Impressions from 10/23 Tour Event at Tasca Ford in Cranston, RI

[mjschillingtec]

You didn't miss it in Ohio - hasn't made it out of NorthEast and CA. They appear to be adding dates, so check that link occasionally.

great. thank you. My dealer has been silent for 10 months, so no surprise I haven't heard from them

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[ChasingCoral]

great. thank you. My dealer has been silent for 10 months, so no surprise I haven't heard from them

Not surprised. I had to tell my dealer about the tour coming to a dealer 10 miles from them.

 

[back_at_it_19]

My written summary first. Will post pics later tonight.

It was mostly overcast, though the sun did pop out at the end. They had two AWD ER vehicles: Rapid Red and Infinite Blue. The red car had the light interior, while the blue car had the dark interior. The guys running the show were very knowledgeable about the car. Maybe not quite as knowledgeable as folks on this forum, but pretty close. As an example, they were aware of yesterday's release of build dates. The IB was being trailered from show to show, but the RR was being driven. It had a few hundred miles on it already. Their feedback on the driving experience was very encouraging, from the responsiveness and handling to the "calm" feeling you get from the lack of engine/exhaust noise.

I was surprised at how few people were there. In the entire time my father and I were there (more than an hour), maybe 5 others came by. As such, there was not much structure to the proceedings - the cars were just there and you could do anything you wanted. No time limits or any restrictions that we found, other than trying to drive it. I got in and out of both cars multiple times, played with the Sync screen/settings for 10 mins or more, tried out all the seats and doors multiple times, etc. The guys running the tour were available to talk or show you things, but did not interrupt at all. I suspect it would have been more structured if more people were there. But I was very appreciative of the opportunity to crawl all over the car (and under it to the extent possible) for more than an hour.

Sorry folks, but I did not bring a tape measure. I did attempt to estimate dimensions were appropriate. I am an aerospace engineer by trade, so like to think my spatial estimates are somewhat close, but no guarantees.

The styling is much more impressive in person than in photos. Everything is very well proportioned. The interior is very comfortable - the layout is very well done. The care is a stunner without being overly "look at me". The Mustang cues work so well on this type of car. That being said, this is not an SUV. I would call it a sporty crossover. Definitely more car than traditional SUV.

The Sync system was very impressive. Lightning quick and very intuitive. Note that my only experience with any sort of infotainment screen is a 2015 CRV (very basic), but I was able to figure out the system really quickly. The user manual has search functionality that was very easy to use as well, though it seemed to prefer providing videos instead of text. Maybe a setting I missed? Like others have noted, the 360 camera system was very choppy, likely owing to this being a pre-prod unit.

Front seat travel is quite large, both front/back and up/down. I estimate a 3"+ difference between all the way down and all the way up. I am 6'2" and had at least an inch of headroom with the seat all the way up. Might have been just about touching my hair with the steel roof. In my preferred driving position, plenty of head room with either roof.

Rear seat space is very notable. Sitting straight up, my hair just touched the roof, right were the glass ends and the roof-liner begins. With the front seat in my preferred driving position, I had at least 3" of clearance between my knee and the seat back when sitting in back. Much more leg room than my CRV and Explorer. Will have plenty of room for kids in carseats (forward or rearward facing).

I did not notice any issues getting in and out of the driver's seat. As folks have mentioned, there is a bit of a "tub" that your feet go into due to the larger rail running on the outside of the car. But it wasn't an issue for me. That tube is due to the battery compartment seeming to end right at the front of the front seats. So front seat passengers feet are lower than rear seat passengers feet if you can picture what I am saying.

The seats were very comfortable. The interior had nice materials, including carbon-fiber (fake or real?) applications on the dash. While the feeling is somewhat minimalist, it definitely feels like a modern luxury interior. The glass roof is really expansive. It is definitely more tinted than the windows, though the sun didn't shine enough to draw any conclusions about how it protects from excessive heat or sunshine.

The rear storage area is not very large, notably smaller than my CRV. Both width and length are smaller than I expected. This is honestly the single thing that did not meet or exceed expectations for me. The floor does have two positions; I estimate the lower position to be 3"-4" below the upper position. The rear seats fold near flat, but not completely. I suspect they would compress to totally flat with any substantial load. On the positive side, there is several inches of axial length between the rear seat headrests and the back of the front seats when folded down.

The hood (frunk gate?) has aggressive lines/styling, very Mustang-esque. One of the cars had the frunk insert, the other did not. Note that the one without the insert, there were plastic "buttons" in about the same position as the torqx screws on the one with the insert. The frunk is somewhat odd-shaped, but I see it being very useful for wet/muddy/dirty equipment (ski boots, cleats, etc.) that you don't want to put in the cargo area. I have no idea why they put the two slight cup holder inserts in the frunk, but does not harm anything.

As noted by others, the front seat height adjustment is atypical. Instead of being able to raise the front and rear of the seat independently (or the same) by pushing up/down on the front or rear of the adjustment button, the Mach E adjustment just goes up and down. As noted by others, the tilt of the seat changes as you raise or lower it - the higher you go, the more it is tilted forward. It sounds strange, but felt appropriate to maintain a consistent angle of the seat to your upper leg while the seat was raised/lowered. The other button adjusts the seat back angle. I did not find a lumbar control, but honestly didn't really look for one.

I did get pics of the front louvers open and closed. I also climbed around under the car. The main battery area is basically a big flat brick with some minor features for structural rigidity and aerodynamics. Everywhere else is covered with flat cladding for aero reasons. The guy who was trailering the car said it was really difficult to tie down - there is only a small space between the shocks and springs where he can get the tow strap.

Feel free to ask questions. The guys mentioned that the road show is planned to continue for quite a while and new sites are being added daily. So there is still hope for those outside of the NE and CA.

Great summary esp re space for 6’2”. That’s my biggest concern being the same height so great news!

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