First Test: Edge ST

[MaX83_ZA]

On 11/1/2018 at 6:23 PM, GT500R said:

Whats a word worse then disappointing?

 

0-60 no better then a sport 3 years ago?!

 

Glad I did not wait for this to come out. Thoughts?

 

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/ford/edge/2019/2019-ford-edge-st-first-test-review/

Not too surprised by the straight line performance although its a laugh that its actually slower (when Ford released their 0-60 as "below 6" and not actually quoting a number, I knew something was up). What gets me is the small margin between the Sport and ST in terms of lateral G's... Going from a well balanced sport chassis to something being labeled with "Focus RS like mid corner pogoing" you'd expect a decent increase in those figures.

On a sidenote; watched a X3 M40i review the other day, what a beast! That thing sounds insane!!!!!!! You must be loving it!?

[Fingernip]

26 minutes ago, MaX83_ZA said:

Not too surprised by the straight line performance although its a laugh that its actually slower (when Ford released their 0-60 as "below 6" and not actually quoting a number, I knew something was up). What gets me is the small margin between the Sport and ST in terms of lateral G's... Going from a well balanced sport chassis to something being labeled with "Focus RS like mid corner pogoing" you'd expect a decent increase in those figures.

On a sidenote; watched a X3 M40i review the other day, what a beast! That thing sounds insane!!!!!!! You must be loving it!?

I think it might be best to wait till testers have production units and revisit this. I'm betting we will see tester numbers ranging as much as 1 full second In 2011 C&D and MT both tested mine and had a huge difference. 7.6 on MT and 6.9 on C&D. As for handling I have yet to see an owner say the ST handles worse than previous models. For a track rated "Sport" Ill happily pay the tiny price increase to have a more reliable car for spirited driving. For me its a giant upgrade from my 2011 though. 

Edited November 6, 2018 by Fingernip

[alblundo]

20 hours ago, Fingernip said:

I think it might be best to wait till testers have production units and revisit this. I'm betting we will see tester numbers ranging as much as 1 full second In 2011 C&D and MT both tested mine and had a huge difference. 7.6 on MT and 6.9 on C&D. As for handling I have yet to see an owner say the ST handles worse than previous models. For a track rated "Sport" Ill happily pay the tiny price increase to have a more reliable car for spirited driving. For me its a giant upgrade from my 2011 though. 

So this morning I was able to take an extensive test drive in a black Edge ST with the 401A and cold weather packages along with the 21inch black rims with all-season tires. No performance brakes. I should mention that I do not own a previous Edge but have owned a number of high performance sports cars. In one word...awesome...for an SUV. I'll begin with the handling. Very tight and flat in the corners, smooth on the highway and handles bumps surprising well. This was one of my main concerns but definite passes the test for everyday driving. Steering is tight and responsive. The interior is very quiet in "D" and not as disruptive as I thought in "S." The real question here is how often and for how long will you be driving is "S"? Now for the powertrain. There is definitely turbo lag at launch which is more noticeable in "S." It's also noticeable when passing but once the turbo spools up it will really pin you to your seat. Transmission seems to quickly change gears and the paddle shifters click off shifts quickly, particularly the down shifts. I know that the transmission shifts has been a concern but I would say more than acceptable. The turbo lag is definitely an issue and hopefully can be cured with a software upgrade. Will be interesting to see the 0-60 times the car magazines measure with production units. Overall really a nice package. Am planning to wait until  spring before ordering mine so that hopefully the turbo issue is resolved.

[Fingernip]

4 minutes ago, alblundo said:

So this morning I was able to take an extensive test drive in a black Edge ST with the 401A and cold weather packages along with the 21inch black rims with all-season tires. No performance brakes. I should mention that I do not own a previous Edge but have owned a number of high performance sports cars. In one word...awesome...for an SUV. I'll begin with the handling. Very tight and flat in the corners, smooth on the highway and handles bumps surprising well. This was one of my main concerns but definite passes the test for everyday driving. Steering is tight and responsive. The interior is very quiet in "D" and not as disruptive as I thought in "S." The real question here is how often and for how long will you be driving is "S"? Now for the powertrain. There is definitely turbo lag at launch which is more noticeable in "S." It's also noticeable when passing but once the turbo spools up it will really pin you to your seat. Transmission seems to quickly change gears and the paddle shifters click off shifts quickly, particularly the down shifts. I know that the transmission shifts has been a concern but I would say more than acceptable. The turbo lag is definitely an issue and hopefully can be cured with a software upgrade. Will be interesting to see the 0-60 times the car magazines measure with production units. Overall really a nice package. Am planning to wait until  spring before ordering mine so that hopefully the turbo issue is resolved.

Did you try power launching it? Using the brake to bring the revs up to converter stall speed at launch?

[akirby]

I'd be surprised if it's really turbo lag - ecoboost engines don't normally have any turbo lag because of the small turbos.  Delays are usually from the Electronic Throttle Control or the Transmission.  The first can be fixed with a tune or something like a JMS PedalMax.   Surprised Ford Performance didn't fix it with their tune though so maybe it's something else.

[alblundo]

39 minutes ago, Fingernip said:

Did you try power launching it? Using the brake to bring the revs up to converter stall speed at launch?

No, I just floored the accelerator from a dead stop to simulate a stop light launch. I expect that the mag reviews will do power launch. That's most likely how MT (?) managed a 5.6 sec 0-60 time on a Sport.

[handfiler]

On 11/4/2018 at 11:33 AM, Chipster said:

Can someone critically compare the B & O system to the 12 speaker Sony system? Please go into some detail. You know... "Play that funky music white boy!"

The Sony/Ford premium audio system I had in a previous ford was awful. I'm sure the B&O system will sound a lot better. How could it not? I'll be sure to comment on this further when I get a chance to road test an ST.

I had an Acura RDX with the decent sounding ELS system and currently have a Sorento with the Infinity Premium audio system (12 speakers and 680 watt 11 channel amp) that I can benchmark it against.

[alblundo]

20 minutes ago, handfiler said:

The Sony/Ford premium audio system I had in a previous ford was awful. I'm sure the B&O system will sound a lot better. How could it not? I'll be sure to comment on this further when I get a chance to road test an ST.

I had an Acura RDX with the decent sounding ELS system and currently have a Sorento with the Infinity Premium audio system (12 speakers and 680 watt 11 channel amp) that I can benchmark it against.

On my test drive this morning I did not spend any time listening to the B&O system. My main concern today was focused on drivability and performance. To properly evaluate a sound system some time must be spent adjusting the audio parameters using a familiar CD (not songs recorded on a USB drive since most mp3 songs are compressed). Will save that for a different day when I can also explore the menu items to see what adjustments can be made.

[handfiler]

4 minutes ago, alblundo said:

On my test drive this morning I did not spend any time listening to the B&O system. My main concern today was focused on drivability and performance. To properly evaluate a sound system some time must be spent adjusting the audio parameters using a familiar CD (not songs recorded on a USB drive since most mp3 songs are compressed). Will save that for a different day when I can also explore the menu items to see what adjustments can be made.

If you need to spend time adjusting parameters to get things to sound good, the system wasn't designed properly in the first place. I use the FLAC format at a sample rate of 192 kHz. I gave up on CD's years ago. Why convert from digital back to analog when you can go digital all the way?

[Chipster]

I was also wondering if this new system (or any) can accurately reproduce music, if at the same time its pumping out fake exhaust noise?

[alblundo]

27 minutes ago, handfiler said:

If you need to spend time adjusting parameters to get things to sound good, the system wasn't designed properly in the first place. I use the FLAC format at a sample rate of 192 kHz. I gave up on CD's years ago. Why convert from digital back to analog when you can go digital all the way?

You make a good point. However if you're trying to do an audio evaluation in a test vehicle I'm certain that many test driver's fingers have been in the audio adjustment tools section so making  parameter adjustments is almost certainly necessary.

[akirby]

31 minutes ago, handfiler said:

Why convert from digital back to analog when you can go digital all the way?

Ummm....CDs are digital.

[alblundo]

4 minutes ago, akirby said:

Ummm....CDs are digital.

I reverse my previous "good point" comment. Yes CD's are digital.

[Perblue]

Also all digital content has to be converted back to analog for the speakers to recreate the sound. 

[alblundo]

14 minutes ago, Chipster said:

I was also wondering if this new system (or any) can accurately reproduce music, if at the same time its pumping out fake exhaust noise?

In my opinion if you are in "S" you are doing some serious driving so the need for music is unnecessary which would defeat to whole point of introducing the enhanced engine sound into the cabin. Just wondering now if "S" cuts out the music altogether to provide the wanted engine sound. Maybe someone can answer that.

[handfiler]

12 minutes ago, akirby said:

Ummm....CDs are digital.

 

6 minutes ago, alblundo said:

I reverse my previous "good point" comment. Yes CD's are digital.

 

2 minutes ago, Perblue said:

Also all digital content has to be converted back to analog for the speakers to recreate the sound. 

Yes CD's are digital and the information stored on them is converted back to analog with a CD player with a DAC of dubious quality.  Why not go digital straight to the head unit?

There's a reason why CD players are on the verge of obsolescence.

[Fingernip]

11 minutes ago, Perblue said:

Also all digital content has to be converted back to analog for the speakers to recreate the sound. 

If memory serves me it is also a digital amp (Class D) with no analog elements. The speakers are digital input for efficiency.. In fact B&O holds patents on a distortion reduction system that emulates analog quality from digital source and signal. 

[blitz118]

Ford is offering the B&O at no charge in the 2019 Edges. I'm pleased with the sound of it. If the stereo is a deal breaker for you, you should look into the Revel audio system in the Lincoln Nautilus, but you will have to pay for it.

[Jimmyw86]

Remember to go under sound options and put the audio from Stereo to Surround. That makes a big difference in sound quality.

[bmwta]

1 hour ago, Jimmyw86 said:

Remember to go under sound options and put the audio from Stereo to Surround. That makes a big difference in sound quality.

Yeah, I like mine on that setting too.

[ben senise]

On 11/7/2018 at 12:21 PM, Fingernip said:

If memory serves me it is also a digital amp (Class D) with no analog elements. The speakers are digital input for efficiency.. In fact B&O holds patents on a distortion reduction system that emulates analog quality from digital source and signal. 

 

if the speakers had a digital input, then they would each need a converter and amp. a so-called digital amp simply has the DAC built in instead of external.

 

an amp cannot amplify a digital signal, you can't make a 0 or 1 "bigger." somewhere between the source file and the amplification, the data needs to be converted to analog. where it gets converted and what tech is converting it will determine its quality but the basics are irrefutable; digital source->conversion to analog->amplification->speakers