Ford always has and probably always will make cars for the masses.
Recent years have seen the American auto giant creep upmarket though, into strongholds traditionally held by BMW and Audi.
The Edge is Ford’s attempt to steal a slice of the premium SUV pie. It aims to plunder territory occupied by the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Volvo XC60.
What it lacks in the way of a premium badge it claws back in a roomier package with better standard equipment.
It’s been on sale in America for a couple of years now but has only recently made its way to Europe, where it’s been tweaked to suit our roads.
American Edges have big, devil-may-care V6 petrol engines but Ford aren’t even offering any petrol options at all on the European Edge. Instead it gets a 2.0 litre diesel engine with either 178 or 207bhp.
Whereas many rivals have front-wheel drive cars as their entry level, every Edge comes with four wheel drive as standard.
If you hadn’t already read a few paragraphs ago that the Edge was designed for America a glance at it should be all you need to tell. It wouldn’t look out of place winding down a Colorado mountain pass or across a Nebraskan highway.
A bold grille and bonnet, wide shoulders and chiselled flanks make it stand out, and it’s still new enough to turn heads.
Prices start at around £30,000. That means you don’t save anything over buying an X3 but the Edge is bigger and comes with more technology as standard.
Ford were kind enough to send me two versions of the Edge back to back, a manual then an automatic, both in top spec guise (Vital Stats are for the auto).
It’s a very comfortable car that feels rock solid and confident on the road. Ford has given the suspension a soft set up and that makes it a superb mile muncher.
The automatic is the one to go for, suiting the character of the car better. There’s a large gap between first and second gear in manual versions that make it easy for the unwary to stall.
The Edge is one of the few Fords that isn’t the best handling car in its class: both the X3 and Q5 are much more composed in cornering.
Rear seat passengers will be happier in the Edge though: it’s very roomy indeed. And the dog will thank you for buying one: the boot is gigantic.
Price:
£34,495
0-62mph:
9.4 seconds
Top speed:
131mph
Economy:
48.7mpg
CO2 emissions:
149g/km
jmckeown@thecourier.co.uk