The real reason is so that occupants will not be able to hear the jeers and disparaging comments on the styling of their ride.

You’ll eat your words when Ford sells a bundle

Ferrari is very noisy inside: I always wanted one.

Well, it looks like a Land Rover rip-off so I guess it has to quiter given the fact that a Land Rover is also a luxury car.

It looks like a Land Rover with Downs syndrome. The ludicrously styled Focus sells to the great unwashed so this probably will too

Looks like a good monkey hauler!
I just wish it had a partition, like a limo, so I could block out the “interior” noise too.

Haaaateeeers.

I have no need for an SUV type, but if I had to have a 5-7 seater, I’d definitely consider this over an Expedition or Tahoe. Better MPG, easier to get in and out, faster, more room, oh and with a window tint and some nice wheels this rig will actually look cool. I’ve seen some of the SEMA ones for Ford.

I get so surprised at how many people want to “hate” just because.

Like it or not this is an important vehicle for Ford. They should be applauded for trying to get it right right out of the box. Maybe if they’d spent more time doing the same thing in the past they wouldn’t be in their current predicament.

I’ve liked this vehicle since day one, and like it even more now. There have been some magazine articles on it with the ones I’ve read being positive.

PhreknQwk…

That’s not even a fair comparison… the Flex is an entirely different animal compared to a GMT900 or an Expedition. Any benefits vehicles of this class bring are largely due to the fact that they’re essentially minivans with standard rear doors. While a Tahoe and/or Expedition is a true and utter waste for those looking for nothing more than a people mover… they still make perfect sense for anyone who has to actually haul big things.

And as far as this article goes… I think Ford chose it’s “competitors” very carefully… they say it’s quieter than a Highlander… but is it quieter than the Lexus badged Highlander?? They say it’s quieter than the Acadia… but is it quieter than the Enclave??

I highly doubt it… while I’ve never been in a Lexus CUV/SUV, I know first hand that the Enclave is quiet… almost cathedral-esque…

Cathedrals echo like ****

The Ford Edge is quieter than the Lexux Rx350. So Im sure this will be too. It should be a pretty good seller for ford and I am sure it will be a fun Crossover to drive unlike the Lexus and Toyota boriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

At least it looks new and different.

Remember You can’t have beatifull without ugly.

Flex = too big, too little power. Glad it at least has low noise levels as a virtue. Would rather be caught dead in a Flex than your average minivan.

Gee, I think “hating on it” is a little harsh. The styling just isn’t my thing but otherwise it looks like an above average execution. They should have put sliding doors on it though. Anyone looking at this thing as a family hauler is going to think of how nice those sliding doors are in parking lots, etc.

Johnnycanuck, This note is from Europe (UK). That is why I haven’t been on site all that often:confused in space and time.
To build something right you need 2 components: desire and know how. So far article covered desire to get this Flex as quiet as RX350. They did not comment on know how to make it as good as RX350. I am for Ford to make some coin, let’s hope that it is better then RX350 and it will convert all Lexus owners into Flex owners.

autonut: if you see some Scotsman crawling out of a pub on all fours, those are probably my relations from somewhere far down the tree, though not as far as I’d like to admit. At least you’re only 4 hours away from your normal time continuum, not so bad as when you start from the left coast.

Sounds like that old Zen riddle:
“If a car does not sell, will it make a sound?”

johnny, I never saw Scotsman crawling our on all 4. i think it is genetic thing: if you wear a kilt you cant be on all 4. You never can be sure that Englishmen will not confuse you with with his woman rear view. That can lead to unexplainable situation once sobered up.

It’s ugly as dirt and if I was running Ford I wouldn’t have allowed it to be built but it looks like a scion XB and those **** boxes sell so why not?

I guess it was cheaper to focus on the perception of quality than on actual quality.

Quiet is a proxy for quality? To achieve that level of sound isolation, Ford had to plug every cubic inch of door/hood space with foam and rubber. That’s no more sophisticated than soundproofing a studio with mattresses. Ford ingenuity strikes again. Fags.

It’s just another Ford SUV that’s going to sit on dealer lots like tumble weed. See one Ford SUV you’ve seen them all.

Its a giid vehicle with a bad name. They should have called it Fairlane.

A quiet unreliable car. I guess its good that way you can’t hear all the mechanical problems going on while driving it.

how many of you guys saw one first hand or ever sat in one??
I have and this is unlike anything Ford has built before. Cover the badgeing and I swore I was in a luxury vehicle.
High quality materials throughout. 14 speaker suround sound
mini fridge/freezer usb port I could go on and on. This thing will sell. Whether you love it or hate it atleast check it out it surprises even the most skeptical (Mr. 1115 himself).

Well when it comes out I’ll see it at the autoshow but I still don’t like rolling tissue boxes.

I dont think this surprises me Ford is desparate and has to sell cars
As far as this being nice and stylish yes being better than anything currently offered from Japan HELL NO ! and its certainly not going to be quieter than a Pilot let alone an MDX
I do commend Ford for being different and taking a chance though
Its still a POS but hey at least ford knows their place

Quiet is somewhere at the bottom of a list of reasons why I would buy an SUV….

this thing will out sell your 2009 pilot 1115

“Ferrari is very noisy inside: I always wanted one.”

The moral of the story in US is always ego. They don’t care about interior quality…

Let’s not forget that the Flex is built from a heavy platform that is now several years old, used for everything from the Ford Freehundrus, Mercury Monteble, Lincoln MKS and the old Volvo V70. The deciding factor in its quietness will be the amount of heavy sound-deadening material Ford chooses to pack into its already weighty unibody.. which will directly correlate to reduced fuel economy.

Ford should instead worry about reducing the weight, since more shoppers these days are worried about how much it will cost to fill this decidedly unaerodynamic shoebox up than how well they can hear their 7 annoying passengers inside. They should leave the quietness to the Lincoln MKT sibling.