And therein lies the Taurus X's damning fault. Ford hopes it will appeal to people who don't want an SUV, but the company still decided to make it look and act as much like one as possible. It's at least 4 inches higher than it should be and simply doesn't need the optional all-wheel-drive. What you're left with is a car that feels like it could and should be a simple, practical station wagon that costs $5,000 less. By failing to take this risk and hoping to latch on to what little of the SUV-craze is left, Ford has made a vehicle completely bereft of a unique selling point. I can't be the only person out there with a soft spot for big station wagons.

It does, however, deliver on the seating capacity. Adult passengers can sit in comfort in all three rows, whether equipped with the three-seat bench in the middle or the two captain's chairs. The raised third row even offers a decent forward view, and the back gets its own climate controls. With all three rows full, luggage capacity isn't great, but the 15.8 cubic feet of space should be plenty for a shopping trip or morning school run.

It's simply not good enough for a manufacturer to just build a car anymore. They need to build a good car. Anyone who's driven Ford Europe's S-Max — a 7-seat MPV that's good to drive, good looking and economical — knows the company can do better. They desperately need to.

If we were in the market for a 7-seat Ford we'd wait until summer, when the company plans to release the Flex. Ostensibly a minivan without sliding doors, it will compete directly with the Taurus X on price and the number of seats, but features such a unique and appealing look — part 1950s wagon, part Scion xB (trust us, it works) — that it looks set to define an entire new category of vehicle: the stylish, desirable minivan. It should be quite a combination.

This concludes our review of the Taurus X. Parts 1-3 are available below and can always be found under the Jalopnik Reviews tag at the top of the front page.

Day One, Day Two, Day Three

Photo Credits: Cydney Goldberg, Grant Ray

Ford claim the AWD Taurus X achieves 15mpg in the city, 22 on the highway. We're averaging 18 through a mix of highways, rural roads and city driving. This is pathetic considering it barely has enough acceleration to get out of its own way. Ford's new 3.5L Duratec V6 fails to offer either performance or economy, while mated with a new 6-speed automatic that specializes in always being in the wrong gear. The result is a frustrating driving experience. Ford Europe's 7-seat S-max is only 300lb lighter, but since it's equipped with the company's 2.0-liter turbo diesel engine, that car manages a combined average of 32.2mpg with an automatic transmission.

The big Taurus does drive better than its taller cousins. Ford's Edge is equipped with the same engine and feels smaller, but is outclassed by the Taurus X on the road. The Volvo underpinnings are evident, delivering a vehicle that feels safe in any condition. Gone is the Edge's scary waywardness on high-speed highway off-ramps. But mere competence is hardly the pinnacle Ford should be trying to achieve. We can't help but wonder what might be possible if its center of gravity was just a few inches lower.

Somehow, Car and Driver managed to squeeze a 7.7 second 0-60 time out of this thing. We haven't hooked the Taurus X up to timing gear, but in the real world, it's not that quick. This is largely due to the gearbox, mash the accelerator to pull into a gap in highway traffic and you have to wait 3-4 seconds for it to shift down two or three gears before the meaningful acceleration kicks in. By the time you're up to speed, the gap you were aiming for is gone.

Day One, Day Two

Photo Credits: Cydney Goldberg, Grant Ray

At first glance, the Taurus X's interior looks like a decent load hauler. Both of the back rows split in the middle and fold flat, the front passenger seat can join them, giving an overall load bay length of 9 feet.

The seats aren't removable, though, and even while flat, severely impinge on luggage capacity. For instance, the third row eats up 10 inches of the trunk's depth. The trunk opening also is oddly shaped; in fact, the whole rear feels a bit pinched in the middle, further compromising the car's ability to haul large, oddly shaped loads.

Ray's set of 7-foot-tall closet doors filled the car's capacity, they would have virtually disappeared into an Expedition's cavernous interior. You couldn't haul a couch in here.

We also regret to report that Ray is woefully inept with a screwdriver, we're afraid we can't recommend him as the friend to call when you need help moving.

Photo Credit: Cydney Goldberg


Day One

The Taurus X looks like the spiritual successor to the big wagons of yore. Sharing a platform with the Volvo XC90, it sits lower but retains the same three-row seating capacity and penchant for occupant safety, with side-curtain airbags running all the way back.

My family jumped on the SUV bandwagon from the beginning, lured by the romance of their adventurous image. But our Jeep only went off-roading once, resulting in my driving privileges being promptly revoked. Like the vast majority of SUV drivers, Mom and Dad simply didn't have any need for the weight, complication and subsequent cost that comes with the ability to traverse large boulders. Waking up to this fact, a string of sedans and small wagons have served the emptied nest of my parents since the late '90s — none of which have had the sheer utility of that gargantuan Caprice wagon.

Ford has been chief among domestic profiteers of the SUV boom, capitalizing on the best-selling ability of its pickups to release a string of successful trucks like the Explorer and Expedition. The company delivered on the promised utility, with capacious interiors offering huge load- and people-lugging capabilities. But fuel prices have increased and environmental responsibility has come into fashion; meaning Ford's focus on trucks has stuck them with vehicles buyers are beginning to turn their noses up at.

Enter the Taurus X. By aiming to deliver the utility and versatility of an SUV in a package more like a normal car, it hopes to attract buyers looking for a better image, better economy and a better drive.

The Taurus X will be in Jalopnik's garage for the next week. Expect regular updates as we use it day-to-day, discovering if it delivers on its promised utility and user friendliness. We can already report on its image, pulling up outside my girlfriend's house this morning she told me I looked like "a dad."

Photo credit: Grant Ray

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Paukert the Exclaimer, in collaboration with Bothan spies, has uncovered photographs of what's believed to be a development mule of the new Ford Fairlane. And okay, fine, it's a mule, there's preproduction, subterfuge and whatnot, but it appears to lack the pizzazz of the really-quite-cool concept Fairlane. Or it could just be an example of the Freestyle refresh. Literally, we're getting more and more annoyed with this whole Dave business. Not since Cheech & Chong's "Dave's Not Here" gag have one man's words hurt so many Daves. Mrs. McCave is pissed. –Davey G. Johnson

Spied: Ford's 2008 "Don't-Call-Me-Fairlane" Freestyle [Winding Road]

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The Adventures Of The Ford Fairlane Continue: No To Detroit, Yes To Design, No To Zuzu Petals [Internal]

Car buyers looking for a largish, wagon-like crossover SUV-ute may soon be able to put Mercury on their lists. Paukert and his merry pranksters at Winding Road caught what they believe is a test prototype of Mercury's version of the not-at-all-discontinued Ford Freestyle, as it ambled along some midwestern stretch of roadway or other. Apparently FoMoCo is proud enough of its new, 3.5-liter Duratec 35 V6 that it aims to slide it into as many models as can be conceived, including those with dubious market value. Those at the Road that performs an opposite function from that of unwinding have dubbed the proto-Mercury "Monticello," likely after Jill Wagner's own collection of Franklin D. Roosevelt Thomas Jefferson paraphernalia. – Mike Spinelli

Ford (Still) Says This Car Doesn't Exist: 2009 Mercury Monticello Spied [Winding Road]

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This is what happens when you agree to go on the air sick as a dog and hungover. That's right — nevermind the "crazy eyes" of past performances — instead, you get the "close your eyes and pretend to sleep" thing Wert's got going on. So despite actually saying something this time (Wert's been coached very well by Spinelli this time) — his freestylin' comments on FoMoCo are less enjoyable than watching him go all "Eyes Wide Shut" on us. We feel like we should add a rule to the drinking game — one drink each time an Associate Editor, Detroit closes his eyes for longer than what normally is necessary to blink. Wert's random eye movement notwithstanding, anyone want to count up how many drinks that was? And yes, you can count one drink for each time "Freestyle" is mentioned — regardless of the form of the word. Just wanted to clear that up.

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We're not sure we're okay with the new trend toward calling artists' renderings of upcoming vehicles "spy shots." Considering these fakes run the gamut from Baby's First Photoshop to elaborate sketches culled from spies' eyewitness accounts (a la Germany's AutoBild), their precision can be as ill-documented as White House guests on naked bingo night. In this case, it's the application of Ford's toothy "Dave" safety-razor grill on the recently reprieved Freestyle for 2008. Actually, it's an improvement.

Spy Shots: 2008 Ford Freestyle [The Car Connection]

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Ford's got an announcement to make. (No, you'll have to wait until this coming Monday to hear it from the Boss's mouth.) But press outlets are already reporting that company will divulge its upcoming minivan stratagy, which, according to USA Today, involves flight from the minivan segment altogether, leaving plant closures, layoffs and executive departures in its wake. The Detroit Free Press's message is more optimistic — that the company will announce a minivan replacement based on the Fairlane concept (pictured) unveiled last year. One Jalopnik tipster, a Ford insider who says he knows some of the project staff, confirms the story. Good news. Bad news. Old news? Hmm.

Ford to reinvent sluggish minivans [Detroit Free Press]

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Today's Hoons — most literally hoons, seeing as they're from down under — prove the fine line between stupidity and genius rests on a few, well-executed 360s (or 720s, as the case may be). Put another way, these downhill racers, whose motor skills are far more developed than those of their chosen vehicle's target demo, know how to use an e-brake the way Marx intended. (Not Karl, Louis.)

freestyle bigwheeling, australia. [Luke via Google Video]

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Ford, in re-examining its future line of crossover SUVs and minivans — recasting the lot of them as "people movers — confirmed plans to discontinue the current-model Freestyle after 2007. The poorly selling crosso-wagon-ute, apparently obsolete in Ford's paddock before it was introduced, will be dropped to make way for a new model of the same name. Still, as AutoWeek reports, a Mercury version of the current model will be produced in 2007, as planned. Other product changes in store include Volvo-derived minivans and new sport wagons based on the Mazda6 platform for Ford and Lincoln.

Ford to drop current Freestyle from van plan; vehicle name will likely survive [AutoWeek]

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