I had the opportunity to crawl all over a 2013 Edge yesterday, and put it side by side with mine.
Here is immediately what I looked for (and noticed) differences in:
First, the single exhaust on the 2013 (presumably 2011-2014) is 2.5" in diameter, versus my 2010 that has a 2.25" single exhaust into the dual mufflers.
Second, the air intake is approximately 50% larger on the 2013 (again, presumably 2011-2014) than it is on my 2010.
These are super simple changes( and invisible--especially if you are good with a Dremel cut off wheel or a die grinder, to open the grill up a bit), and even without the variable valve timing changes, probably accounts for 75% of the increased HP improvement at higher RPMs.
I suspect that for $200-300.00, and a few hours at a boneyard, one could up-rate the 2007-2010 Edge to at least 275HP with an exhaust change, and an air box change--with a K&N (or similar, high flow) filter.
Easy peasy...
I wanted to post pseudo-scientific differences between the two generations, so those of us looking for a little more with a first generation Edge can find it easily.
Since we are now aware that the Exhaust timing was made variable on the 2011-up models, we will not be able to change this without new componentry, a new harness, a flash, or all of the aforementioned, but frankly, I believe this to be minor, whereas the physical components are clearly different, and should be addressed first.
Regards all-