Road trip! Over 1700km for a 3-day weekend. Basically drove across most of Germany into Austria, and back. Spending 7h in a car will allow you to find out what's good, and what's not. Makes you appreciate what's great, and the gripes really magnify themselves too. It's not like former East Germany is that interesting anyway.
Traffic Sign RecognitionI've always wanted to try a car with this feature for many years (it's been available since 2008), and I really like how it works. It's easy to miss a change in the maximum or overtaking permissability, so it's great to have a "backup" to check. Say you want to overtake a logging truck....."Hmm is overtaking permitted here? I don't remember the last sign.....oh great, no restriction on the dash. Let's go!" It will even partially recognise partial restrictions (for example, overtaking prohibition only for LkW and towing vehicles); although not displayed by word, a little scribble box appears underneath the icon.
Seat comfort, NVHSeats are average. Not as good as the ones in VWs and some BMWs but not too bad. A little upperback ache after a few hours but I learned to just shift around in the seat every so often.
The car is quiet though at cruising speeds. A little wind noise makes its way in above 160km/h but below that, everything's well isolated and road noise from the Goodyear EfficientGrip W-rated tires is well-muted over varied road surfaces. Even the panoramic moonroof is quiet. The upgraded Sony sound system can easily be well-heard and is a good companion.
The boot is very spacious. Can fit a DH bike and still have room for one person in the back. Impressive.
DynamicsThis is mostly a good report. The steering is well-weighted at any speed with acceptable levels of feedback. No sneeze-induced lane changes here. Brakes are very strong and fade free. A little float at high speeds exceeding 160km/h, but this is ultimately a family wagon, not a sports car.
Overtaking at higher speeds isn't petrol-powered quick like say, a BMW 335i, so don't let the fat torque delude you into thinking you're invincible. I did much overtaking but it does require thought; plus it is over 1600kg of weight. Speaking of power, I'm suddenly unsure if I really have the 150PS version, because I definitely pushed it into 220+ territory at one point, which Ford says isn't possible with the 150PS version.
Environmental ConcernsA minimum of 4,6 l/100km I was able to achieve over a 100km stretch of mostly rural roads and autoroutes in Austria. Not best in class, but pretty good. After an entire afternoon of flogging on the German autobahn, consumption hovered towards 6,5 l/100km. Good considering how fast the A9
racetrack autobahn is. Auto Stop-start is unobtrusive and works well.
Driver AssistanceLane Keeping Assistant is very helpful and I use it a lot to keep me perfectly on track. You will need this too, because MyFordTouch means every driver will likely make a mistake and drift out of lane. Not overly obtrusive and subtle in its operation. However, the consistency of the lane recognition is spotty. Often it won't recognise the lane markings which is impossible in Germany with it's perfect roads.
Light Assist is great. It will direct the dipped beams slightly higher when there's no one in front but conditions don't warrant the full/high-beam, and then as you approach another car or slow down, the headlight beam drops a bit. Nice touch.
Interior ErgonomicsThis is where this car falls very, very short. Americans spearheaded the development of the platform and it shows. Very little can be done while driving at speed without risk of something going wrong. The cruise controls can't quickly be operated with precision.......the buttons all feel the same and are rocker buttons. When you need to "panic cancel" because you're coming up 180km/h with someone else doing 120km/h, there should be no question how far to put your finger and it should never require a glance down.
MyFordTouch is the worst though. It's impossible to operate while driving, much less while driving quickly. This would have been passable if the system wasn't so darned slow. Often I'd punch in multiple letters and only have 2 appear on the screen. Sometimes it failed to respond to my fingers at all. The whole time, you're trying to punch backspace or back and you've drifted out of your lane. Or missed a speed change. Or nearly rear-ended a lorry. The navigation takes awhile to boot up. And what's with the idiot disclaimer screen? And why is Voice Control only available in two languages in continental Europe? Français n'est pas disponible? Le guidage est disponible en l'anglais et l'allemand seulement.
To sum:Great family car. Will haul a family to the beach, or to the mountains, or wherever in comfort and carry all their stuff. Not a bad drive either. The interior details are lacking though, as they are designed by people who live in a bubble.
