Per CL Member Request, a Static Review of the 2018 Ford Edge Sport (Test drive will follow a little later)
https://www.ford.com/suvs-crossovers...ls/edge-sport/
IN A NUTSHELL: More Lincoln than Ford, at least from the static-inspection.
CLOSEST AMERICAN-MARKET COMPETITORS: Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Acadia (possibly the upper-level GMC Terrain), Buick Envision, Dodge Journey/Durango (depending on version), Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Nissan Murano, Mazda CX-5/CX-9 (depending on version), Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, VW Tiguan/Atlas (depending on version).
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OVERVIEW:
For those of you who have requested, I have to apologize for the delay lately in getting reviews done. I've been busy with my house, doing a bunch of work in it, little by little each day, that is also overdue. I let some things go (and the house got messy and disorganized) when I had my knee-injury and took several months recovering. But now I'm getting it in ship-shape, and also getting some repairs and replacements done as well. It was a nice day today (by D.C.'s usual sauna-bath summer standards), so I figured I'd get caught up on the Edge Sport, at least with the static review. Didn't have time today for the full test-drive, but I will do that in a few more days.....probably some time next week.
The Edge is considered a mid-size, crossover/unibody SUV, and fits pretty much in the middle of Ford's widespread SUV line-up. At the bottom is the recently-introduced (to the American market) subcompact Ford EcoSport, then the compact Escape and Transit-Connect Passenger Wagon, then the mid-sized Edge and Explorer, then the full-sized Flex and Expedition, then the ultra-large EL (extended wheelbase) Expedition. So, if you are shopping for a new SUV at a Ford dealership, you have got quite a selection to chose from.....arguably more than from any other automaker, though Chevy and Toyota come close. American-market SUVs have become more and more of a staple at Ford (and have been since the original First-Generation Explorer of the 1990s)...to the point where the corporation's marketers have decided to cancel
all of the Ford-badged, regular passenger cars in this market, except for the ever-popular and ubiquitous Mustang, long a company-icon. We'll see what happens later on, if Lincoln-badged sedans follow suit to not....but, for now, they officially remain on the docket. And the upcoming four-door, mid-size Ford Ranger pickup, which is being introduced at the end of this year (basically the Australian Ranger design reworked for the American market) may (?) take some sales away from Ford's current mid-size SUVs. Indeed, I've currently got a close friend, right across the river in Maryland, just waiting for the Ranger's local introduction, checkbook in hand, so he can replace his old Explorer Sport-Trac....a similiar four-door design with an outside bed.
The Edge is currently in its second-generation for the American market, which was introduced for 2015. However, as the request on this write-up was specifically for the Edge Sport model, that is what I will concentrate on. The Sport model, the top-line trim version of the Edge, is, as the name suggests, primarily designed for performance over comfort or towing ability. Not surprisingly, it also has the highest base price among the Edge models, at $40,770, although prices start much lower, at $29,315, for FWD SE models. The Sport version comes with AWD standard, and includes Ford's twin-turbo 2.7L EcoBoost V6, which puts out a healthy 315 HP and 350 ft-lbs. of torque at a relatively low 2750 RPM. It also offers a couple of fewer paint-color choices than the less-expensive SEL and Titanium models (Go Figure?).
For the static-review, I chose a nice Ruby Red Metallic AWD Sport model
(the same ultra-shiny Candy-Apple Red that number of manufacturers offer, usually at extra cost) with the standard black monotone interior and a moderate level of options. With only one or two small exceptions, I was very impressed with the fit/finish, materials, and workmanship both outside and inside....which, IMO, was not only noticeably better than some equivalently-priced Lincoln products I've sampled, but a huge improvement from the one-step-smaller Escape, which I felt was cheaply-built and flimsy in comparison. Details to follow.
MODEL REVIEWED: 2018 Ford Edge Sport AWD
BASE PRICE: $40,770
OPTIONS:
Ruby Red Paint: $395 (this paint job is worth what it costs)
Premium Low-Gloss Dark Tarnish-Painted Aluminum 21" Wheels: (needlessly large and unnecessary, IMO) $995
401A Equipment Package: $3840
Panoramic Vista Sunroof: $1595
DESTINATION/FREIGHT: $995 (reasonable, at today's prices, for this size vehicle)
LIST PRICE AS REVIEWED: $48,590
EXTERIOR COLOR: Ruby Red Metallic
INTERIOR: Black (Ebony) Leather
DRIVETRAIN: AWD, Transversely-mounted 2.7L Ecoboost Twin-Turbocharged four, 315 HP @ 4750 RPM #, Torque 350 Ft-lbs. @ 2750 RPM #, 6-Speed Select-Shift automatic transmission.
# With 93-Octane fuel, which is not available in all places
EPA MILEAGE RATINGS: 17 City, 24 Highway, 20 Combined (somewhat low by today's standards, but then this vehicle has a lot of power, a fair amount of weight, and AWD)
PLUSSES:
Some of the best fit/finish on a current American-market Ford product.
Impressive interior materials.
Well-padded interior surfaces.
Generally adequate headroom and legroom.
Soft, very comfortable rear seat (unusual in SUVs)
Better (but still overly-complex) video system.
Killer stereo.
Well-done graphics on the dash and screen.
Handy underhood remote jump-start terminal easy to reach.
Handy foot-swipe hatch-open feature.
Decent-grade temporary spare tire.
Generally nice and roomy cargo area.
Generally adequate headroom and legroom.
MINUSES:
Pricey in top-level versions with options.
Very difficult underhood layout...except for the remote jump-start terminal.
21" wheel option pricey and, IMO, a gimmick.
Cargo cover should be included (not an accessory) at this price.
Foot-swipe hatch-lid-sensor subject to corrosion.
Ford Ecoboost engines have not been particularly reliable.
Not enough paint color choices, IMO, on Sport models, though the Ruby Red is very well-done.
EXTERIOR:
The general exterior styling of the Edge, particularly the front end and grill, pretty much identifies its origin. Most people won't have much trouble identifying as one of the members of the Ford SUV family. The elongated six-sided grille is become more or less a Ford staple, though one thing I like on the Edge is that it is somewhat subdued and not overly-large or garish. The basic layout, as with many SUVs, is the classic two-box shape, although the windshield and rear roofline are somewhat raked for aerodynamics......you won't confuse it, for example, with, say, a shoe-box-style Jeep Renegade or Patriot. The general sheet metal on the outside seems to be of decent thickness and solidity considering today's standards, and the doors, though they don't close with a particularly solid thunk, have a generally solid hefty feel to them. I wasn't impressed with the limited paint color choice on the Sport versions, but the Ruby Red paint on my sample (a $395 option) was well worth the extra charge. Several different automakers offer what is essentially the same color or a slightly different version of it, usually at an extra charge, and Ford generally does this color well, although most reviewers (including me) would probably agree that Mazda does it best....it sparkles like a red diamond. One thing that is different on the Sport version from the others is that the Sport does not seem to have as much dark cladding on the lower-part of the body to protect the paint....it has more monochromatic paint, and thinner, less-protective cladding.
I was not impressed at all with the big 21" low-gloss painted-aluminum titanium-gray wheels, which I felt were more of a gimmick than a truly useful option. They set you back another $995 on the sticker-price, and IMO don't look particularly good. They are, however, shod with
BIG 265/40-21 tires (which probably cost a small fortune to replace), so, even the low profile, because of the great width, still gives you at least
some sidewall for bump-absorption and pothole-protection. I'll have to wait for the test-drive to see how they ride and handle.
UNDERHOOD:
Pop the hood, and there is the usual underhood insulation pad....and a nice set of gas struts to hold up the hood for you (I find manual prop-rods to be a PITA). The hood itself is solid, but does not close with a very solid thunk. There is not a lot of room under the hood of this vehicle (even with the Ecoboost 4 much less the normally-aspirated V6)...partly because a lot of room in front is taken up by the structure just behind the radiator, which eats up a significant amount of space. So, that leaves a fairly narrow sideways-shaped cavity for the engine and transmission to fit in. It is difficult to reach things on the front side of the engine block, almost impossible in back, and, of course, the (usual) large black plastic engine cover has to come off to reach anything from above. The dipsticks, filler-caps, and fluid-reservoirs are generally easy to get at. The battery is on the right, uncovered, but recessed back somewhat under the firewall rim (It's more or less forced back somewhat by the tight-fitting engine itself). A handy remote third terminal, though, with a long bolt-like piece of hardware, that juts out from the top of the drivers' side wheel-well, is easy to reach and attach a clip to, making potential jump-starts much safer and easier....IMO more vehicles should consider adopting that design. Still, for even some routine underhood work, the Service Technicians are going to earn their money with this vehicle.
INTERIOR:
On this vehicle, the interior seems to be where it's at....I was
very impressed with it. Despite the rather dark monochromatic black theme (broken here and there by some chrome and brushed metal) the quality of the materials and workmanship, to me at least, spell out Lincoln more than Ford....indeed, IMO, actually better, quality-wise, then in some comparably-priced Lincolns I looked at. The entire padded-dash area, and even the lower parts of the dash which some automakers neglect, are done in soft, thickly-padded materials...ditto on the door trim. The trim was virtually all of good quality and tightly-fitted with a solid feel. Being the Sport version, the pedals were covered in the metallic aluminum pattern. There was adequate headroom and legroom inside, front and rear, even with the sunroof housing, though rear legroom might get a little tight for tall persons when the front seats are slid all the way back. The stereo, though not quite up to, say a Lexus Mark Levinson in its sound-quality, was, nevertheless, well above average. Past Ford video systems like SYNC and MYTOUCH have had a lot of customer complaints, but this one seems quite a bit improved, with excellent color-graphics, though still a little on the complex side.
The buttons and controls seemed solidly-attached, reasonably well-designed, and easy to operate, and the shifter is a nice, simple, traditional PRNDL fore-aft lever....no zig-zags, unusual patterns, or E-actions. The seat leather quality felt excellent, had inserts that looked and felt like grippy-surface Alcantra, and the front seats were well-shaped and comfortable. But the real award goes to the rear fold-down seats. In comparison to the park-bench slabs that Ford gives you in the one-step-down Escape SUV, the rear seats in the Edge felt like they belonged in a limo...very thickly-padded, soft and actually comfortable....as much so, if not more, than in my big Buick. Kudos to Ford for this interior.
CARGO AREA/TRUNK:
Flip up the rear hatch (it is power-operated on the Sport version), and you are treated to a generally roomy cargo area, though the slight inward slant to the rear roofline does impede slightly on the height of the usable area. Nevertheless, you can carry a lot of cargo with the rear seats folded. The trim on the cargo floor is a generally nice grade of black carpet.
The cargo area on my test vehicle lacked a protective cover, which is a $100 accessory (or simply use a toss-over blanket LOL). As with some other Ford-designed SUVs, the Edge's cargo hatch can be opened automatically by simply swiping your foot under the rear bumper...a useful feature that I like if you come out of the store with your hands and arms full of packages. To avoid malfunction, however, it is important to keep the sensor clean and free of salt, as the system is not immune to corrosion....so get that hose under the rear bumper regularly each winter. The Edge, like most non-off-road vehicles today, lacks a true spare tire and wheel (a subject which I often complain about), but I have to admit I was generally impressed with the full-size temporary spare under the trunk floor. It looks and feels solid, substantial, well-made, and something that at least won't disintegrate while you are on the way to the tire-shop....though I'd still, for safety-potential, heed the speed and distance limitations for it.
ON THE ROAD:
Coming up.....stay tuned.
THE VERDICT:
I'll do the final verdict after the test-drive, but, in the meantime, will say that, overall, from the static-review, this, is a MAJOR improvement in several areas (especially inside) from the last-generation Ford Edge, which was stodgy and Ho-Hum mediocre at best.
And, as Always......Happy Car Shopping. :)
MM
