10/10/2018
Check this out!
As many of y’all know Ford Performance flew Ben Richter and Lou Rivera for a media event to experience the new Ford Edge ST.
Here is one of the reviews done by Lou of his thoughts on the new ST.
When I first came to hear about this project Ford was doing with the Edge ST, I was very disappointed, knowing we would lose the Focus and Fiesta and in return they give us a SUV. I legitimately asked myself "what is Ford thinking?".
The ST badge has a solid history in Europe and now in the US, of a performance oriented vehicle that put's it in another class from the regular segment of the same car.
To be honest I had zero intention of even going to a local dealership and checking out the new Edge ST.
But this all changed on October 4th, when we walked outside to a fleet of these new vehicles. My first impression was "wow that Edge looks really aggressive", I immediately took out my camera and started taking pictures.
The performance blue Edge won my heart before even turning the key, the way it sat with the black wheels and red upgraded brakes just screamed take me. Upon sitting in the car i noticed immediately the ST seats, while they were not Recaro brand, I absolutely loved the style and comfort way over the Recaros I have in my ST at home and others I’ve sat in.
The minor details that included the white cross stitching of the steering wheel that matched the door cards just left me with the upmost desire to try and replicate this in my car.
But of course with every high there was a low, in the automotive industry I've noticed this change towards a dial shifter on the console. At first I thought well it makes sense, since they have lower models of this car and they wont just redesign a whole segment to give us a handle shifter. At that time, I noticed there was a set of paddle shifters so that was exciting to see how it performed compared to the Fusion I have at home as well. Come to find out, they weren't as responsive as I'd like. There was definitely some delay in between shifts that were kind of scary.
Driving Time! We finally were all loaded up and we started to drive to our next destination, at this moment is where I realized this isn't exactly a "normal" Ford Edge. I immediately put it in "sport" mode and started to drive in a enthusiastic manner. I had a slight disbelief that maybe my whole positive reaction so far was just due to the overall experience of driving a vehicle not many have. So I started to look for letdowns and weak points so that I can reassure my initial point. Immediately I noticed the amount of cabin noise that was annoyingly enraged by the sound symposer while in sport mode. The tune in the Edge ST gives you this rev hang before shifting so that you are able to maintain and not lose boost while actively pushing the vehicle.
While the science behind it is neat, I noticed that it became increasingly annoying while driving around town. Keep in mind, zero audio was used at this point because I wanted to hear every squeak, rattle and of course turbo noises. If the sound symposer can be tuned down I wouldn't noticed the rev hang, luckily even right now multiple companies offer a delete for this trinket, but Ford should take it as a sign most enthusiast do not like it, if they are paying to remove a "performance sound enhancing" part.
But all this felt so minuscule when you hit the open road and the Edge just roared through each corner and straight line. This is the kinda vehicle that makes you forget you had a bad day while at the same time you're on the way to run errands.
Racing Time!
As we arrived to the Ford camp, my eyes immediately locked in to the autocross setup. The Edge can definitely handle its own on the street and hurt some feelings if need be, but can it handle it on the track as well. This is where I was sure it would be lacking given that it's an SUV and body roll is such a huge issue on any vehicle at that size. The Autocross setup was very similar to a few others I have seen but this one had a slight twist. They wanted to incorporate and display that not only can you race but you can haul too. So during the last turn you had to pull in to the "pit stop" engage the automatic lift gate, load the boxes (displaying the cargo space) engage the auto lock and finish one more lap.
Besides myself being winded of course this Edge was not, it left me in awe. There was 6 of us at the track using the same Edge over and over again. I surely expected heat soak issues, brake issues, even tires getting flat spots, but this Edge was a monster. We kept doing laps over and over again with hard braking and tight cornering and not once did it show symptoms of slowing down. The cooling system in this Edge puts the other ST variants to shame. I mean the grill alone was designed to increase airflow by 40% and well it showed its effectiveness.
The suspension for being in stock form was quite impressive. It has automatic dampening so that when sport mode is engaged it sets itself up ready to hit the course. I did wish there was settings in which you can do launch control or let you raise the launch rpm's but then I have to remember this isn't a Focus RS this is still a SUV. But it would be cool to have that option maybe in a aftermarket form. As far as traction control , dynamic stability, and other driver assisted settings its just a button away from being disabled so that was pretty cool. This SUV not only looks more aggressive than the hot hatchback ST variants but it also out performs it as well? Surely this will hurt feelings in the community, but I am all about it.
Cruise Time!
So after some rigorous racing we did some leisure cruising through the canyons and mountains. Every tight corner felt great and not once did it feel like it was going to give out. The technology that the new Edge ST has is quite impressive. Between the lane assist, adaptive cruise control it felt like a self driving car which honestly made it great for boring highway drives. Even the built in Alexa made it pretty cool for you to control your Alexa assisted home. The glass panel roof along with the leather seats just screams luxury. This car caters to two different worlds which is very hard to do.
Overall Impression?
I am truly in love with this vehicle, I went in thinking this was a water downed ST badge that's sole intent was to make dad's feel cool again. Boy was I wrong. This is a vehicle in which you can take your family across country, hit up the local race circuit, hurt some feelings and drive back in time to watch some Monday night football. If I could pick the sales slogan for an enthusiast it should be "getting groceries one apex at a time"
So, any questions for Lou? Feel free to comment and if he has an answer he’ll reply!
Ben’s review coming soon!
