WJBertrand

The 18" wheel will be fitted with a lower profile, wider tire. This gives you the same overall diameter so as not to throw the speedometer off. The lower profile tire will put a wider contact patch on the ground and the shorter sidewall will quicken the steering response. All other things being equal you should expect sportier, better handling from the 18 inchers. There are some trade offs though. First, the shorter sidewall will reduce the amount of cushioning the tire can provide and may degrade the ride quality a little. Secondly, the 18" low profile, high performance sized tires may not provide as much tread life as a higher profile all-weather type tire. Lastly, shorter, wider tires can be worse for traction in snowy weather, particularly if they are a ultra high performance type tire.

Question: Is the PTU only present when you have four wheel drive or is it also present in the front wheel drive versions? I ask because the PTU seems to be described as a "transfer case" in many posts here and I'm used to thinking of transfer cases being part of a 4wd system. What does PTU stand for, Power Transmission Unit? Thanks! WJB

Thanks for that information. Sometimes it's the plant location that makes the biggest difference in the car's quality. I was hoping the Edge was built in the same plant as the Fusion but since it's not, I'll just have to observe for a while and see how they do reliability wise. Yes I was a bit taken aback by the other response to my very first post here! I've owned a bunch of Toyotas and one Lexus and they certainly don't suck from a reliability point of reference. Our Sienna in fact has only required a rear window motor replacement and just last week, a new radiator (plastic top tank cracked) at 145,000 miles and 10 years of age. I was amused to see, when I removed it, that the OEM radiator was made by Dephi in the US where the Siennas are manufactured.

Well, I sure hope your tone doesn't reflect what's typical for this forum. I was hoping for intelligent, objective discussion, not emotional outbursts of opinion. Thanks for the platform information. Is the Fusion also built at this plant?

Hi All, I don't own an Edge yet but it is a vehicle I'm considering to replace our aging 1998 Toyota Sienna. I really like the looks of the Edge and I read that it is based on the Fusion platform which has had an excellent reliability rating so far. This gives me hope that the Edge will be similar in reliability performance. Does anyone know if it is built in the same plant as the Fusion? Having been a Toyota fan for a lot of years, and a bit spoiled by their reliability, I worry most about reliability and expensive repairs for the Edge. Long-term durability is important too, but of course the Edge is too new to know much about that yet. I like the idea if buying a domestic badged car but I don't want to end up with a lot of quality/reliability issues. My last foray into domestic cars was a disaster (Plymouth Grand Voyager), but that's a whole other story.