Pro’s: Roomy interior, great mileage, confidence inspiring handling

Con’s: Skinny steering wheel, mass appeal styling, noticeable torque steer

Final Thought: A well executed crossover that offers good mileage, decent power and a great interior for a very fair price.

I’d heard good things about the Ford Edge but up until recently I had yet to actually drive one. This is a 2012 Limited Edition model with front-wheel drive and Ford’s 2.0L EcoBoost I-4 turbocharged engine that makes 240 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque. It’s a crossover vehicle which simply means you’ve got a little car, truck and SUV DNA all mixed together in a nice well-rounded package. The week prior to my having this little gem I was driving around in an Infiniti FX35 Limited (tough life I know). The color was remarkably similar as was its interior room and amenities. However when it came to price there was quite a substantial difference. MSRP on the Infiniti was $52,445.00, whereby the Ford Edge Limited came in at an MSRP of $38,910.00 – a difference of over $13,500.00. Granted this isn’t a flat-out comparison mind you, but a simple question of value for dollar.

Upon receiving the Edge my first inclination was to go out for a nice long drive. I decided to head to a place called Stinson Beach which lies about 70 miles away from my home. Round trip mileage was to be around 140 and during those miles I’d be met with some of the best driving roads in the country. Everything from tight twisties to interstate would be thrown at the Edge and I was curious to see how it would handle it.

The Ford Edge Limited greets its occupants with nicely double-stitched leather seats, a thoroughly modern cabin and room for five adults. My first impression was one of surprise as honestly I didn’t think that the interior would be this inviting. A nicely sculpted dash houses a clearly visible center speedometer with changeable systems menus, a large touchscreen for Ford’s SYNC system and backup camera and a nicely done gloss black panel that controls your SONY stereo and climate controls.

I’m not going to get fully into the SYNC system for the simple fact that it would take me 1000 words to explain how everything works. I will however say that SYNC allows you to control everything from your cell phones Bluetooth capabilities, to the navigation system, the climate control and satellite radio, to monitoring up-to-the-minute traffic conditions, as well as a host of other automotive settings.

In short, it’s a good system that works well as long as you put in some quick effort into acclimating yourself to it. You can see more information on the SYNC system by simply clicking here.

In regards to comfort the Edge does not disappoint. Front seats are 10-way power adjustable with built in heat and nice bolstering. In fact never once did I feel out of place as I navigated the tight twisty roads outside of San Francisco. A large center console houses auxiliary audio hookups, two USB connection ports and an extra power port as well.

Rear seats offer reclining capabilities, a 60/40 lay down split for more cargo room, as well as plenty of leg room and a nifty center armrest cup-holder. Materials used are a combination of leather and soft touch plastics that lend to a very nice feel. This is not some hashed together interior, but a well thought out, well crafted space that’s inviting for both driver and passenger alike.

From a storage perspective the Edge steps up with a whopping 68.9 cu. ft. of room with the rear seats down and a respectable 32.2 when the seats are up. That’s 6.9 and 7.4 cu. ft. more than the Infiniti FX35 I recently tested – not bad. A power lift gate (a very nice option) was included as part of the limited package, as was a hidden space saver spare tire in case you find yourself on the side of the road.

The steering wheel offers tilting/telescoping capabilities and the automatic console shifter was nicely placed. Get the Edge moving and you’ll find that if you’ve opted for the 2.0L EcoBoost I-4 turbocharged mill that you’ve made a good choice.

Power is not overwhelming, but comes on strong when you put your foot in it. Oddly enough there was actually a fair amount of torque-steer when accelerating hard from a dead stop which is something I didn’t expect. Mileage is EPA rated at 21 city and 30 hwy. In my time with the Edge I averaged a cool 24 mpg in combined driving.

Visibility throughout the cabin is good, but just in case you missed something Ford offers a blind-spot warning system located in the rear view mirrors. The stock 6-speed automatic transmission works great and thankfully Ford decided not to give it a “sport” mode.

This is a crossover mind you, not some super fun hot rod. If you want to shift up and down and drive like a hooligan go buy a Mustang. Once moving you’ll notice that the steering is nicely weighted and offers up good feedback, however I found the steering wheel itself to be slightly on the skinny side.

Since the Edge rides on big 245/60 series tires on 18-inch wheels you may be able to figure out that this isn’t a “handles on rails” type of vehicle. It does however go around corners quite well and thanks to those big sidewalls and a nicely tuned suspension you’re treated to a very comfortable ride that’s soaks up road imperfections with ease.

Braking was a no worries affair and provided confidence regardless if coming to a hard stop from speed or descending one of San Fransisco’s near vertical streets. One thing that I should mention is that Ford did a great job of putting a lot of space into a vehicle that sits on a 184.2″ wheelbase. In running around the city I found that I was able to scoot in and out of traffic and park the Edge with no problem, which is more than I can say with the FX35.

If we’re talking about styling I suppose I’d give the Edge a solid 7 out of 10. It’s a very nicely styled vehicle that was constructed with conservative mass appeal in mind. Again, edginess (no pun intended) is not the focus of the Edge, usability is.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a good solid crossover that I would honestly recommend to anyone. It’s got plenty of room, a great engine and when ordered with the limited package and AWD capabilities, will give you plenty of options, loads of luxury features and all the all-weather confidence you could ask for.

Job well done Ford.

If you’ve ever driven any kind of World War II vintage truck, you know this for certain: they may be rugged, and you may be able to fix them with pliers and duct tape, but no one would accuse them of being fast. That is unless you bolt a 3,400 horsepower jet engine to the bed of your 1942 GMC Blitz, in which case it will probably run the quarter mile in 11 seconds at 120 miles per hour, on its way to a top speed of 150.

That’s scary fast in something that has the aerodynamics of a housing complex, and the builder is called Mad Ron for a reason. You’re best off skipping the vaguely homoerotic middle part of this video (which has me thinking that Dan and Leon are more than just friends, not that there’s anything wrong with that) but watching the truck run at the end is worth it. Would I drive it? Hell no, but it sure is entertaining watching someone else risk a fiery death.

If I asked you to name the quickest-accelerating vehicle you could buy in 1991, which car would you pick? A Ferrari 348 or Testarossa? A Porsche 911 Turbo or 928? A GMC Sonoma pickup?

If you guessed either of the Ferraris or the Porsches, you’d be wrong. In fact, the quickest vehicle you could buy twenty years ago was a GMC Syclone, a (heavily) modified GMC Sonoma pickup that featured a turbocharged 4.3-liter V-6, good for a (rated) 280 horsepower and 350 lb.-ft. of torque. The Syclone was good for a 0 – 60 time of around 4.5 seconds, and could turn a quarter mile in the low thirteens.

As you’d guess, the Syclone didn’t handle like a sports car and wasn’t much of a truck. With a payload capacity of just 500 pounds, even a trip to the local home mega-mart could tax the truck’s capabilities. Still, it was great fun to point the nose at the horizon and mash the fun pedal, and if you’ve never had a chance to drive a Syclone (or it’s SUV cousin, the GMC Typhoon), do what you have to to find one.

Jay Leno’s owned his slightly-illegal pre-production Syclone since it was new, and he’ll fill in the details in the Jay Leno’s Garage video below.

Last August, Brent Hajek brought his Ford F-250 Super Duty to the Bonneville Salt Flats for some wide open throttle driving. By the time he’d left, the team had set two new land speed records, including a 171.123 mph run which earned a B Production Diesel Truck record. Switching to B20 biodiesel, the team recorded a 182 mile per hour run, destroying the old record of 130.614 miles per hour.

Racing a full size pickup across the salt at nearly 200 miles per hour just isn’t our kind of crazy, but we salute Hajek Motorsports for their achievement nonetheless. See for yourself in the Ford video, found on You Tube, below.

Chevy Colorado concept. Image: © GM Corp.

Ford and Dodge may have given up on the compact and midsize pickup truck market in the United States, but Chevy believes there’s still opportunity to be had and profit to be made. After keeping us guessing for the better part of 2011, Chevy has confirmed that its new Colorado midsize pickup will be coming to the United States. Better yet, it will be built here, ensuring that more U.S. manufacturing jobs aren’t lost to other economies.

The Colorado will launch in Thailand first, since the Thai market is the world’s largest for compact and midsize pickups. There, buyers will have a choice of gas or diesel engines, 2wd or 4wd, and regular, extended or crew cab configurations.We may not get the diesel option in the United States, but I’d be surprised if we didn’t get the same cab and drive options here.

Expect to see the Colorado pickup concept on the U.S. auto show circuit in 2012. Chevy hasn’t released any details on when the new Colorado will be available (we’ll guess 2013) or at what price it will hit the market, so look for further updates in the coming months.

Source: Chevrolet

The 2012 Honda Ridgeline Sport. Image: Honda

In a recent statement to the automotive press, Honda seems to be channeling Mark Twain. In regards to the Ridgeline pickup, Honda’s release essentially translates to “rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated.” In fact, Honda wants the world to know that the Ridgeline will soldier on well beyond the current 2012 refresh.

For the coming year, a Ridgeline Sport joins the product line, and the Ridgeline gets a boost in fuel economy. That’s a good thing, since the current Ridgeline’s 15 mpg city and 20 mpg highway aren’t exactly “class leading.” In fact, Honda has struggled to move Ridgeline pickups in 2011, selling just 6,476 units year-to-date through September. To put that in perspective, Ford sold 7,154 Ranger pickups in September alone (and 49,788 YTD), and the current Ranger model really hasn’t been updated since 1998.

It may be the demise of the Ford Ranger, which goes away at the end of this year, that has Honda planning for the Ridgeline’s future. In the compact to mid-size pickup truck segment, the Dodge Dakota, Ford Ranger and Chevy S10 have all been put out to pasture, leaving the market to Toyota and Nissan. If Honda can make the Ridgeline a bit more competitive in terms of price and fuel economy, it can carve out a decent enough niche to make a business case for the Ridgeline.

I’d call that good news, since I’ve always been a fan of the Ridgeline. It may not be as off-road capable as other compact pickups, but it’s probably the best choice for a daily driver that doubles as a truck on weekends. If you’re in the market, don’t pass the Ridgeline by without taking a test drive.

Whatever mad genius inside Ford’s SVT group was ultimately behind the development of the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, we salute you. No one else could have pulled off the idea of a hot-rod, off-road pickup truck, and sales have been brisk since the truck made its debut back in 2009.

There have been a few well-documented problems along the way, most notably a group of off-road enthusiasts who experienced bent frames after a high-speed desert run. Ford is quick to point out that the trucks were still drivable with a bent frame, but if a rear shock failed or tore loose, that may not have been the case. Despite the type of hoonage depicted in video ads for the Raptor, Ford insists that the truck isn’t bulletproof, and that if you hit something hard, at speed, damage will most likely result.

For 2012, then, Ford is shifting focus away from high-speed pre-running and onto rock crawling, boosting the Raptor’s off-road resume. The truck gets a Torsen front differential, which will better distribute power from a wheel with no traction to the front wheel with traction. This will boost the Raptors rock-crawling ability, but will also help it scale steep grades and get though mud, snow and sand.

There’s an off-road camera system for 2012 as well, designed to let the driver see exactly what’s in front of his truck. It broadcasts live video to the navigation system display, and can serve as backup to having a spotter when the going gets particulrly tough. Ford knows that Raptor owners will be playing in the mud, so the camera system even boasts a dedicated washer function.

Image: Ford Motor Company

Aside from those changes, there’s a new color (Race Red), a new interior trim accent package in blue anodized, new wheels (that have inside-mounted weights for protection from rocks and debris) and new exterior graphics. The graphics now feature a gloss, matte and textured finish, which Ford describes as giving a “racing” and “off road” feel. We love the Raptor, but could do without the graphics; making them even bolder for 2012 just doesn’t do it for us. Of course a few hours with a heat gun would solve the problem entirely, but we wish Ford would give customers the option of “graphics delete.”

Ford hasn’t priced the 2012 Raptors yet, but don’t be surprised if they cost a few dollars more than last year’s models.

Source: Ford

Image: Daimler AG

It’s hard to believe, but Mercedes=Benz’s uber-utility vehicle, the Unimog, turns sixty in 2011. Originally designed for use in farming and agriculture, the Unimog has been produced in dozens of variants throughout the years and is embraced by military and civilian owners alike. In Germany, ‘Mogs are used for everything from roadwork through fire fighting, and you can’t drive through a German town without seeing a few in action. In America, most are ex-NATO military trucks, imported for their durability and go-anywhere capabilities. Unimogs, like cockroaches, will easily survive the end of the world.

So how do you honor a truck like the Unimog on its 60th birthday? By building a radical, one-off concept, that’s how. The Unimog Cabrio Design Concept seen here was built from a U 5000, with the thought that Unimogs are always capable of being renewed. The futuristic design was inspired by a poison-dart frog (hence the vivid green color), because both the frog and the Unimog are mobile both on land and in the water. Licking the Unimog, while not advised, is still likely to have a better outcome.

Mercedes has no plans to produce the concept seen here, but on the plus side they have no plans to stop building the Unimog, either. I’ve always wanted one, just because they’ll go anywhere and can be repaired with duct tape, wire and hand tools. One of these days I’ll find a deal on a ‘Mog I just can’t pass up, and hopefully it’ll be before the start of the zombie apocalypse.

Source: Autoevolution

I’d be the first to admit that this video is more hype than substance, but I’d also be the first to admit that I’d love to be behind the wheel of one of the Amaroks in this video. The VW Amarok, in case you don’t know, is their compact pickup truck sold almost everywhere except the United States. Why don’t we get it here? “Too expensive,” is VW’s reply, since it would have to start at about $30k in the states. That kind of money buys you a 4wd Toyota Tacoma, and it even buys you a full size pickup if you don’t mind skipping some amenities. The fact that the Amarok is available with both gas and diesel engines only makes me want it more in the States, and I have to think that there’s a market for a compact turbodiesel pickup here. Watch the video below, then feel free to start petitioning VW to import the Amarok TDI.

Of course it did take four Amaroks to pull down the stack, and the same thing probably could have been accomplished with a single domestic heavy-duty truck. In fact, I’m reasonably sure that Mike’s Magnum SRT-8 could have yanked that structure down without even breaking the wheels. If you’ve got a smokestack that needs tearing down, I’d certainly be willing to give it a try if I can borrow the keys from Mike.

With the price of fuel expected to top $6 per gallon by the end of the summer, Americans are doing everything they can in order to save a buck. Used fuel efficient cars, both new and used are flying off the lots, with big full-sized gas guzzlers being left out there to rot. One company however is thumbing it’s nose at the higher cost of fuel and has in fact come up with a vehicle that not only sucks it down, but holds upwards of 160 gallons of it. Meet the Ram “Long-Hauler” Concept, a pickup truck that could possibly be the ultimate road burner for long distance travel. According to Pickuptruck.com, the Long-Hauler has a 197.4-inch-wheelbase and is based on a Class 5 Ram 5500 medium-duty chassis cab commercial truck. However, it’s been fitted with an 8-foot cargo dually-based cargo bed, and two custom fuel tanks that enable this monster to carry a whopping 162 gallons of diesel fuel.

Power on the Long-Hauler comes from a 6.7-liter Cummins inline-six-cylinder that pumps out 305 hp and 610 lb-ft of torque. All of this means that you’ll be able to tow that big car trailer of yours about 2,000 miles before you run out of juice. Just keep in mind that at the current price of $4.56 per gallon for diesel that you’d be paying almost $740.00 to fill it up… OUCH!!

Source: Pickuptrucks.com