CARBARN | Ford Flex (2013) | The 2013 Flex sees an updated version of the controversial MyFord Touch added to its options sheet. As with the 2012 model, the base Flex is powered by a 3.5-liter V-6; thanks to variable camshaft timing, it now Produces 285 hp and 255 lb-ft of torque (up from 262 and 248) and an additional travel should mile on each gallon of gas (up to 18 in the city and 25 on the highway for front-wheel-drive models). In our testing, the EcoBoost Flex hit 60 in six seconds flat and cleared the quarter-mile in 14.6 at 96 mph.
The all-new 2013 Ford Escape has been the big NEWSMAKER within Ford's crossover family recently, but now is also a mid-cycle update time for that polarizing box on other end of the size spectrum, the Flex. Making its debut alongside the Escape at the L.A. auto show is a freshened Flex That greets the world with sleek new front-end styling, more horsepower from the base V-6, and an updated interior blessed (or just less-cursed, depending on your penchant for climbing technological learning curves) with an improved version of Ford's controversial MyFord Touch system. On the outside, the 2013 Flex jettisons its three-bar grille STAID in favor of a single space-age chrome band the which is flanked by skinny new headlamps set within darkened surrounds.
Ford also added a number of safety and convenience features to the Flex's options sheet, Including adaptive cruise control, collision warning with brake intervention, blind-spot monitors, and inflatable rear seatbelts. Refined for 2013 but unchanged Generally, the Flex stands tall as a quirky, polarizing, brazenly boxy That alternative to other crossovers are growing ever sleeker and more fluid.
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