sim

We bought some aftermarket door sill protection for the same reason. It fits in with the color scheme of the rest of the car, so looks like it was meant to be there Its just standard generic tape you can buy at any car parts store.

I think it might allow for 1st and 2nd, but i cant say for sure, i havent used it yet and only glanced at it in the manual - maybe someone else could help you with that. Personally i wouldnt push the limits on any towing, even though the hitch and such has a factor of safety engineering into it, i still wouldnt tow much over 3000# even though its rated at 3500#.

We couldnt have coped in those days, just like AC, cell phones and the like!

There is only one skin option at the moment. I dont know if the "old" one can be brought back as an alternative skin, but should be possible for the admins here to enable. When did the format change? I have only been on since Feb and its been the same the last 3 months from what i can tell.

The Class II hitch is fine, even if its just 1.25 in x 1.25 in. You may have to buy a specific tow bar and ball as many for that size arent usable at that weight due to their shape given the rating. The 2400# +/- should be within the 3500# rating assuming your tow bar and ball are reasonable. I was checking out the tow bars the other day as the one i have for a 1.25" hole is only 2000# rated due to its shape. As for the gearing, there is a low setting and an overdrive off button (driver side of the gear shifter handle). I have yet to use these functions, but know they are there when i get around to towing stuff. So far i havent had anything to tow, but that could change in a few months when we rent a uhaul trailer for some stuff - or we might buy a small trailer for home depot trips and such when needed instead. Given the greater range of tow or hitch mountable devices that work with the 2" receiver i would have prefered to have it, but that wouldnt be a class II then it would be a class III/IV which is meant for towing larger stuff than the little trailer you want to use.

Unfortunately you and many others look at those big numbers and think that is the range you will get. The EPA estimates are estimated averages of what you should get in the city or on the highway. Just below those big numbers (say 17 & 24) is a disclaimer suggesting that actual mileage will vary and could be between 12 and 19 mpg in the city and 20 to 29 on the highway - all of which numbers i have seen on the computer when driving, but the overall tank mileage is an average of all of those if you are 100% city or highway. If you mix it up and drive conservatively you are likely to get somewhere between 17 and 24 mpg - i get around 19mpg with mostly city and in the low-mid 20's on a near 100% highway - but its not guaranteed you'll get that, hence the disclaimers.

There were two reasons we bought our Edge at the time we did: 1- previous car was about to crap out after only 5 years since new, we werent sure it was going to make it to the end of the week no matter end of the year! 2- upcoming camping trip. My old Nissan sedan was struggling to hold all the stuff we wanted to take to go camping and an SUV/CUV was on the cards. I would probably stay in the back once in a while, but we had plenty of stuff with us and the dog too, so we loaded up with the tent, cooler, chairs, dog crate and a multitude of other stuff for the weekend. It fit with room to spare in the trunk.

Typically the mileage rockets up to mid-20's the first patch you can do 45-55mph, but then you might hit a light and it drops down a bit while you idle, then it drops a little more when you accelerate away to reach cruising speed - at which point while you are coasting it might rise a bit again, but back again through the cycle the next time you hit a light. If you plot out the data you'll notice it tends towards an equalibrium value for that type of driving, just due to the low miles on the clock when you start that it seems to be high. If you were to leave the gas station in city traffic and then get on the highway it would increase quite a bit again. Over time the influence of one more acceleration and such is not going to make a huge difference over the miles driven and gallons used to calculate the mileage, so the number changes a lot early on, but with more data it changes less as you drive further. I reset my trip odometer and mileage calculator every fill up just to see what the computer says i am getting on each tank and compare that to the hand calculated mileage from the gas fill-up for the miles i have driven. I have found the cruise when you resume a set speed (say you have just past a toll booth and are getting back to speed) it accelerates a lot faster than i would typically do, so i usually dont press the resume until within 5mph of the original set value. Mileage is likely still improving at 1300 miles. I am at 3500 and still improving slowly but surely. Now i get 18.5 mpg for the typically around town commute and shopping etc that is almost identical week in/week out to what i started out with 17mpg 2 months ago. Lastly, the mileage that is quoted for those other vehicles is similar to what we have quoted for the Edge and others are also complaining that they arent reaching those EPA numbers on those cars as well - so dont take the sticker numbers as gospel, all other models have similar problems with mileage that many find with the Edge (although a few of us can beat the EPA numbers).

opps - dupe post

Some people have money (and oil) to burn

On the flat highway without ramming the pedal - yes and maybe a little higher, in the city with plenty of stop/go - probably not, but maybe close.

Personally i didnt care which set of wheels came with my Edge, it just happened to be the one with all the other features we wanted had the chrome clad (the wording clad is in the ordering guide/info somewhere, not chrome). Its publicised that these are clad wheels. Would like to see a photo some time if you have one after its done.

Typically get about 400+ miles on a tank (refilling around 18.5-19 gal) which is 21+mpg on flat roads and not all highway. Given the speed you are talking about though you are likely to get about the same. If you are buying the Edge for economy, it wont get you anything like a sedan and if you are doing this trip all the time, why not get one of those to rack up miles? Do you need an SUV or truck for this trip, the looks or for the rest of the week away from what i can only assume are weekend trips? We wanted the utility and accepted that we werent going to get sedan economy with the Edge. When we want to move large amounts of stuff we use the Edge and get fair mileage and when we just have a couple of people and not much luggage we take the Accord for road trips.

I dont know where the filter is located, but i just thought i would ask a couple of questions/make a couple of statements. Ford has started to suggest that the 3.5L V-6 in this can go 7.5k without needing a change (its in the owners manual as well). I was just wondering if you are doing this early change as something to clear out any loose parts that might have come into the oil during breaking in, or doing it because that is what you have always done with cars, or just because you can? Personally i am taking mine in for the free first oil change in a month or two when i hit 5k miles. I am taking the alternative schedule for dusty, towing, idling etc conditions - which we have plenty of around here! Plan on continuing on that schedule. For the small oil change fee involved i dont mind having the dealer look at it. Personally i dont trust folks who do their own changes, at least when it comes to resale time. I also had a GF with an Isuzu Trooper who bought it off another guy who had done his own oil changes - unfortunately he didnt check much else and the oil pump was about to go out as well as a few other misc items, which likely would have been picked up with a mechanic working on it. Its also nice to have the receipts to back up the change intervals for the history.

Would agree with blazin-edge, there seems to be a peak around 60mph +/- where you can get pretty good mileage and it drops off slowly at first above that and then more rapidly as you go beyond 75mph. Its easy to get 24mpg on the highway on flat ground going a decent pace assuming you dont floor it to overtake, just cruise. In the city again not hauling from light to light you can get 18mpg with some care. These are all with the AWD, the FWD should get a little better.

In the last week or so i have been having a little issue with my transmission. Usually when gently accelerating the transmission slips into 6th at around 43-44mph, however recently its stayed in 5th until about 55mph and then dropped. It will be good in that gear coasting back down to 40mph as it always has done, however when i slow more and go back to 5th or lower i get the same issue. This has only happened in the last few weeks when the weather has warmed up to high-80's/low 90's, so i dont know if its weather related, electrical or something else. Has anyone else had this issue, have any ideas on it and the like. I doubt its doing the car any harm, but when i know it should be shifting and doesnt it is a little annoying. I will see how it goes along for the next month or so before i get the oil changed @ 5k. I saw this on another thread about TSB's. I have no other information about it other than the name: 07-3-11 6F50 TRANSAXLES BUILT PRIOR TO 1/1/2007 - DTC P0715, P0717, P0718, P0720, P0721, P0722 AND/OR HARSH ENGAGEMENT, NO UPSHIFT, FIFTH GEAR ONLY Any ideas or info on this TSB?

I was out on a road trip this weekend and when i went to get one of the dogs out from under the rear axle where she was sleeping i noticed there was rust on the hook like mount of the exhaust pipe directly upstream from the chrome tip. I didnt check the passenger side, but on feeling around (i wasnt getting on my back in the dirt that day) it felt like the rest of the hook was painted and not rusting, but the end was for a few inches (noticible). I am sure i'll get photos at some point and am planning on getting down to check it in the driveway at some point soon. I am wondering if other people are having this issue. Apart from driving on sand in various places i have only done road driving. Its been the dry season here, so generally most of the roads have been dry, certainly no road salts as it never snows here! We live about 40 miles from the coast, so it shouldnt be from that either. I am close to 3k miles and going to show the dealer when we get our first service in a month or two. It doesnt look like its eating away too much yet, but could do over more time. I would assume that the rust warranty covers this type of issue, but would like to have that clarified. This would be the first real problem i have had with the car, although hopefully its easy to fix with a bit of debrading and sealing with paint etc.

Two more fill ups now since the beginning of the month. One was 90% city/10% highway and i got 18.2mpg, this weekend on another road trip, about 50/50 gave 20.8mpg - again hand calc'd, the computer was a little higher number. Should imagine my next fill up will be in a week or so as i have a few miles already on this tank from the end of the road trip and the rest will be commuting etc for the rest of the week.

Not really an issue, and i am not a small guy at 6'3" 260# with a 38-in waist. I do find an issue getting the seatbelt past my cell phone on my belt - however i have that issue on almost every car compact or full size.

The existing all-weather mats could contain (or at least save a good bit) most of a soda - maybe no 20oz though! The rear cargo logic system seems to work pretty well and is the same idea with a lip and hard waterproof plastic on the bottom to contain stuff. I would say it could hold a few gallons (maybe 5-6, if stationary) up to that lip. I have the all weather mats on the charcoal interior. While they do look a bit utilitarian, they seem to work well at what they do and protect the underlying carpet.

Are the PIN's for each employee available from January (4 per calendar year) or June (fiscal year) or some other timeframe? What i am asking is have they employee's run out for this year (at least those who go through blue oval)?

I guess you could see it as a good thing - the theives are seeing this as a good car to steal - either for joyrides or for profit! Seriously, its probably cheaper if it were a thief, small repair vs hunt the electrical problem - but of course that offers you no peace of mind if they try again on your car or even your house. However if they made a mess of cutting out the alarm to get at your Edge, they are also probably not very professional and may not come back. I had my car broken into about 4 years ago in the parking lot of a crappy apartment complex i used to live in when i first moved to this country. My neighbours went to savoury - needless to say i moved out soon afterwards. Hopefully your neighbourhood is a little nicer and these things are sometimes quite random. I felt bad have the alloys and not having the locks on them in case someone tried to jack them.

They made a big thing about changing over to digital FM about 15 years ago in the UK - that is how this info it attached to the FM signal. Now they are calling it HD or whatever, its basically the same thing, just took forever to get on the market. The traffic info also had a code attached which the receiver would pick up and change channel for - its not tough to do, i dont know if there is a market out there, but i know it is useful and something i cant find over here. As for Sirius, i generally tune to about 4 stations, occasionally another 5-10 depending on my mood - my wife also has her own favourites which she has on a set of presets, i use the traffic and a few other stations now and then. What i really enjoy is having music 99% of the time, and talk on when i want it, not just DJ's who jabber on and on and finally play a few tunes every 5-10 mins or so. Due to them playing so much, some how they dont just recycle the same old songs that are in the charts or playlist. If i listen to terrestrial channels all day i can hear multiple repeats of the same songs and day after day - its like there is nothing else out there. The off the wall stuff is occasionally annoying, but it also lets you sample other things you might not know about and they play some songs off of albums rather than just the singles. I also like not having ads all the time. The final feature i like is that i always know where there is a station i enjoy on Sirius, however if i am on a road trip after 100-200 miles i often have to change the station to find something else as the previous selection goes out of range. Its like bringing a jukebox or stash of CD's with you without having to sort/shuffle through them and change them all the time. As for the XM/Sirius thing, i dont know about the XM stations, however if this merger goes through, who knows if they might play everything for a similar price or offer more a la carte service? The debates - well there are plenty of places we could go with that! I generally dont go to the talk channels, but when i want talk i can find it - rather than having it shoved down my throat. My wife says she probably wouldnt get it on car in the future, but i think its great and when my 6-months is up i will renew. I do feel kind of cheated when i take her car to work and cant listen to Sirius, but only the local stations - searching for traffic info, waiting for songs, listening to ads or DJ talk all the time. Oh and back to those topics - teen pregnancy - no, gun control - yes, gun ownership - no, wine with dinner - ok with supervision (has been shown to stop binge drinking and drunk driving with all the other problems that follow), joint - no.

I only have the audiophile system and have the info displayed on regular terrestrial stations, but not the satellite stations (it displays the station name, but that is all - the terr. stations include the song title and artist). Is this something that is only available for the satellite stations with the navigation? The issue i find the worst is that this seems like a relatively recent addition to radio stations, however i bought a Blaupunkt stereo in the UK in 94 that had this technology - called EON, IIRC. There was also a nice system that allowed you to pick up local traffic info whenever it was released from any local station, that was called RDS, IIRC - now i use the satellite station for my area with traffic info, but missed not having that instant access from all the local stations before buying my Edge. These technologies were fairly recent in 94, but not new that year either.

HID - High Intensity Discharge They are brighter partly because for the same power they produce a more blended light across the full light spectrum rather than just a yellow light like most headlights. They do look nicer and i can tell you they use less power for the same brightness - therefore for the same power they would be brighter. The beams can be focused quite narrow or on flood and that can make a big difference. For full vision flood would be good, but for distance narrow would be better. I dont have HID's on my Edge, however i do have one in my cave diving rig which is great for seeing the entire cave and a good distance too - the beam on that is focused on 6-degrees which might be a bit too tight for car uses! As for people flashing, that would be due to the angle of the lights rather than the brightness - if you lights are dipped down towards the road they should be fine, however if they are pointed out like full beam lights then they will blind people.