2004 Ford Crown Victoria Sport

2004 Ford Crown Victoria LX Sport
Tom Collins
The Auto Answerman
KEZW Denver

Vehicle Type: Rear wheel drive 5-passenger sedan.
Price As Tested: $31,655

Pros:
Safety
Big Trunk
Nicely Equipped
Everyone Thinks You’re a Cop

Cons:
Outdated Design
Seats lack support
Audio System

In many ways, the Crown Victoria is a throw back to another era. It’s a big body on frame rear wheel drive V8 powered sedan- just like we all drove when I was a kid in the 60’s and 70’s. This rugged design is what makes it a great cop car but how does it fare in today’s market place?

Ford has done a good job modernizing the old design. Cold weather buyers will be thankful for the available traction control, a must on rear wheel drive cars. 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS are standard. Comfort features include leather, power drivers seat, climate control and power adjustable pedals. Our Crown Vic came with power-heated mirrors and a trunk mounted CD player. After all the options our $29,560 base price was bumped up to $31,655.

Power comes from a 4.6 Liter V8 bumped up to 239 HP from the standard 225 horses thanks to the LX Sport’s standard dual exhaust system. The LX Sport also gets a ‘Performance Axle Ratio’ to give the car more zip. All cars come with a 4-speed automatic. Acceleration is adequate but not exciting. On the plus side, the car is smooth and quiet. Towing capacity is listed at 1500 lbs. Fuel economy is listed at 17 city and 25 hi way. I got around 20 in mostly city driving.

Speed-sensitive power rack and pinion steering improves the drivability over the old recalculating ball design but the driving experience is still ‘old world’ with steering corrections needed from time to time. LX Sports benefit from Fords Handling Package, basically a tire upgrade with 235/55/17 tires mounted on 5-spoke alloy chrome wheels. The ride is smooth and a little ‘floaty’ but this is to be expected in this type of vehicle.

The Crown Victoria looks dated inside. I applaud the inclusion of full gauge instrumentation but why no tachometer in the ‘Sport’ version of this car? The LX Sport gets bucket seats and a console mounted shifter instead of a bench seat. Unfortunately, the front seats have little lateral support to keep you in the seat while cornering. Otherwise, the front seats are relatively comfortable with lots of legroom up front. The 8-way power seat makes it easy to find a good driving position.

My kids commented that the rear seats did not seem as roomy as our 94 Eagle Vision. The car is listed as a 5-passenger but I would say it’s comfortable for 4. The trunk is huge with 131 cubic feet of storage. One disappointment is the stereo. The CD changer is nice but the system itself is lacking in quality. Even on AM the sound is hollow.

Safety is one of the Crown Vic’s bright spots. Front side airbags are now available on this already safe car. The Crown Victoria gets 5-Stars on the government’s frontal crash test, their highest rating. Standard warranty is 3 years/36000 miles with 24-hour roadside assistance included.

I ended up liking this car more than I thought I would but it’s not up to today’s standards. Here is a fun trick for all you Crown Vic owners. Get a hair dryer, park along side at the road and watch traffic slow down as you point the hair dryer out the window. Fun for the whole family!

Tom Collins
9-13-04