Thank God the surprises end there! The rest is familiar to Edge fans, including the very potent, 3.5-litre V6 under the hood, which sends 265 horsepower to all four corners through a six-speed automatic transmission. This powertrain allows sustained accelerations and passing manoeuvers, but with official fuel consumption figures that are at least 10-15 percent higher than those of the Venza and Murano (both powered by 3.5L engines). Even worse: during a comparative match held by Auto123.com writers, real-world consumption amounted to a whopping 15.4 L/100 km!

Spacious and practical interior
The cabin of the Ford Edge is roomy and very accommodating, regardless if you're sitting up front or in the back. The low height of the rear bench seat has me thinking that Ford designed it primarily for children. As for the front buckets, they're large but with little side support. They poorly hold the body in corners.

The modular trunk of the Ford Edge is spacious and easy to configure.

At the other end, the hatch rises high and reveals a large opening and a relatively-low cargo floor. As you open it, you can feel a notable resistance due to the automatic lift system (optional). What's more, the interior driver-side handle designed to lift the hatch looks like a last-minute addition. In terms of fit and finish, Ford has done much better work in the past. That said, the cargo area is spacious and easy to organize. Total capacity is rated at 1,971 litres, which compares favorably to the Venza and Equinox.

Unlike miniature toy cars, this life-size Hot Wheels is by no means cheap. At $40,699, the Edge Sport is barely priced under the Lincoln MKX, its platform cousin. Add a couple of options and things get ugly.

In fact, with the Sport Premium Package ($900), Ambient Lighting Package ($300), back-up radar system ($400), panoramic Vista sunroof ($1,850) and GPS-based navigation ($2,300), my tester was worth $47,349. Of course, you must add freight and delivery charges ($1,350) along with winter tires and rims in Quebec. The MKX now sounds like a good deal in comparison... except that it doesn't ride on a set of 22s!



Photo Credit : Matthieu Lambert