If you’re cornering aggressively, or even just driving around town, that extra foot support is welcome. Also, despite this being a Sport version, there’s no dead pedal (a place to rest your left foot when you’re driving). When you look closer, you realize the texture comes from the word “sport” being printed over and over again. Sport models give you a different center control panel that looks pretty cool from a distance - almost like carbon fiber. The interior is a mix of nice materials and good fit and finish. I do think the Edge might be a challenge for novice drivers, so parents with spawn of driving age should keep that in mind. Is this an end-of-the-world flaw? Nope, and I imagine if you have the car for a long time you get used to where the nose ends. Also, I had a very hard time telling exactly where the front of the car was - and that’s not just me, either all my passengers said the same thing. It takes a while to get used to parking in narrow spots. That steering made it easier to put the Edge exactly where I wanted to.īeing able to confidently place the Edge where you intend to is important, because it’s quite wide and the nose drops sharply away at the front. The Edge Sport’s steering felt just right, and appropriate for the type of vehicle it is. Others feel great on the highway, but are a chore to steer at low speeds. Some cars offer a lot of power-steering boost so they feel good in parking lots, but that makes them feel twitchy on the highway. It was easy to maneuver through parking lots, and at speed it had enough resistance to feel “solid” and inspire confidence. While I was disappointed with the rims and the lack of an engine upgrade, I did like the Edge Sport’s steering. It’s just that if I’m spending more than someone who bought a regular Edge - for one called “Sport” - I want a bit more power. It’s not that the Edge has a bad engine - it was great moving around town and at highway speeds, and it’s mated to a very good six-speed transmission. What’s not easy to reconcile is the engine. Perhaps if I had smooth roads around me this wouldn’t bother me so much, and one can swap out 22-inch wheels for something different, but that would be one less reason to buy the Sport in the first place. It also means that, on a rough road, you have a good chance of damaging the wheel (because there’s not a lot of tire rubber to cushion impacts), and you would likely spend a lot of money replacing a 22-inch rim. It’s large enough that your friends who don’t know anything about cars will laugh and say “Whoa, look at those wheels!” For those who don’t spend their time studying wheel sizes, let me offer this layman’s translation of how big a 22-inch rim is: It’s embarrassingly large. Of course, with 22-inch rims I really had to avoid potholes. Of course, that firmness is designed to provide better handling and I found the Edge Sport did seem to have marginally less body roll and marginally better handling than a standard Edge. I felt fine after long drives on rougher roads, but I was avoiding potholes the whole time. (People who prefer sport seats with a firmer cushion and bolstering that holds you in place will be very disappointed with the Edge Sport’s seats). I suspect that’s as much a result of the very cushy seats as it is the suspension tuning. I didn’t find it to be so harsh I was uncomfortable. What the sport suspension means in the real world is that the Edge Sport rides marginally harder than the regular Edge. In addition, there’s a body kit that includes a different front air dam, side skirts and lower section of the doors. Here’s what makes the Edge an Edge Sport: 22-inch rims, plus performance-tuned shock absorbers, springs and steering components. In the end, the Edge Sport offers better handling than a standard Edge, but costs more and has fewer comfort and convenience features standard. And because that tuning also makes the ride more firm, you’ll want those roads to be smooth ones.Ĭhicago offers a wide variety of roads, including twisty, straight, smooth and rough, so the Edge got quite the workout. Why? If your roads are primarily straight, the Edge Sport’s sport-tuned suspension won’t be as rewarding as it will be if you live in a place with twisty roads. It’s also the most expensive version of the Edge, and whether it’s worth the extra money to you will depend on whether you live in a place with smooth, twisty roads. The Sport version of the 2009 Ford Edge five-seat crossover offers a sport-tuned suspension, larger rims and different body styling, but the same engine as the regular model. To see what’s new for 2010, click here, or check out a side-by-side comparison of the two model years. Little of substance has changed with this year’s model. Editor’s note: This review was written in April 2009 about the 2009 Ford Edge.
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