Bring It On! 2009 Ford Flex Limited AWD, Part three

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March 11, 2009

2009 Ford Flex Limited AWD. Click image to enlarge

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Review and photos by Chris Chase

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2009 Ford Flex

Ottawa, Ontario – This has not been a typical Ottawa winter. After decent amounts of snowfall between mid-November and the end of January, in February, it seemed as though winter gave up. There were a few feeble snowfalls, but more often than not, any white stuff in the forecast wound up falling as rain.

As Grant said, the only places to find snow were unploughed parking lots, but those became increasingly difficult to find in my part of town as it seemed winter was making an early exit.

But wait! On the very morning I was to return the Flex came the snow I’d been waiting for. Not much, mind you, but enough to coat the streets in my neighbourhood with a couple inches of the kind of wet, slushy mix that can really test a vehicle’s traction.

It was a far cry from the significant snow accumulations that the little Matrix had to plow through, but it was enough to get a feel for how the Flex’s all-wheel drive and traction/stability control systems managed when the going gets slick.

And they worked very well to keep the vehicle going in the direction intended. One thing about this type of large crossover is that there’s an awful lot of weight to be managed here, and that heft becomes quite apparent when traction is limited. Despite that, I found the effectiveness of Ford’s AdvanceTrac setup impressive; while it has to work very hard to keep the Flex going where it’s pointed, it inspires confidence as long as the driver’s inputs are smooth.

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