piper28

2015 Ford Edge Titanium V6 AWD
Full-sized Crossover (FGAR)
17/25 mpg
AWD
3.5L V6
280 HP
6 speed automatic
10 way power driver and passenger seat with driver's memory
Leather
Heated Seats

Pros
Handles fairly well
Roomy interior
Easy to fold rear seats

Cons
Front seats seemed somewhat uncomfortable to me
Leather has odd texture, feels pretty fake
Gas mileage not great
Rear seats don't fold down flat


Summary: Pretty comfortable cross over, decently equipped, not a bad choice at all



The Ford Edge was redone for the 2015 model year, and was released relatively late in the model year, so they're just now starting to appear in the rental fleet. So far I've seen two of them at DTW, both of which came in the Titanium trim with the only additional option being to add the V6 engine instead of the base 4 cylinder eco-boost engine.

For the most part I thought the ride was fairly comfortable, although I did have a few quibbles with the front seats. First, I never quite managed to get completely comfortable in it, something about the shape just didn't seem to fit me very well, regardless of how I'd adjust it. Once I found the lumbar support adjust, that helped, but still never quite got there. Second, I felt the leather used for the seats felt pretty fake, almost with a vinyl type feeling to it. Over longer drives, that seemed to get more noticeable. Finally, I felt the center console seemed to intrude on the seating more than I've noticed in other cars (maybe because it's relatively high all the way forward?). I keep my keys in my right pocket, and in this particular car I found that I'd frequently end up with the keys uncomfortably squished between my leg and the center console. On the plus side, I'd driven a previous generation Edge once when buying my last car and felt that the shoulder room on that model was fairly tight. This new generation model did not have that problem, and I felt I had ample shoulder room. Head room (without a sunroof) was also very generous.



The interior on this rental was what Ford is calling "Ceramic". Personally, I suspect it's going to be tough for it to stay clean on a rental, and even at 1800 miles, there was evidence of that.





The usual style dash panel that you see on the Titanium models of Ford vehicles these days. They have gone with actual buttons for the controls on the center stack instead of the capacitance-touch controls you see on the Fusion. Personally I think that's an improvement. Also the usual Ford MyTouch system that people either love or hate.



Space in the back with the rear seats folded down is pretty decent. Without them folded down it's ok, but smaller than what I think is available in a Grand Cherokee (which is very similar in size on the exterior). While the seats are very easy to fold down (just the touch of a button), disappointingly they don't fold down flat, leaving a section of the cargo space at an angle. I did spend a day hauling a bunch of stuff in prep for my RC club's upcoming event, and found that at least with the seats down I could fit a reasonable amount of stuff, including some 6 foot fence poles without problems.



I did find gas mileage to be a little on the disappointing side. I guess in hindsight it's probably right where it should be, getting similar numbers that I get in my Grand Cherokee, since it's very similar in size, has similar engine power, and weighs pretty close to the same. Our driving was mixed, but spent a lot of time on highway, and we just ended up with 20.2 mpg. I also felt it could be a little sluggish at times accelerating from highway speeds to pass someone.

I haven't driven too many of the cars in this category, but all in all I'd say this is a pretty solid offering as a rental. For purchasing I'd say that I feel the pricing tends to be somewhat on the high side, and some things that should probably be standard on this trim level are only available as options (like sunroof?). By the time you start adding those in, the cost starts increasing signficantly, and I'd say would be as much as or more than a similarly equipped Grand Cherokee. For me, I'd take the GC over the Edge, but for someone that never goes off-road at all, the Edge would be a fairly solid choice.

xienon

Had an SEL in the same Deep Impact Blue at YYC over the weekend.

I was impressed at how quiet it is compared to the last gen and it felt more nimble, like a tall fusion. I too was similarly disappointed by the gas mileage, half city/half highway yielded only 20 mpg, which isn't any better than the last gen.

I had the V6 model, wonder if the turbo 4 (which is actually cheaper) can do better

dtremit

It *is* a tall Fusion, basically :-)

Just missed one of these by about a minute last week; nice to see they're showing up pretty frequently.

piper28

Don't know that the turbo 4 would really do better. The reality is that it's pretty heavy, coming in right around 4000 pounds. (Although now that I'm comparing curb weights, I'd have to say I'm even more disappointed in the mileage. It's probably barely better than my Grand Cherokee, and the GC is about 800 pounds heavier.)

And yeah, at dtremit says, it really is basically a tall Fusion. This new model's Edge is based off the Fusion platform.

My wife wasn't a real big fan of that blue that we had, although I thought it looked pretty good (and I'm not really one that normally goes for blue in a car). The one we have right now is in their "Guard" green, which looks pretty good too.

xienon

Yeah, they changed it from an old Mazda platform to the Fusion platform.

I actually got a Fusion Titanium AWD a couple of days after returning the Edge. The lower center of gravity and lighter weight of the Fusion is really apparent. Makes me wonder how much lighter a FWD ecoboost Edge would feel.

I think the rear of the new fusion looks great but the front doesn't quite match the back. The front is chunky while the rear is quite curvy.

I liked the blue although it could be a tad lighter. The bronze fire Fusion I had looked great though. Both colors look great in the sun as it changes shade a lot depending on the viewing angle.

KevinMD

Been driving one now for the past week. Have been hauling a lot of stuff in it, and the space was nice, but those rear seats not folding flat were a pain. I was not that impressed as well with it's handling or MPG. The GC looks better, handles better, and is overall a better vehicle. If I were buying a Ford SUV, I'd rather have the Escape Titanium.

tiltingatwindmills

Don't the seats fold flat if you move the front seats forward? I have had that problem with many cars. To fix it simply move the front seats forward, put the rear seats flat, then put the front seats back where you wanted them.

piper28

I don't think it'd make a difference in this case. I don't remember it being an issue with the front seats obstructing the folding. The seats just don't get all the way flat when you fold them forward.

tiltingatwindmills

It sure looks like they will go flat in the picture.

Look at the small picture on page 7 on this Ford Edge brochure, the seats do go flat.
http://www.ford.com/services/assets/...stalCode=65613

iluvdoco

I think that brochure is incorrect.

Driving a '15 Edge right now, and the seats fold at about a 15 degree angle.

piper28

More specifically, the brochure is for the 2014 Edge. I never drove one of those, so couldn't tell you whether it went flat or not, but the 15 definitely didn't. Kinda odd that they'd regress on that though.

Interestingly, I found a review that said the seats folded flat, and then had a picture of the seats clearly not being flat.

dtremit

Just drove one of these -- a short but long rental (PIT->BOS in 24 hours).

I am a big guy, and I didn't find the console intrusive as piper28 did. That's something that's driven me nuts on other recent Ford products, so I was glad that wasn't the case. The leather quality didn't bug me as much in black, either.

I own a '14 Edge Limited, so I noticed a couple of changes both for pro and con:

• The turn signal stalk has returned to a traditional one that locks in place.
• The real buttons on the center stack are a huge improvement and were very welcome. The plastic looks cheap, though, in my opinion -- the previous gen had a nice glossy plastic here.
• The speedometer is a little less attractive, but easier to read.
• There are several additional storage compartments compared with the '14 -- one at the top of the dash and one in the traditional "ashtray" location. The USB ports are located in the latter. This may not matter much for renters, but it's a huge improvement for owners.
• The door trim panels and speaker grilles are modeled after the ones on the Explorer, and while they're an improvement from '14, they feel a little cheaper than the Explorer ones.

Mine had the Ecoboost engine -- which I was a little disappointed with. It got worse fuel economy than the 3.5L V6 in my '14 under similar driving conditions, despite feeling less powerful. This is one case where I'd probably look to avoid the Ecoboost badge.

Overall, though, the Edge continues to be a very good option on the Aisle.

iluvdoco

I think the '15 Edge is a nice improvement over the '14. I observed better fuel economy in the '15 Edge with the 3.5L vs. the 2.0L EB. I wonder if it is due to the 2.0L EB being overworked trying to move the massive Edge?

On the other hand, I averaged 26+mpg in a Jeep GC Limited in highway travel. Maybe the Jeep's additional gears help as well.

piper28

Ford seems to have used those turn signal stalks that didn't lock into place for about 1 or 2 years models. Personally, I hated those. I'm guessing they must have gotten a lot of other people with the same reaction since they've gone back to the normal style.

I wasn't hugely impressed with the v6, so not sure it was really any better than the ecoboost one. Every one of these Edge's that I've found has been a v6 so far.

I've driven a number of them since that first review, and it's definitely grown on me some. I do think it makes a really pretty decent rental. And I don't remember some of the quirks I mentioned being as annoying in later rentals. I don't know that I'd buy one myself, but I definitely would pick it as a rental over a lot of other choices out there.

piper28

Heh, it must be at least partly due to the gearing, because I know I've never hit that myself on my '13, which was the year before they went to the 8 speed in the GC.