Car of the week: Ford Edge Sport

Sport360 staff 09:56 22/09/2016
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  • What do Ford and the band U2 have in common? Answer – The Edge. One is obviously a legendary guitarist (if you have never heard of him you should be ashamed) and the other, well, it sort of rocks in its own way as one of the most popular crossovers on the UAE roads.

    Anyway, moving swiftly on, Ford introduced the Edge in 2006 as a vehicle that offered pretty good looks, practicality and efficiency and it soon took off as a segment leader. Ten years on and it is time to freshen things up a bit and the result is pretty impressive.

    The all-new Ford Edge has been redesigned from the wheels up with the intention of making it look more sophisticated, aggressive and sporty with a fresh athletic appearance. Ford have also brought it up to speed with better technology, two excellent new engines and have succeeded in making it even more desirable. At first glance I actually thought they had made it smaller but it is clearly an optical illusion as apparently it is slightly larger than its predecessor.

    There is a choice of three engines with the new Edge, two of which are new – a standard 2.0-litre EcoBoost, four cylinder, or the far more appealing 2.7-litre EcoBoost V6 which powered the Edge Sport which I drove. A normally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 will also be offered.20160917_125810 (Read-Only)2

    Apart from the Sport the models available are the SE, SEL and Titanium. I was immediately impressed with the way the Edge Sport looks, particularly in the UAE launch colour of Electric Spice – it turns heads without being OTT.

    It sets off the lovely 21-inch wheels (they are optional but are a must-have) and the new black grille which is exclusive to this model to give it a bit more attitude which it successfully does.

    The sculptured bonnet with two raised power lines add to its muscular feel, and the stylish headlight clusters and front spoiler all contribute to great aesthetics. I also like the thin brake light strip that goes across the back and links the two tail-lights and the integrated exhaust pipes in the rear facia.

    Our test drive car also had a panoramic sunroof which covers the entire front to back, making it the biggest in its class.20160917_130010_resized (Read-Only)

    The interior is pretty basic but nicely designed and extremely spacious with plenty of storage. I was a little disappointed to find some cheap hard plastic here, particularly the casing around the infotainment screen, which is a shame because the rest of the cabin is pretty good with fabulous ventilated leather seats, featuring perforated suede inlays, classy carbon fibre look trims, and more than acceptable soft materials.

    The layout is pretty straight forward with no attempt to bamboozle with extravagance and a plethora of confusing buttons so it’s kind of refreshing to have a cabin that is simple and practical. The instrument cluster is again straightforward but effective and can be adapted to show the information you need and although the infotainment screen is a little small at eight inches it is probably big enough.

    The Edge infotainment system features MyFord Touch and the latest version of voice-activated Sync and the connectivity is very good.

    The power, as I say, comes from an excellent 2.7 litre twin-turbo Eco- Boost V6 which packs 335bhp and 542nm of torque. It puts the power down to all four wheels via a sixspeed SelectShift automatic gearbox with two drive modes – Drive and Sport, and the resulting responsiveness is very impressive, making this the highest performing Edge ever built. Basically, this new engine is pumping out the power of a midrange V8 with far more efficiency.

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    In Sport mode the engine makes a lovely noise, albeit artificially enhanced, and it will get you from a standing start to 100kmh in half decent six seconds approx.

    The Sport handles extremely well for a vehicle that weighs around two tons. It has front and rear antiroll bars that are 15 per cent stiffer than the base model, larger dampers and stiffer springs which all add up to more agility and controllability whilst retaining a high standard of comfort.

    It is packed with the latest driver assist technology including front cameras, park assist, adaptive steering and a system which if you wander out of your lane you feel a tug on the steering wheel to get you back into line. The car doesn’t exactly steer itself but it is effective, if sometimes a little annoying if you try to change lanes without indicating. There is also something called Curve Control which detects if you are going into a corner too fast and automatically slows the vehicle down to correct your approach.

    There are lots of things in this car which really impressed me but generally it looks great, is comfortable, safe, spacious, a pleasure drive and at a reasonable starting price of Dh190,000 it certainly won’t tip you over the Edge financially. I loved it.

    ooo

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