The Ford Edge 2019 gets better tech and minor facelift
Ford sells a lot of Edge SUVs. It unloaded 142,603 in 2017 alone. The
reason is that it's a solid sport utility vehicle with ample storage
space. It's a big vehicle so it's not particularly fast or agile, but it
gets the job done. With the 2019 refresh (starting at $29,995), the
automaker sticks with what works while creating a slightly more
aggressive-looking vehicle and updating its driver-assistance features.
Summary
The 2019 Edge is a huge safety and tech upgrade even if the rest of the
car only experienced a minor refresh. It’s not flashy and won’t impress
your performance-minded friends, but it will do exactly what you require
from a mid-size SUV.
At the center of that new technology is Co-Pilot360. The Edge is the
first Ford vehicle with the updated driver-assistance suite. Like other
automakers, Ford has decided to drop its newest tech in an SUV because
people buy a lot of SUVs. The result is a safer vehicle with some of the
more important features available as standard equipment.
The biggest update to the semi-autonomous features is the lane-keep
assist. Ford's previous system was reactionary instead of proactive. The
vehicle would realize it was close to a lane and nudge itself back
toward the center of the lane. It worked, but riders suffered from a bit
of a ping-pong effect. On Co-Pilot360, the vehicle does its best to
track itself into the center of the lane.
During my drives on the highways of Utah, I still noticed a bit of
bouncing back and forth between lane edges, but it's far less than
before. Even with these tiny ricochets, it's a superb evolution of the
feature for the automaker.
In addition to doing a better job keeping you in your lane, Ford updated
its adaptive cruise control to work better in gridlock. Co-Pilot360
will track and follow the vehicle ahead of the Edge even in stop-and-go
traffic. So if a car in front of the SUV comes to a complete stop and
then starts up again (within three seconds), the Edge will continue to
follow it. After three seconds, the driver just needs to tap the
"resume" button on the steering wheel. For commuters, this is great news
and during my tests, it worked as expected.
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While these updates are great, it's impressive that the features you
hope never to use, like post-collision braking and auto-emergency
braking are now standard. Ford even demoed the auto-emergency braking
with an inflatable car (you know in case things go horribly wrong and
the system fails to brake). I drove the Edge at the balloon vehicle,
took my foot off the gas and brake and the SUV stopped within one foot
of the faux car. It works, and it's standard.
Behind the wheel (when not driving the vehicle into giant balloon cars),
the Edge delivers what you would expect from a mid-size SUV. The
2.0-liter 250-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and eight-speed
transmission give the SUV enough oomph for 90 percent of the freeway and
city driving the car will encounter. But if you want to gun it from a
dead stop, be prepared to wait a few beats before the Edge lurches
forward. It's not meant to be a drag racer, but it takes a bit to get
used too especially when trying to pull out onto a busy street.
The vehicle has all-wheel drive, but for efficiency's sake, most of the
time the SUV is pulled along by the front two tires. The all-wheel-drive
system jumps into action automatically during hard acceleration, when
wheels slip or even when towing (up to 3,500 pounds).
The steering, like the powertrain, is on point for the mid-size SUV. No
more, no less. It handled itself admirably on free curves and around
city intersections. Body roll started to rear its head while hitting
sharper mountain corners. Again, the average Edge driver wouldn't push
the car like this. Instead, they want room for five and storage
capacity, which the SUV is more than able to handle.
The interior isn't exciting, but it is comfortable and all the features
are laid out in a fashion that should make a driver at home within a few
minutes behind the wheel. The storage area is huge for a vehicle this
size. Ford has wisely forgone the trend of aggressive tapering off the
back of their SUVs, therefore, eating into crucial trunk space. There's
still a bit of an angle there, but unless you're buying all your things
from Costco, you should be fine filling up the SUV with your stuff.
The Sync 3 infotainment system is still a first-rate way to interact
with navigation, media, etc, even if it's not the prettiest system on
the market. It's function over form, and that's fine. It's better than
being confused trying to figure out how to get directions to the mall.
If you'd rather interact with your smartphone, it supports CarPlay and
Android Auto.
Ford played it safe with the new Edge. The design changes are small, it
drives like you would expect an Edge to drive, and you can still put a
week's worth of groceries for your family of four in the storage area.
The Edge sells well; why mess with a good thing?
Burt more importantly, Ford is looking at safety. The Co-Pilot360 system
is a great upgrade to the automaker's driver-assistance suite. The
standard features like emergency stopping and braking after an accident
make the Edge a more compelling offering. It even has a rear-camera
washer standard, so even when you back up, you have a clearer view.
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