Its styling doesn’t reflect SUV or minivan, but its functionality is similar to both vehicle types. At nearly 17-foot long, the Ford Flex is a massive people mover. The underlying takeaway from a one-week test drive: the Flex is a wonderfully roomy people mover. While driver and front passenger have nearly 41 inches of legroom, second row riders have more than 44 inches of legroom. And third row occupants have more than 33 inches of legroom. Other than new exterior colors, a two-tone roof, and the addition of heated side mirrors as a standard Flex SE trim feature, Flex is essentially unchanged since its 2013 refresh. (Flex debuted in the 2009 model year.) The 117.9-inch wheelbase Flex is offered in three trim levels: SE, SEL, and Limited.

Flex is powered by either a 3.5-liter V6 that produces 287 horsepower at 6500 rpm and 254 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm, or a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 that releases 365 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 350 lb-ft of torque at 3500 rpm. A 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive mates to either engine. Front wheel drive is standard, but all wheel drive is offered with the base V6 engine and is standard on the twin-turbo V6. Cargo space is more than 83 cubic feet behind the first row, 43-plus cubic feet behind the second row, and 20 cubic feet behind the third row. The test driven Ford Flex Limited with AWD and twin-turbo V6 carries a suggested price of $42,400 and collects per gallon fuel economy of 16 city/23 highway.