Ford Edge (2016-2019) Review

If you need a large SUV but only five seats, and want to stand out from the crowd, the Ford Edge aims to give you the premium features of pricier rivals from Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, and Volvo at a (slightly) lower price point. 

The four-wheel drive version has healthy outputs of 238PS and 500Nm. Combine that with its porky kerb weight and the Ford makes an excellent tow-car, but it's not as fast or sporty as those figures might suggest. 

This is a comfortable, spacious cruiser, with decent refinement that will take long journeys in its stride, and its interior - while lacking the wow factor of premium competition - it has every possible gadget you might want.

It also scores highly for its impressive rear passenger space and enormous boot. Still, most SUVs in this price range (and plenty below) also offer the option of seven seats, giving family buyers greater flexibility. 

Many of its rivals are also available with petrol-electric hybrid powertrains to help save fuel and cut their CO2 emissions, but the Ford Edge makes do with diesel power alone, something that's likely to put some buyers off.

The Ford Edge faces tough competition from every corner of the SUV market. If you have a little more to spend the excellent Audi Q5 and BMW X3 feel much nicer inside, and have refined road manners to match.

If you want the versatility of seven seats, the Land Rover Discovery Sport is priced close to the Titanium trim, competes well in the spec count, and has a more upmarket image - plus an even bigger boot capacity.

Seven-seat buyers with less to spend are well served by the Peugeot 5008 or Skoda Kodiaq, which both come with a wider variety of engines, and will cost less to run and insure than the bigger, heavier Ford Edge.

Company car buyers who want a reliable, efficient five-seat SUV with a long warranty and low CO2 output should go for the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. It's quieter around town, and emits 129g/km, but can't tow as much.

For a model that is meant to be taking on cars with some seriously prestigious badges the Ford Edge feels dated.

There is stitched leather in the door panels and covering the dash, but the design is workmanlike. There's a lot of hard plastic in the centre console, cheap looking silver trim inserts, and small easy-to-miss buttons.

Things you'll touch often like the steering wheel and gear selector feel ok (without being the special items you might want at this price) but flimsy air vents and heat controls are an instant reminder you're in a Ford.

It has the lavish equipment of its upmarket competitors, but just can't compete on interior style or execution.

That might sound harsh, but when cheaper rivals like the Mazda CX-5 and Peugeot 5008 look smarter and manage to feel more special - let alone the premium competition - we think it's only right to demand better.

Flagship Vignale versions give a superficial nod in the direction of luxury, with softer leather trim, quilted seats with extra padding, and illuminated door sills, plus more cow hide around the instrument binnacle. It's not enough to disguise the cheaper materials lower down in the cabin though, and we wouldn't bother with it.

Every Ford Edge comes with an 8.0-inch colour touchscreen in the centre of the dash. Pre-facelift models get the 'SYNC 2' version of Ford's infotainment software, but later cars have the significantly smarter SYNC 3.

That's backed up by a 12.3-inch set of digital instruments, controlled using the numerous identical-looking steering wheel buttons. It has too many menus though, and is not as easy to read as Audi's Virtual Cockpit.

It's hard to fault the number of features, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring, sat-nav, DAB radio, Bluetooth, voice control, and a reversing camera all standard, but it's not as advanced as rivals.

The main issue is the touchscreen itself. You can pinch and zoom, but the response to your attempts to prod the small on-screen icons is hit-and-miss. Sometimes it works first time, others you'll need three or four goes. 

In fact, since the layout is clunky and the sat-nav confusing, we'd ditch the Ford system altogether and just use your phone for navigation, calls and media playback. The interface is more intuitive and instantly familiar.

ST-Line and Vignale versions feature a premium B&O stereo with punchy sound from its 12-speaker setup, but the touchscreen interface is the same, and is just not as modern or slick as Audi's MMI or BMW's iDrive.

The Ford Edge is almost as big as a Range Rover, and its hulking dimensions translate to a lot of interior space. It only has five-seats, but the decision not to squeeze in a third row means it's absolutely palatial in the back. 

It's so wide that you can fit three abreast without anyone feeling uncomfortable - something that's rare even for an SUV - because the seats are really wide, and there is only a small hump in the footwell to negotiate.

The rear seats recline to help increase passenger comfort on longer trips, and you can fit two child seats in the outer spots and save room for an adult in the middle - a godsend if you have a fussy toddler on board.

One word of warning though. Some models have inflatable rear seat belts to better protect kids in the event of a crash by spreading the impact load over a larger area. Unfortunately, these belts don't reel like a normal seatbelt, and aren't compatible with some child seats, so be sure to test them carefully before you buy one.

The boot - like most other things about the Ford Edge - is huge, and it has some clever functionality built-in. It opens up electrically, either with a press on the key fob or by waving your foot under a sensor in the bumper.

Inside, the 602-litre loading bay is wide and square, there's virtually no load lip, and useful lashing points to stop awkward items rolling about. Under the floor there are two extra hidden storage boxes, and switches for dropping the rear seat backs (handy when you're carrying something heavy) to open up a 1,788-litre space.

That sounds impressive, and in practice it's more than enough for most family clobber, but it's worth pointing out that seven-seat rivals the Skoda Kodiaq, Discovery Sport or Peugeot 5008 can all carry a fair bit more.

They also give you the flexibility of being able to carry more passengers and not just luggage in a pinch. The third row is usually pretty cramped, but it's nice to have the option; especially if you have a larger family.

One thing Ford doesn't provide much of with the Ford Edge is choice. Most rival SUVS offer at least one petrol alternative, and in many cases greener alternatives like hybrid, mild-hybrid or plug-in hybrid tech to save fuel.

In this car, you effectively get the same 2.0-litre diesel from the Mondeo and that's it. It comes in two different outputs- front- or four-wheel drive, but both feature a conventional eight-speed automatic 'box.

It's a good fit with the more powerful 238PS engine, and far superior to the six-speed auto in the pre-facelift car, but not the sharpest transmission. There's a delay of several seconds between you pushing the throttle and the car reacting, so you need to learn to anticipate its dim-witted reactions when pulling out of junctions.

It has a decent low-down grunt - great for towing - and it's pretty quiet and smooth, but despite a high output the performance is best described as leisurely. Most of its premium rivals feel a lot quicker with similar power.

The lesser 150PS engine feels even more sluggish; it simply can't counteract the car's sizeable bulk. Still, if you don't mind getting up to speed in a more leisurely fashion, it cruises with the same easy-going nature. It will also save you a little in daily running costs, but don't expect it to deliver significantly better fuel economy.

In either spec, this is simply not a car for buyers looking for a high-riding SUV with a sporting bent. Driving it harder in the search for excitement will reap no reward, and spoils refinement, so it's better to meet the Edge on its own terms, sit back and relax. Of course, better alternatives such as the Jaguar F-Pace can do both.

The Ford Edge is first and foremost a big, comfortable motorway cruiser and its hushed cabin plays into those strengths. It has a secret weapon to isolate its passengers from the outside world too: Active Noise Control.

This works the same way posh noice-cancelling headphones do, using microphones to listen out for unwanted disturbances, and playing white noise to counteract them through the in-built speakers. It seems to work - engine clatter and road noise are both dulled to just a faint rumble.

Ford's 2.0-litre diesel is not as smooth as the Audi Q5's four-cylinder - few engines are - but it's quiet enough to never feel intrusive or stressed, especially when you're just ticking along the motorway at a steady speed.

Despite its fancy noise cancelling tech, if you push the engine harder you'll feel vibration through the pedals.

The eight-speed automatic transmission fitted to every version is not particularly responsive, but it does keep the car ticking along at very low revs, eager to change up through the ratios as quickly as possible.

There are some important spec differences though. The ST-Line version on its 20-inch wheels and sportier tyres generates more tyre roar than the Titanium or Vignale. This car also creates a fair amount of wind rustle between the mirrors and A-pillars, and it gets more noticeable if you opt for the panoramic glass roof.

Large SUVs give their drivers a feeling of security that's hard to match in a smaller vehicle, but the current crop back up that stereotype, with nearly every car in this class enjoying a five star Euro NCAP crash rating.

The Ford Edge is no exception, but look past the headline star rating and into the category scores and it actually did slightly worse for adult, child and pedestrian protection than cars like the Volvo XC60 and Mazda CX-5.

Still, its equipment list is pretty comprehensive. On top of standard fare like a full complement of airbags that includes curtain and driver's knee protection, electronic stability control, and ABS, all models come with auto-emergency braking to prevent shunts in stop-start traffic, a lane keep assistant, and traffic sign recognition.

Add to impressive tally all-round parking sensors, a rear view camera, and adaptive cruise control, and you have to say the Ford Edge is better kitted out with gadgets to help you avoid bumps and scrapes than most cars.

The ST-Line and Vignale models come with the option to upgrade the Ford Edge with a Drivers Assistance Pack. This includes blind-spot monitors, updated cruise control that can come to a complete stop and set off again, and a parking assistant that can take over the steering, whether you're backing into a bay or parallel space.

Unlike so many rivals eager to shed every single gram of weight, a space saver spare wheel is standard too.

The Ford Edge dimensions are 4775mm long, 2184mm wide and 1692mm tall.

The Ford Edge scored a highly impressive 10 out of 10 for reliability in the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Survey, but before you got rushing out in search of one it's important to bear in mind that the Edge was not a popular car in the UK, and so the sample size is very small indeed. A recall was issued due to a problem with headlights deactivating, so be sure that any car you look at has had repair work completed.

As a brand Ford finished an unimpressive 26th out of 30 manufacturers, although conversely this may be affected by the popularity of Ford models in general. Whichever way you look at it, it's fair to say that the Edge probably isn't the most reliable offering in the class.

How reasonable you think the big Ford Edge's insurance costs are will largely depend on the other SUVs on your shopping list. The 238PS four-wheel drive ST-Line sits in Group 34. It's a few groups below where you'll find a similarly powerful Mercedes GLC or Audi Q5 3.0 TDI, but two higher than a Jaguar F-Pace R-Sport.

Unfortunately, it's also six groups higher than a Skoda Kodiaq vRS, which matches the output of the Ford but has better performance. It's worse if you go for the front-wheel drive 150PS Titanium, which is in Group 26.

Mainstream rivals like the Mazda CX-5, Kia Sorento, and Peugeot 5008 will all cost hundreds of pounds less.

Road tax on Ford Edges registered prior to April 2017 are reasonable considering this car's size. You'll pay £220 per year for the 150PS and 180PS versions, based on their relatively high CO2.

The changes that were brought in after that date should save you money, since all combustion engine cars now pay a flat rate of £165 per year. Be warned though, that more expensive trim levels that cost more than £40,000 when they were new will have to pay the higher rate of £520 in the first five years of ownership.

This is the perfect car for those who don't want to spend hours picking fancy option packs or ticking boxes.

There is no 'base' model as such, but before its 2018 facelift the entry point to the range was a Zetec trim that skimped on a few toys to make it more affordable, but still felt generously equipped. In the new-shape Ford Edge there are three main specifications: Titanium, ST-Line and the poshest Vignale. All of them have a specification list that would turn Audi, Mercedes and BMW buyers green with envy - it's that comprehensive.

Ford Edge Titanium cars have LED headlights, 19-inch alloys, power folding door mirrors, chrome detailing and dark privacy glass on the outside. Inside, it's a total gadget-fest, with electric leather front seats that can be heated or cooled, a nine-speaker stereo, sat-nav, climate control, digital instruments and radar-guided cruise.

Ford Edge ST-Line models get larger wheels and lowered sports suspension, and cosmetic exterior and interior upgrades to make it look even beefier. The only meaningful extras over and above the Ford Edge Titanium trim are the heated steering wheel, a booming 1,000 Watt premium sound system from Bang & Olufsen, and in-car WiFi.

Flagship Ford Edge Vignale models are supposed to feel opulent and luxurious, with posh badges on the exterior, extra leather covering on some of the dash surfaces and fancier seats with more padding, but aren't good value at all.

This overabundance means the options list is short and sweet. The only two items worth mentioning are the glass sun roof (which we'd avoid since it eats into rear head room) and a Driver Assistance Pack that can be added to the ST-Line and Vignale to make the Edge's exhaustive suite of active safety systems complete.