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New car reviews » 2011 Ford Edge Limited

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Better than: Bronco II
But not as good as: Edge Sport
GRM Bang For The Buck Index: 69.63  

At one time, most car companies only had a single SUV-type offering in their lineup. Today there are multiple itches to scratch, hence a wide range of choices. Ford’s lineup includes several SUV-type vehicles, including the Edge.

The Edge has been with us since the 2006 model year and received a face-lift for 2011. The vehicle received a new nose plus some engine options. Our front-wheel-drive Limited model got the 3.5-liter Twin independent Variable Cam Timing (TiVCT) V6 engine that makes 285 horsepower along with 253 lb.-ft. of torque. The Sport model gets a 3.7-liter version of that engine—output bumps to 305 horsepower and 280 lb.-ft. of torque.

Aside from the Limited package, our car didn’t have too many options: $395 for a blind spot monitoring system and $795 for the voice-activated navigation.

Hopefully we’ll cross paths with the Sport one day soon.

Other staff views:

Scott Lear Production Editor:

I had some friends in town when the Edge was in our lot, and it proved to be an excellent conveyance for four people going various places over a weekend. It’s attractive in Tuxedo Black, and the interior was a good mix of attractive and interesting: Ford’s interiors are really contending well in the market these days. The wheel has more buttons than an F1 car, and they control all kinds of nifty displays and functions on the dash. There’s room for improvement in functionality, but they’re on the right track. The four-quadrant touchscreen control is a nice way to handle major functions at a glance. It’s not yet perfect, and it is at times confusing, but it sounds like Ford dealers are doing their best to train buyers in the use of the system.

Our biggest confusion/complaint was the MyFord Touch and SYNC implementation. In order for it to do anything useful, it needs to connect to your cellphone via Bluetooth. Then it uses your cellphone’s data plan to handle all its information gathering, but only after you activate your phone through Ford’s given website after the pairing. I’m sure it opens up all kinds of neat functions, but as we only had it for a few days, we’ll never know.

The biggest bummer? The nav system was unavailable without a paired cellphone. That’s a pretty key failure in a car that has a big honking computer and a massive touchscreen at the ready. About the only useful thing we could do was change the interior accent lighting color. The non-mechanical buttons for the stereo and climate controls are also a bit weird, though, and we turned on the hazard lights several times completely by accident—if you rest your hand against the dash while pressing buttons, a mere brush against the ultra-sensitive panel will flip the switch.

Still, I came away with a positive impression among a few nitpicks. I guess it drove well enough too, but the Edge isn’t about the driving experience, it’s about the gizmos and the style.

Reader comments:

1. johnhammer: — Feb 10, 2011 11:20 a.m.
   

   We picked up a slightly used ‘08 Edge in that funky copper/orange color for Mrs Hammer about 7 months ago. Great car & jammed with cool toys. This new version adds even better looks. I’m curious about the Sport version as well.

2. David S. Wallens: — Feb 10, 2011 7:51 p.m.
   

   The Sport does sound cool. I was away when this one visited, so I can’t give any feedback. :(

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