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The Mountaineer gauges show only the essentials (speedometer, tachometer, fuel and coolant) organized within a recessed pod surrounded by a satin-finish, metallic ring. It's a simple arrangement, but given the Mountaineer's workhorse capabilities, as evidenced by the V8's 7220-pound tow rating, we'd like to see gauges for oil temperature and voltage. The dash is clean, though, with attractive, low-key, metallic accents. The materials are generally nice, though there are some plastics that smack of cost-cutting.The stereo and climate controls in the center stack have large, finger-friendly buttons with or without the optional navigation system. The results here are mixed. The stereo and navigation system operate on separate power supplies, so you can have a map displayed without having the stereo on. That's not true of all navigation systems, including those from Mercedes. However, the stereo tuning function is buried beneath a sequential rocker switch, forcing you to wait while it scrolls up or down through the frequency band to find any station other than one of the presets. The navigation system screen could be larger, but the information it provides is adequate and accuracy is above average. On the other hand, with the navigation system and satellite radio, the Mountaineer, like other Ford products, has a competitive advantage. You can simply punch in the three-digit station of your choice, which is much better than scrolling through up to 80 or so stations to get to the one you want. The front seats are comfortable, with adequate thigh support and bolsters. Overall, passenger roominess is competitive for the class. The Mountaineer offers comparable headroom in the front seats as the GMC Envoy and Nissan Pathfinder, trailing them by less than an inch; front-seat legroom betters the Envoy by an inch and equals the Pathfinder; front-seat hiproom is almost identical. Second-row head- and legroom is comparable to the Envoy, but the Mountaineer offers significantly 2.5 inches more legroom than the Pathfinder's second row, a noticeable difference. However, the Mountaineer doesn't have nearly as much second-row hiproom as the Envoy and Pathfinder do. The middle-row bench seat has full seatbelts for three but head restraints for only the outboard passengers. The third-row seats in the Mountaineer are significantly roomier than those in the competition', with nearly three inches more legroom than Envoy and more than six inches over the Pathfinder. Headroom and hiproom are comparable. The third row is a bench seat with minimal padding and fixed-height head restraints, which loom large in the back window; they do collapse, but only by tugging a loop hanging out the backside. Much better are the optional third-row seats that can be power-folded via two rocker buttons in the rear cargo area, directly below a thoughtfully provided button for power central locking. Accessing the third row is a three-step process that doesn't strike us as all that secure. First, you pull a strap that releases the head restraints so they fold forward. Then you pull up on a stiff lever to fold the seatback down on the seat bottom. And then you lift the heavy seat assembly, rocking it forward toward the front seats, where it parks, unrestrained, while people crawl into and out of the third row seats. If you lean on it while climbing out, it can rock back, and possibly hit your foot. We like the look of some of the light-colored interiors, though we're concerned they'll get dirty. The light-colored, suede-like inserts attract dirt like a magnet and, once dirtied, are a hassle to spruce up. Mercury's Sync communications and entertainment system, due later in the model year, can recognize Bluetooth-enabled cell phones, access their phonebooks, and play calls and read text messages through the speakers. It also has a USB interface to connect with iPods and other MP3 players. Voice commands and/
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