akirby

Here?

You've experienced nothing more than properly aimed side mirrors. Most people aim the side mirrors straight back creating a blind spot. That's what the windshield mirror is for. If you simply move the outside mirrors out you can eliminate blind spots. It's not the mirrors - it's the aim.

Yes! You don't want to pay for 20" winter wheels and tires even if you could find them. Use tirerack.com's tire size calculator to figure out a 18 or even 17" tire size that maintains the same overall diameter (within 2% or so). That's all that matters.

Actually I think BF Goodrich is owned by Michelin but make their own tires. But I could be wrong.

The foot operated parking brake is a holdover from it's D3 roots (Taurus, Sable). The Freestyle loaner I drove had the same thing. Probably too expensive to change it. I just looked at both the Lexus GS350 and Infiniti M35 and they use a foot operated parking brake as well (unless it's electronic). They certainly don't use a handbrake so maybe this is ok.

This is pre-production - none of the materials are finished (no graining e.g.). Don't get too caught up in the materials yet.

Yeah, I see that now. Wishful thinking on my part I guess. I'm also not used to a round trunk release button (mine is square).

You can't get a better tire (generally speaking) than Michelin. They are also the most expensive. In this case you usually get what you pay for although there are good alternatives that are just as good or almost as good for a lot less money.

Nobody's mentioned the push button on the left hand side of the steering wheel? Can you say Keyless Go?

Check out the dash of a MKX - there is a THX speaker in that spot.

How is that better than a USB port in the center console?

It's just jammed - hardly a "meltdown". Are these factory CDs or homemade? With or without labels?

That's correct. They'll pay off your old vehicle ($14K) plus the depreciation ($8K) plus the MSRP difference ($1430) = $23,430. You'll owe that much on a brand new $36K MSRP vehicle. The bottom line is you end up paying $8K for the time that you drove the old vehicle and the rest is a wash. More or less. Sounds like a reasonable deal to me. The fact that you paid A plan initially really doesn't matter at this point. Your old vehicle is worth the same amount now regardless.

Sync was featured on Autoline Detroit this past weekend. Very good demo and discussion. http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/autoline/

But the extra time (and therefore length) could be at the beginning of the brake cycle, not the end. I imagine it takes a lot longer to get the brakes to the point of lockup from 70 than 60. But I'm no physics expert so I won't debate it. The brakes should be improved but it's not a deal breaker for me.

So that means it takes 125 ft to go from 60 to 22.2 and only 20 feet to go from 22.2 to 0? Just doesn't sound right. I'm sure it's not totally linear based on speed either but I bet it's close.

Be aware the website may show the vehicle in stock while it's still in transit. My Fusion showed up on the dealer inventory website at least a week before it actually arrived - more like 10 days.

If you assume the braking is linear, at 125 feet the Edge is 86% stopped (using 145 feet). 14% of 60 mph is 8.4 mph not 22.2.

I think it's fair to say that everything in between "floor mat gets stuck" and the car stopping is due to 17 yr old girls panicking behind the wheel.

Wherever the cost to fix it outweighs the benefits. Why is this so difficult for you to comprehend? You have to figure out the potential increase in sales (if there is any) or reduction in manufacturing cost or warranty cost and compare that to the cost of the change. It's that simple.

Not to me and I drive one every day. And I had a V8 LS for 6 yrs before that. It's only overtaxed and lethargic to folks who don't drive it every day.

But the real-world data only comes from CR subscribers and not from a truly random sample. One could also question whether CR subscribers are by definition somewhat biased themselves and others have issues with how the survey questions are constructed. I don't think it's a huge problem but it's something that should be noted when considering the survey results.

You missed this part (in the signature): Owner of a 1989 Ford Tempo AWD2.3 Sedan

Because the competition builds small cars in huge quantities and sells them all over the world. Ford builds the Focus for U.S. only. And because they try to compete on price instead of features they end up putting $3K in incentives to sell them. Now how much do they lose on each one? $3K? What a coincedence! Let the Koreans and Chinese have the cheap end of the market. Use global engineering to cut development costs and give people the features and performance they want and they can at least break even on them. Get the new B car on the lots to slot below the Focus.

I just looked up the 2006 Vehicle Dependability survey (measuring 2003 models after 3 years). Mercury was #2 behind Lexus. Ford was above average.