Arthur Akard
Member
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Well now that I have had my ‘07 ST for about a month, I wanted to share my observation comparing the 2 vehicles. Overall (without a doubt) the ’07 is a much nicer vehicle than the ’04. When I bought the ’04, I bought the absolute cheapest ST (an XLS) I could get my hands on. Despite that it was still pretty nicely equipped where as the ’07 has a lot of goodies the ’04 doesn’t - but I still love that dang ‘04! So here I try to compare each vehicle by totally random categories:
Ride:
This is not even close. The ’07 is so superior it is almost embarrassing. The leap between the 2, IMHO, is the single biggest change/improvement. ’07 by a mile.
Brakes:
I am a little surprised by this but even with 63K on it the brakes on my ’04, the brakes seems just flat more responsive than the ’07. Maybe it is because of the traction control on the '07 but I like the feel of the ‘04’s better than the ‘07’s. This especially evident when I’m in rush hour traffic. It seems that I can wait longer to hits the brakes in the ’04 whereas in the ’07 I tend to give the vehicles in front of me a tad bit more room. Maybe once I get more comfortable in the ’07 this will go away. ’04 wins this one for now.
Outside Appearance:
I really liked the look of my ’04 and still do but the ’07 is a nice crisper look. It is a tad bit longer and taller than the ’04 but that does not bother me. Fortunately I have the running boards on the ’07 so the short people of the world that ride with me can still get in fairly easily. I do have 2 complaints with the ’07 – the fog lamps seem to cast hardly any extra light that is useful to me (now admittedly I like bright fog lamps). They are merely additional extra head lamps in my book. And the 2nd complaint is regarding the center bed storage tray. What a pain in the rear to open! Why didn’t Ford put a cut out for your hand on the driver’s side in addition to the one in the center? Just a pain to open from outside the bed. Regardless the ’07 wins this one.
Interior (going to break this into 2 categories – sort of)
1. Appearance. I really like the appearance of the ’07. But I also like the inside of my ’04. I feel the seats are more comfortable in the ’04. My feet and legs seams more comfortable in the '04 than in my ’07 (maybe I have not gotten the seats into the position I like). But you can't beat new. Edge to the ’07.
2. Functionality. This is probably my biggest surprise. Without a doubt the ’04’s interior is much better designed and functional than the ’07. Where to start? ’07 door handles – hate them! The door opener – hate them! The instrument cluster on the ’07 is difficult to see at a glance and the electronic information cluster is just about worthless when the Texas sun is up (which seems about 18 hours a day in the summer!). Why didn’t they have both the trip odometer and the total miles on the same display like on the ‘04? After punching thru 4 different screens I finally get to the MPG. The only good thing I like is they color coded the message, green - you are fine, yellow - lettering you have an issue, red - wake up driver! And don’t even get me started on the lack of storage places in the front. OK, maybe I’m comfortable with my ’04 but I love the tray under the AC controls (for coins and the Sirius radio remote), and I love the little indent in front of the cup holders where my cell phone fits perfectly. Got nowhere to put my cell phone in the ’07 if both front cup holders are in use. Plus I don’t like the auto dimming rearview mirror in the ’07. Overall I feel much more “hemmed in†in the ’07 than in the ’04. The ’04 just feel like it is more open. ’04 by a mile.
Engine
Now I have the 4.0 liter in both the ’04 and the ’07 but what really peeves me is why didn’t Ford keep the 4.0L flex fuel in the ’07? Shame on Ford for that! It took about 300 miles for me to get use to
Well now that I have had my ‘07 ST for about a month, I wanted to share my observation comparing the 2 vehicles. Overall (without a doubt) the ’07 is a much nicer vehicle than the ’04. When I bought the ’04, I bought the absolute cheapest ST (an XLS) I could get my hands on. Despite that it was still pretty nicely equipped where as the ’07 has a lot of goodies the ’04 doesn’t - but I still love that dang ‘04! So here I try to compare each vehicle by totally random categories:
Ride:
This is not even close. The ’07 is so superior it is almost embarrassing. The leap between the 2, IMHO, is the single biggest change/improvement. ’07 by a mile.
Brakes:
I am a little surprised by this but even with 63K on it the brakes on my ’04, the brakes seems just flat more responsive than the ’07. Maybe it is because of the traction control on the '07 but I like the feel of the ‘04’s better than the ‘07’s. This especially evident when I’m in rush hour traffic. It seems that I can wait longer to hits the brakes in the ’04 whereas in the ’07 I tend to give the vehicles in front of me a tad bit more room. Maybe once I get more comfortable in the ’07 this will go away. ’04 wins this one for now.
Outside Appearance:
I really liked the look of my ’04 and still do but the ’07 is a nice crisper look. It is a tad bit longer and taller than the ’04 but that does not bother me. Fortunately I have the running boards on the ’07 so the short people of the world that ride with me can still get in fairly easily. I do have 2 complaints with the ’07 – the fog lamps seem to cast hardly any extra light that is useful to me (now admittedly I like bright fog lamps). They are merely additional extra head lamps in my book. And the 2nd complaint is regarding the center bed storage tray. What a pain in the rear to open! Why didn’t Ford put a cut out for your hand on the driver’s side in addition to the one in the center? Just a pain to open from outside the bed. Regardless the ’07 wins this one.
Interior (going to break this into 2 categories – sort of)
1. Appearance. I really like the appearance of the ’07. But I also like the inside of my ’04. I feel the seats are more comfortable in the ’04. My feet and legs seams more comfortable in the '04 than in my ’07 (maybe I have not gotten the seats into the position I like). But you can't beat new. Edge to the ’07.
2. Functionality. This is probably my biggest surprise. Without a doubt the ’04’s interior is much better designed and functional than the ’07. Where to start? ’07 door handles – hate them! The door opener – hate them! The instrument cluster on the ’07 is difficult to see at a glance and the electronic information cluster is just about worthless when the Texas sun is up (which seems about 18 hours a day in the summer!). Why didn’t they have both the trip odometer and the total miles on the same display like on the ‘04? After punching thru 4 different screens I finally get to the MPG. The only good thing I like is they color coded the message, green - you are fine, yellow - lettering you have an issue, red - wake up driver! And don’t even get me started on the lack of storage places in the front. OK, maybe I’m comfortable with my ’04 but I love the tray under the AC controls (for coins and the Sirius radio remote), and I love the little indent in front of the cup holders where my cell phone fits perfectly. Got nowhere to put my cell phone in the ’07 if both front cup holders are in use. Plus I don’t like the auto dimming rearview mirror in the ’07. Overall I feel much more “hemmed in†in the ’07 than in the ’04. The ’04 just feel like it is more open. ’04 by a mile.
Engine
Now I have the 4.0 liter in both the ’04 and the ’07 but what really peeves me is why didn’t Ford keep the 4.0L flex fuel in the ’07? Shame on Ford for that! It took about 300 miles for me to get use to
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