2005 Ford Five Hundred LIMITED AWD review from North America

None. I added a few fairly inexpensive performance "enhancements" to the car. i.e: New BMW spec platinum plugs, K&N air filer and an (in) famous tornado fuel saver, to see if that increased mpg and power.

The car is very comfortable. Leather seats are a bit "firm" but are comfortable on long drives. I have the AWD/CVT version and I prefer it to the 6 speed automatic I test drove. Launch on CVT is slower, but picks up speed quckly past 55 mph (you have to floor it, though). I agree with critics that the car is too much for engine, but the engine is adequate for most driving needs, it's just about as fast as my '99 Galant GTS with the 195 HP engine (with a 1,600 lb weight advantage on my 500). fuel consumption to begin was not that great:21.5 mpg and I drive like an old man:65-70 mph most of the time. After the little "enhancements" I talked above I get 23.5 mpg, but that might increase once the engines gets a bit more broken in. Ride is absorbent and a little floaty (not lika a Crown Vic Or T Car, mind you). Engine very quiet at cruise speeds, there's some wind noise from the huge outside mirrors. There's some road noise that filters into cabin, but this is very much quieter than the road noise from my Galant. The seat room & elevation (command seating Ford calls it) brings back memory of my "84 T Car. The stereo is not the best in the world: I get much better Bass response from El cheapo stereo & radio on my Galant. you have to set Bass to Max to see a difference, radio reception is fine. The suspension soaks bumps & potholes extremely well and there's no creaks over bumps & road irregularities (unlike my Galant & Town Car). Overall I'm very satisfied with the car. The CVT transmission takes a few minutes to get used to. First time I drove it, I floored car and it kept gaining speed after I let go of the accelerator and I almost said hello to a car in front of me if I hadn't tapped on the brakes. The transmission does save gas, but means you use more brakes because it doesn't Kick down like regular automatics when your speed drops. Overall I love the car. The transmission by German company ZF is a?. My neighbor who is a head tech form BMW who use the tranny on their Mini Coopers told me they had problems with it. Ford has supposedly "beefed-up" the transmission for the torque the 3.0 gives out, they won't comment up to what % more though.. Ask me this question 60k miles from now and I'll tell you!