Ride Report: 2007 Ford Edge

Old May 21, 2007, 12:42 pm
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Ride Report: 2007 Ford Edge

Grade = B-

Vital Info:
Vehicle: Ford Edge
Color: Black exterior (too bad it wasn’t the orange in the commercials), Black leather interior
Model: SEL AWD
Engine: 6 Cylinder
Transmission: 6 Speed with traction control
Mileage: under 5K-still smelled brand new, unlike most that smell like smoke or dog by this point!

MECHANICAL:
The car/suv/whatever you call it, was pretty quick. I timed it at 7.8 sec for 0-60 and 14.5 seconds for 0-85. The first 100 miles, there was a quiet, high-pitch squeal when the pedal was all the way down. It could only be heard when the radio was off, and completely disappeared after the first day.

It handled very well, much better than I was expecting. It’s not a BMW 3-series, but for a midsize SUV, it was very nimble. Taking country roads at 80+ MPH, you could swerve repeatedly and didn’t feel like it was going to tip or lose control. That’s good to know, so if you’re in an emergency situation, you know your vehicle will do what you ask of it. With the traction control engaged, it is impossible to squeal the tires. No matter how hard you hit it, you always had full grip on the road. In fact, the only way to squeal the tires was the following: dis-engage the traction control, start from a dead stop headed uphill while cutting the wheels. In an open field and some dirt roads, it handled very well. Braking was good as well. Not too soft or hard.

It easily hit 118 MPH, before I had to brake as the road was curving ahead. Most Fords I’ve pushed this hard will drop out at ~105-110 MPH, but they either set the governor high in the Edge or something was wrong with mine… no complaints either way! In speeds over 100, it drove well and didn’t seem like it was having any trouble.

It sits high enough that it can easily climb curbs without scraping the underside of the vehicle. (We can’t say the same for the LaCrosse from PHL that my brother accidentally tried this in)

Gas Mileage:
200 miles of extremely aggressive mixed driving (highway, in town, country roads) it got 18.2 MPG. That’s very respectable, considering I don’t get that high on any mid-size car when pushed like this. In 200 miles of more “normal” highway & country roads (no hard starts [really only 2 starts period], no speeds over 80, etc) with an average speed of ~65MPH, it only got 22.4 mpg. I find this to be quite appalling, especially with a 6 speed transmission. In a smallish vehicle with a 6 speed, and the only added weight was me (150 lbs) and my briefcase, it should get at least mid 20’s in “soft driving”.

INTERIOR:
Overall, the interior was good. It had good fit & finish and looked nice.
Some positives were:
-Tall (8”?) air vents which cooled the whole interior without freezing your arm/face while trying to cool everything else
-Lots space for drinks (bottle holders in the door…)
-Several large sized bins: map pockets in the door, 2 near the shifter, 1 on the dash with a non-slip insert (great spot for portable GPS), overhead sunglass compartment, and best of all-the huge center console. It had to be 16” deep if you removed both trays
-Rear seat was large enough for 2 adults, and they reclined. The center seat folded down into a nice arm rest with cup holders that opened. In the rear luggage area, there were automatic buttons that tipped the rear seats. It was nice so you don’t have to walk around to the rear doors to manually do it. (it doesn’t automatically lift the seats though). Rear seats also folded flat for a rather large luggage area. With the rear seats up, I’d say you’d have enough room for 3 large suitcases & some small bags.
-Seats in the front were firm, but comfortable. On a 2.5 hr drive, I wasn’t squirming around trying to find the “just right” position like I do on many cars.
-Tilt/Telescoping steering wheel. They all need this feature, but many don’t have the telescoping ability yet.
-Eight airbags: 2 in the dash, 2 “shoulder bags” on the seat, 4 curtain airbags (front & rear seats). Nice to see a vehicle with 8 airbags as standard when the vehicle’s base price isn’t 40K.
-Steering wheel controls (radio/cruise) were ok. I’d prefer they put them on the “spokes” of the wheel, not near the center (like the ’02-’07 TrailBlazer), for easier access. However, nobody does it as good as Jeep with the controls on the back side of the wheel-where you feel it & know where it is, but you never see it.

Some negatives from the interior:
-First, the steering wheel was aligned too far to the right. It felt fine, but to see the left gauges, you had to tilt your head. I’m sure this was not typical, but it makes you question the build quality when they can’t put the steering wheel in straight.
-BIGGEST GRIPE: You cannot fit your hand beside the seat to adjust it while the door is closed. I’m a thin guy and my hands/wrists are small, and they barely fit beside the seat (scraping your knuckles the whole time). With a watch on, it was impossible. They needed to hollow-out the door panel a bit so you can adjust the lumbar/seat position while on long drives. I find this completely thoughtless.
-I dislike the chrome. The dash/console area looked very nice, but the sun reflected off of the chrome areas. I much prefer function over looks.
-Front doors looked rather bland from the inside. They looked like huge pieces of black plastic. It needed something to break it up a bit, either a leather piece or grey to match the center console. Also, the door locks look like they came off a 3 year old’s toy, VERY CHEAP.
-Visibility sucked. The roof pillars were rather large and you had a hard time seeing either blind spot. This was coupled with the large head rests, so seeing the driver’s side blind spot was nearly impossible. The rear is elevated, so you can’t see how close you are to anything when backing up. If this was your daily driver, it’d be fine b/c you’d be used to it but it will take time. You always thought you were close to objects when backing, when you really had plenty of room. The side mirrors were huge, which helped visibility somewhat.

Other points:
-Standard/Bland Ford radio, same as they’ve used in the Taurus for a few years
-The got rid of the “flat” turn signal lever (as in the Freestyle) & used a more conventional, round one. Good choice.
-Thought the speedometer could have been a little larger. It looked cramped & the needle was large, so unless you concentrated on it, you didn’t know if you were going 72 or 77 MPH. My eyes are good, but still… And yes, the speedometer does need to go to 120.
-The shifter should have a “manual mode”, like most other brands have now. I want the option to have it stay in 4th or 5th gear…
-MP3 jack in the console
-Can complete a U-turn on a 3 lane road. Obviously, it’s based on a car frame, not a truck.

Overall:
Fun car to drive that looks good, but the visibility would keep me from owning it as a daily driver. I’d say it would be a good “family car” for those up north that need AWD but don’t need the space/seating of a Suburban. However, it is a car I’ll be asking for again from Avis. I’d have to say it’s better than any non-specialty vehicle in Avis’ current lineup.

Last edited by IAHtraveler; Oct 8, 2007 at 8:32 pm
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Old May 21, 2007, 7:49 pm
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Thanks, added to the Ultimate Avis Car List.
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Old May 29, 2007, 6:58 pm
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I love this car. I got a cool looking orange one from IAD a couple of weeks ago. What's really cool, and something you missed, is that gigantic sun roof, and the nice mini sun roof over the back seat.
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Old May 29, 2007, 7:36 pm
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The two things I wanted... orange with the panoramic sunroof. Mine was the SEL but obviously didn't have all of the options.
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