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You’d expect quite a lot of acceleration from a 4.0-liter V6 with 205 bhp and a whopping 327 Nm of torque. This proves to be just adequate for the NBX. The engine prefers to shift early. Plunging to throttle to the floor results in a raucous performance that quickly drains the fuel tank. The truck managed 5.4 km/liter after our city driving. The 5-speed automatic gearbox didn’t have much of a performance advantage over Ford’s 4-speed units, but it probably helped the fuel economy somehow. The ride of the Sport Trac speaks land yacht, with long, undulating body motions. The cornering feels vague and hesitant. Strangely, road irregularities and obstructions like humps are transmitted into the cabin, unlike its similarly floaty big brother, the F150 SuperCrew. One of the ironies of the pickup truck is that you have a huge cargo bed in the back, yet no place to secure your grocery bags. The Ford offers 60/40 split folding seats to allow some in-cabin storage, and there are small compartments behind the seats. Still, the optional cargo bed cover is a must for your weekly trip to the supermarket. If carrying hardware is your concern, an optional flip-over cargo cage extends the length of the bed. The NBX will take you anywhere you’d care to go in the city. It has enough ground clearance to straddle flooded streets and its 16-inch wheels and tires will make sure you don’t get swallowed by our regular potholes. The lack of 4x4 will come into play only if you plan to wriggle in the mud. The doesn’t have any sort of limited-slip differential so plant one wheel into the soft brown stuff and you will probably have to wallow in the muck more than Christina Aguilera. |
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