either silver or wood-grain trim with metal used for the door releases and around the base and top of the gear shift lever. We found the switchgear well designed and easy to use.

One cautionary note (well, actually two of them): A steeply raked windshield can reflect a lot of glare off the top of the dashboard (at least it did in the car we drove with a tan-colored "Pebble" interior; "Shale" and "Black" interiors also are available), and a driver wearing sunglasses can have trouble reading the darkly colored gauges in the SE and SEL models. The Limited has much easier to read light-face gauges."