1750 miles, one month of ownership, impressions and wish-list. Drove two VW Touaregs for six years…comparison notes. Addendum to original post April 23, 2011.
1. Combined MPG 18.7 on regular fuel! Not bad for a 5500lbs vehicle.
2. The Edge passed the I 696 curve test magnificently at a nice 85mph. Good low center of gravity without feeling like the top was going to tip. Acceleration onto freeway can use more engine and less transmission. Otherwise acceleration is very good.
3. Good Turning radius, comparable to Touareg.
4. Drove through torrential rains today on freeway (60mph), EDGE drove like a train on rails, very stable and sure footed.
5. Seats were very comfortable even after 5 hours of driving to northern Michigan. I would like to have a sport seat option like BMW though. No rattles, but there is a whistle at 70+ mph in high cross winds. I also noticed the whistle at 30mph in the DTW tunnels, temp was about 40F. Whistle stopped when exited the tunnel. Here is a no cost test location for Ford noise engineering.
6. I thought I would become accustomed to the wood grain contact paper on the IP. It still looks cheap. Ford, please go to the real wood laminate here like the Euro vehicles.
7. I really miss the “auto” up and down on the passenger side window I have on my Touareg. Also, “auto” open and close for the panoramic roof should be added. Or a pre-selected open and close positions for the roof as in the Touareg. Also, I would like to see a digital clock read-out near the roof controls.
8. 12 volt power outlets should turn off when vehicle is turned off. Accessories like phone, USB memory stick, and radar detector can easily remain on all night.
9. Adaptive headlamps are a must on an SUV and X-overs, I really miss these from the VW.
10. Ford, please bring the windshield arms into the 21st century. They look much too antiquated. More aerodynamic. See the Euro vehicles or even GM vehicles.
11. I love the BLIS system. Blind spots are greatly improved from previous model and other X-overs.
12. Love the adaptive cruise control. Use it as much as possible.
13. Right side nav read-out on the dash is great. Ford could move the street speed logo over to the left of the screen a bit more.
14. I would like to have a gas cap locking lever, make me feel more secure.
15. Tire pressure really needs to be numeric on all five tires, not a single low pressure light. Not very convenient to measure and determine which tire has low pressure.
16. A heads-up display would be awesome with some of the left and right dash indicator features displayed. I would pay for the option. Refer to BMW.
17. Nice storage behind the center stack. This one surprised me. Good for hiding phones, radar detectors and other small electronics on short parking trips.
18. Could use an additional 12 volt outlet in front near or on center stack.
19. Night driving, HID lights are good.
20. Sony sound system is OK, nothing spectacular. I would rate it 6 out of a possible 10.
21. Has anyone noticed how much affinity bugs have to the chrome front grill of the EDGE? Huge chrome surface area. I have found that pre-soaking the dead bugs with soap (Ivory dish soap) and water, then rinse works well as the first step. This is followed by a chrome polish treatment. 1 Grand Chrome Polish works best. Do not waste money on the “bug and tar” removers they do not work as well.
22. It would be nice if the ECO-Boost engine and sport suspension were available on the limited edition. That way I’d have my trailer tow package and the best of the sport package.
23. Daylight running lights would be a great addition.
24. Rear washer, fluid leaves white stain on rear window. Problem is the tubing. Methanol in washer fluid extracts component from tubing. If the flexible tubing is nylon 6, caprolactam is being extracted. Capro will not affect the window but will affect paint and some plastic. White drip stains look horrible on window too. Solution, change the tubing to a material without extractable content.
25. SYNC/MyFordTouch
a. Great concept, display architecture, and design. That being said…
b. The system became unstable after about the first week.
c. System crashes, re-boots, and freezes much too often. Gets confused on verbal commands (like “USB, artist AC/DC”, SYNC/Touch will go to climate control) go figure. Phones disconnect at random (both Samsung and DROID phones). According to dealer there are no updates available.
d. Too many misspelled words like “bluetooh” and other words.
e. For what the system needs to do, the processor is too slow and even two generations behind what is needed to perform well.
f. Software is typical Microsoft, blue screen of death, freezes, re-boots and updates for no reason, too slow on commands. This is a big problem especially with navigation. I use my DROID navigation app. as back-up as a matter of insurance.
g. Bottom line, SYNC/Touch system functions like the old 8086 computers with a DOS operating system. Maybe Ford should have meetings to discuss the SYNC/Touch problems with Apple or Google, and Intel.
h. Finally, I learned from the dealer, the <alt><control><delete> reset is simply a battery cable disconnect. May be useful to others when system freezes.
Bottom line: great ride and handling. Bad SYNC/Touch.
Dr Kay
