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CNET editors' rating:
3.5 stars
Very good
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Product summary
The good: Sync continues to be a high point in our estimation of Ford vehicles, no less so on the 2008 Ford Edge Limited, offering excellent MP3 player and cell phone integration.
The bad: Fuel economy isn't great, and the standard audio system is mediocre. The graphics on its touch-screen LCD are generally ugly.
The bottom line: Although offering a character-less driving experience, the top-notch cabin electronics make entertainment and communications effortless in the 2008 Ford Edge Limited.
Specifications: Body style: SUV; Trim levels: Limited; Available Engine: Gas See full specs
Price range: $32,070.00
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 04/22/2008
The 2008 Ford Edge presents a more urban design than a typical SUV, fulfilling part of the crossover credo, yet its all-wheel-drive and towing capability let it take on standard SUV tasks. The Edge's engine pulls reasonably well, but fuel economy isn't great. And while not designed for seven passengers like some larger crossovers and SUVs, the Edge handles five with luggage easily enough.
Ford's raft of tech options is available in the Edge, and our test car came loaded with a navigation system and Sync, this last a standard feature at the Limited trim level. During our time with the Edge, Sync once again proved its usefulness, and we can't imagine seriously considering any car that doesn't have comparable features.
Test the tech: Sync texting
When Ford and Microsoft first demonstrated Sync for us, we got to see how it would read text messages, and even translate common abbreviations such as LOL. But with the past two Sync-enabled cars we reviewed, the Ford Focus and the Mercury Sable, none of the phones we tried worked with the texting feature. So when we got the Ford Edge in, we determined to put this feature to the test.
First, we had to find a phone that worked with Sync's texting feature. We had no luck with an iPhone, a Samsung SGH-D807, or a Samsung SGH-T619 in our earlier reviews. So we did some research, finding a list of compatible phones on the Ford's Sync site. This list showed which phone worked with which features, very useful for our purposes, and we were surprised that only nine phones worked with texting, including the Motorola Razr V3xx, the Motorola Slvr L7, the Sony Ericsson W810i, and the Nokia 6133. Checking around the office, we didn't find these exact phones, but we did come up with a Nokia 6131 and a Sony Ericsson K790a.
Pairing each phone was easy using the onscreen interface, and we particularly like that Sync generated a unique six-digit PIN for each phone, a level of security that is generally unknown in car Bluetooth systems. We tried out the Nokia 6131 by first trying to send a text from the car to the phone. Sync doesn't let you type in an original message, which would be unsafe, but provides some preset phrases, such as "Call you later" and "Be there in 10 minutes." We touched the screen to select one and hit the send command. Moments later the text appeared on the phone we had sent it to, with the postscript, "This message was sent from my Ford." We hope this text is customized for Mercury and Lincoln cars. But when we replied to the text with our unpaired phone, it appeared on the Nokia 6131 but Sync did not pick it up. The Nokia 6131 only had half the equation.
We turned to the Sony Ericsson K790a and repeated the first part of the test, sending the preset text message from car to unpaired phone. Sure enough, the text with its Ford postscript showed up on our phone. Next, we tried to reply with the simple phrase "Let's go. LOL." This time we had full functionality, with a message appearing on the Edge's screen telling us we had a new text. We hit the OK button and Sync read the message out to us, translating LOL into "laughing out loud." In our subsequent texting back and forth, we found that Sync wouldn't translate WTF, merely reading out each letter. We should also note that the K790a also supports Sync's other cutting-edge feature of streaming music over Bluetooth, which is also only supported by a few phones.
In the cabin
Although we liked the stitched leather seats in the 2008 Ford Edge Limited, the dashboard was covered in hard plastics. There were a few nice touches for the interior, such as buttons in the cargo area that make the rear seats fold down. That's the limit of their techiness, however, as you'll need to use muscle to get them back up. We also had the optional Panoramic Vista Roof, which puts one big sunroof over the front seats, extending back into the rear passenger area a little, and a smaller fixed glass pane over the rear seats. We figured about two prom couples could stand through the sunroof, with it fully open. Both roof panes also feature powered sunshades.
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Where to buy
2008 Ford Edge Limited AWD:
$32,070.00
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Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price From Edmunds.com
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