Rode in a Ford Edge the other day.

[kraky]

I was fairly impressed. ON the pluses it seemed possibly even wider than my Pilot. There seemed to be just a tad more seat room, leg room etc.
There seemed to be more room in the backseat too. (There isn't a 3rd seat so I guess they were able to stretch things a bit.)
The ride might be slightly better than my 2007 Pilot and the road noise just slightly more insulated. With the 6 speed tranny it is geared higher and that might be where they get another 2mpg epa than my pilot. Windnoise at cruising speed is dead silent but so is my Pilot.

On the negative side there isn't nearly the room in the backend that my Pilot has. I'm an avid golfer and I don't think I could put a set of clubs back there with the cart attached without putting down a seat....I can easily put in 4 sets in my Pilot. The windows on the Edge are short and the windsheild is too so you don't get nearly the view as the Pilot. YOu feel like you are a long ways away from the dash and windsheild on the Edge. I don't think I'd like driving the Edge in heavy traffic with the poorer visibility.
There was alot more "Plastic" to the intereior on the Edge.....it just didn't have the refinement as the Pilot. Knobs seemed cheaper too. The radio was pretty "tinny" sounding.

The sticker on the Edge we drove was about $31,500 with awd. Overall I was more impressed than I thought Id' be. But knowing how good the resale value will be on my Pilot and that it has a really good track record for repairs I wouldn't swap it for the Edge at all. It will be interesting to see how the resale holds up on the Edge but I don't see many of them on the road yet so I'm guessing it's not going to be good.

Anyhow that was my impressions after a 10 minute ride.

[tfrain]

I think it looks pretty cool on the outside, by in my opinion they really screwed the pooch by not putting in the 3rd row. They should have made it a little larger like the acadia if they really wanted to be in the same class as Pilot (but perhaps they didn't!).

Re: the cheap feel of the knobs. I have always hated the Ford dashboards. I don't even like the font on the switches and knobs for some reason and I just feel at any moment that the knobs are just gonna fall off.

[BlueRiverPilot]

I think that if you like the Ford Edge, that you should also look at the Mazda CX-9. Apparently they share a lot of components, with the CX-9 being a little larger and a higher level of fit and finish. However, what concerned me so much when I was considering this new vehicle against the Pilot was the much higher sticker price as well as long term quality of the Mazda/Ford vs. the Honda. In addition, both the Mazda and the Ford are in their first year of production which could mean many more problems than the 5 year Pilot.

[tfrain]

Yeah, I'd never buy a first year model vehicle.

[whizmo]

Good review, although I find it hard to believe that there is a worse factory stereo than the Pilot's.

- Mark

[2ndhonda]

My pilot is still getting the hood repainted (defect from factory.) After putting 2k miles on a jeep commander and getting 16mpg on the highway, i traded it in for another rental. I asked them if i could get the ford Edge. WHAT A BLAST TO DRIVE. This is the best ford I have driven since my 99 F150 Lightning. Very responsive handleing/ and Very Very fast feeling. The auto transmission is the best I've had in a ford in a long time. Has a cheesy feeling telescoping steering wheel, but it does telescope.
FYI we had over 2inches of rain here in dever yesterday. A 90 degree left turn with the peddle pegged, i could not get it to come loose. It is an AWD. I went to pick up the Mrs. at the bus station yesterday. there is a dirt parking lot that usually becomes hazardous to any car once it rains just a bit. Well, with 2+ inches of rain, i decided to see what the rental had in it. It performed flawlessly. The AWD on the edge seemed more intuitive than that of the pilot.

Would I trade in the pilot? NO, but has been a good couple of days in the best ford i've been in, in a long time.

FYI, Ford still uses plastic, and cheap materials on the inside, but the driver experience is much more involved than any mid size SUV i've driven in a long time. Probly because it is based on the Fusion chassis, the lower center of gravity helps.

Cheers

[tfrain]

Originally posted by 2ndhonda
My pilot is still getting the hood repainted (defect from factory.) After putting 2k miles on a jeep commander and getting 16mpg on the highway, i traded it in for another rental. I asked them if i could get the ford Edge. WHAT A BLAST TO DRIVE. This is the best ford I have driven since my 99 F150 Lightning. Very responsive handleing/ and Very Very fast feeling. The auto transmission is the best I've had in a ford in a long time. Has a cheesy feeling telescoping steering wheel, but it does telescope.
FYI we had over 2inches of rain here in dever yesterday. A 90 degree left turn with the peddle pegged, i could not get it to come loose. It is an AWD. I went to pick up the Mrs. at the bus station yesterday. there is a dirt parking lot that usually becomes hazardous to any car once it rains just a bit. Well, with 2+ inches of rain, i decided to see what the rental had in it. It performed flawlessly. The AWD on the edge seemed more intuitive than that of the pilot.

Would I trade in the pilot? NO, but has been a good couple of days in the best ford i've been in, in a long time.

FYI, Ford still uses plastic, and cheap materials on the inside, but the driver experience is much more involved than any mid size SUV i've driven in a long time. Probly because it is based on the Fusion chassis, the lower center of gravity helps.

Cheers

Hey Tim,

Thanks for the comments. That is the thing I HATE about fords the most, and the reason I wouldn't buy one. The interiors. The buttons/switches suck, the plastics look cheapy, I even hate the big old "FORD" on the steering wheel. The edge is a cool looking car, and if their reliability as a whole were ever to improve AND they hired some new people to design their interiors maybe I'd think about it.

with that said, check out the Ford Flex. Again, I like it - think it is cool, but it is still a ford.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/flex/?searchid=442235|15926088|96452575

[TheEaglePilot]

Originally posted by whizmo
Good review, although I find it hard to believe that there is a worse factory stereo than the Pilot's.

- Mark

You should hear the one in the new Altima I'me driving this week... horrible, unlistenable! I assume the upper-level models get a better one.

It does have an AUX in on the front face, though!

Chris