Clarity in a world of chaos

I hate it, when I wake up too late on Friday, and Miss the Car-Guy Ed Wallace give his weekly review on a particular vehicle.  Talk about a man doing a job I'd do just about anything for. 

Aside from family, there isn't much I love more than cars. To get paid for road-testing and writing reviews on different cars?!?!  That'd be like Heaven on Earth, for me. This is evidenced by the fact that in the last 10 years, I've purchased 13 cars- would have been more, but one of those years was spent in South Korea.

I don't know about you, but I love Motor Trend, Car & Driver, Road & Track, Automobile, Truckin', and more. In fact- there have been times when I was subscribed to all of them. One thing bothers me though, especialy about MT and C&D is the fact that they look for the "sports car" in every car, truck, or SUV they drive- rather than report on the vehicle for what it is. Why look for Corvette performance, ina Deville DTS? I recently purchased a new vehicle (who would've guessed, right?) and decided to write a review about it.  Unlike Ferrari 550 Maranello's, Lamborghini Gallardo's, and Mercedes S550's, this vehicle actually has a chance at making it into most of our garages. 

Here is my opinion, of the 2007 Ford Edge SEL Plus, Crossover SUV.

Introduction:

I recently traded my 2006 Acura MDX Touring in favor of a 2007 Ford Edge SEL (Plus).  I did not get the fully loaded model, the only items missing are: [*]Panoramic roof.
[*]Navigation
[*]AWD*

I intentionally skipped on the roof and AWD, because my MDX was AWD, and they insured me at the 4 x 4 rate, as if someone would really take an MDX rock crawling at Moab.  As for the roof, I live in Texas, so I'm not looking for ways to let more heat in.

I picked it up on Thursday night, they detailed it and completed delivery on Friday, and as of today (Tuesday) I already have 975 miles on it.  Here is what I think of the vehicle, after 5 days of ownership. 

Snapshot / Overall impression: 

According to Autobytel.com, “The 2007 Edge is a 4-door, 5-passenger sport-utility, available in 6 trims, ranging from the SE FWD to the SEL Plus AWD. Upon introduction, the SE FWD is equipped with a standard 3.5-liter, V6, 265-horsepower engine that achieves 18-mpg in the city and 25-mpg on the highway.” They went on to say, “The SEL Plus AWD is equipped with a standard 3.5-liter, V6, 265-horsepower engine that achieves 17-mpg in the city and 24-mpg on the highway. [My sticker says 18 city, 25 highway. I was getting 26 on the highway.] The 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is standard on both trims. The 2007 Edge is all-new for 2007.” (Autobytel.com, 09-04-2007)

The unbiased Big-Hersh Review:

At 75.8" wide, and 185" long, the Ford Edge is only 1.2" narrower and 6" shorter in length than my 2006 Acura MDX. In the front seat, that 1.2 inches is not missed. With the baby seat in the second row, I can tell some width is missing from the MDX.  At 77 inches wide, the 2006 MDX was only one inch narrower than the 2003 Ford Expedition I had, not to long ago. Clearly, Ford spent a great deal of time on the interior of this car. Upon initial entry, everything in the unit looks and feels first class. The leather on the seats is well crafted- the best I've seen in any Ford vehicle, including the Lincoln Navigator. They seem well-suited to the daily tasks of entry and exit. This is one thing I can not say about my 2006 Acura MDX. I was surprised at how the leather began showing signs of its age after only 18 months.  

Ford has had a string of hits lately, and the 2007 Edge is no exception.  I fully expect this SUV to bump Ford's SUV sales back into the number one spot, eventually outselling the Explorer (if it isn't already), and surpassing Chevy's trailblazer. As you all know, crossover SUV’s (Car based: MDX, RX350, etc.) outsold traditional SUV (Truck based: Explorer, 4Runner) in 2006, for the first time.

Interior and Exterior Fit & Finish:

After sitting in it for a while, one begins to realize the extensive use of plastics in the vehicle. The dash, the door molds, and pretty much everything surrounding the driver is plastic- except the material on the top of the armrest/storage bin (which is deep, integrated into the floor shifter, and well done by the way). Ford’s extensive use of plastic doesn't give the same feel of luxury as one would expect of a vehicle in this price range ($30K plus), nevertheless, it does "look" good. The gaps are not evenly spaced all around. This would only be noticeable to someone (like me) looking for problems to note- in order to give a thorough, albeit brief review.  The average consumer would not notice these shortcomings. No car is perfect. The instrument gauges, while standard (speed, tach, oil, temp, etc..) are bevel ringed, and classy. This is something one would expect on an Infiniti. The 6-speed automatic transmission gives almost undetectable up shifts, and the 265 HP V6 engine provides ample "giddy-up" when the accelerator is pressed. I haven't done any dead stop, wide-open-throttle runs with it, but it feels every bit as quick (if not quicker) than my 2006 MDX was. The second row (Source of the numerous complaints of my 2006 MDX), is actually roomier (leg wise, with my seat all the way back) than in my MDX- and rivals that of the 2003 – 2007 Expedition (The 1997 – 2002 Expeditions were actually roomier in the front 2 rows, than the new ones).  

With over 600 highway miles driven this weekend, I heard not a single complaint (on space) for the entire 400+ mile trip (675 miles total). That may have had something to do with the multimedia DVD player.  There were complaints about the air conditioning (too cold), and this unit lacked separate controls for the rear-seat passengers. On the second row, the material on the seats looks good there too.  From what I’ve read, Ford usually puts vinyl on the subsequent rows, but in this vehicle, both rows are leather trimmed. If vinyl was used, I can't tell where. The seats look and feel very good.

Driving Characteristics:
As for the ride-, most times I can't wait to get off the road. In this vehicle, I wanted to go further.  It is a very comfortable vehicle, and with the cruise set to 80 MPH, it is smoother than most cars at 60 MPH. I had a hard time staying under 80, with its unobstructed view of the road, and cockpit feel of the driving position. You don't realize you're going that fast.  The vehicle tracks and handles well. U-turns on city and neighborhood streets are no problem. With prowess equal to, if not superior to my 2006 MDX, the Edge feels like a lifted sports car. With its smooth transition, crisp turns, the steering wheel’s on-center feel, 18" wheels & tires, dual exhaust, and engine/exhaust note when getting on it- conspire to make this is a fun vehicle to drive. Ford did a good job of smoothing the ride, and isolating road noise. Even grated road surfaces were not overly obtrusive. Prior to getting the Edge, I thought the 2006 Ford Fusion had the best factory stereo I'd ever heard.  Move over Fusion, this 9 speaker, subwoofered, Audiophile stereo in the 2007 Edge has replaced you (in my opinion) as the best sounding factory stereo I've ever heard. It offers crisp highs, clear mids, and heavy bass; in a word- perfect. I'm sure the 17 and 18 speaker systems in the Infiniti and Lexus vehicles are better, but- I haven't heard them.  Without a doubt, this system sounds way better than the 7-speaker Bose system that came with my 2006 MDX, and is a dead-even match for the DVD-Audio system in the Acura TL. The Edge also came with a 6-month complimentary subscription to Sirius radio, so- I won't miss my Acura’s XM radio.

Head-turner:
Everywhere we stopped- I got a lot of looks and compliments on this vehicle, from admiration, to shock- "Ooh, that's pretty!", "Wish I had one.", "Beautiful color.", "How does it ride?", "That's a Ford?".  Just for driving mine to the family reunion, my wife's cousin plans to go buy one today, when he gets back to Sacramento, CA.

Closing:

While some won't consider this a true SUV, because it's not a body-on-frame SUV, in the same vein as the Explorer, Pathfinder, and 4-Runner, this is a great SUV.  If you need to haul five people or less, this would be a perfect vehicle.  You get V-8 power, with V-6 fuel economy, a vehicle well-balanced between sport and touring. Very generous truck space. In-floor cargo management, one touch folding 2nd row seats (optional), all for a starting price of $25,000.

Is the new 2007 Ford Edge superior to the 2006 or 2007 Acura MDX.  In a word, "No". But, if you want a vehicle that does everything right, hardly anything wrong, with all the bells, whistles, style, and class of an Acura MDX or Lexus RX350, at a price that’s $10,000 - $15,000 less. You'll be hard-pressed to find a vehicle that does so much, so well- at this price. Bravo Ford.  I love your new Edge. As a watcher, and now- as an owner.  Hopefully Ford won’t flood the rental chains with Edge’s, which will end up lowering it’s resale value. This is another home run for Ford.  With every new model launched, Ford is proving you don’t have to buy a Japanese car, to get great quality at an affordable price.

Good job, Ford.

Known Competition:

Nissan Murano
Hyundai Santa Fe
BMW X3
Lexus RX350
Mazda CX-7

Other close competitors:

Acura MDX
Hyundai Veracruz
Honda Pilot* 
Mazda CX-9

The Honda Pilot, Hyundai Veracruz, and CX-9 are in the Edge's class, with regard to price- but they are 7-8 passenger SUV, compare to 5-pasengers for the Edge, which doesn't put them, at least in my opinion, on the same playing field.

While I won’t bore you with the stories of my falling asleep behind the wheel, I will tell you one that- if you have ever been on an airplane before, will certainly raise your pucker factor, and give you a Maalox moment.  

June 14, 1991. After 8 months in country, my time in Operation Desert Shield/Storm/Calm was over.  Most of my peers had gone home in April, right after the war ended.  I was (un)lucky enough to be placed on the stay-back roster, to prepare all the vehicles for the return home. At long last, we were about to get on that big-iron bird, and head back to the land of the big PX.  We were supposed to fly at 8:00 PM, but we were delayed 5 hours.  Our DCU’s and patches filled the air with their newness, as we were made pretty for our return to friends and families, for those of us who would have them waiting for us when we got back.  

12:00 AM, we boarded the Pan Am Boeing 747 Clipper.  I couldn’t help but think of Lockerbie, Scotland, as a plane just like the one I was getting on, blew up just over 2 years earlier. Be that as it may, I was going home. We all stayed awake until the wheels left the ground at King Abdul Aziz AFB, when the cabin erupted in cheer. Soon thereafter, we were all asleep.  

Next stop, Rome, Italy. 

About 5.5 – 6 hours later, I awoke, to the pressure changing in my ears.  We were descending. The guys & gals were joking around with the flight attendants, and I was sitting by the port-side emergency door, right above the left wing. As landings go, things were proceeding normally.  The only oddity being, the pilots had not told anyone to put their seat belts on, restored seatbacks, try tables, etc… There were no chimes, or anything.  A little voice said, “Put your boots back on”.  I did.  

We were making our turns, bleeding off airspeed, and altitude.  Common sense said, “Go ahead and buckle up.”  Just then, a flight attendant asked if I would autograph her US flag.  I said, “I would be happy to. Do you have a pen?”  She went to go get one.  We were still slowing, and now we’re so low, I can see the rows in the farming fields below, as well as cars, trees, etc.. (Funny, the attendants aren’t even sitting down, maybe all that stuff they tell us on regular flights is a bunch of hooey.)  

She came back, she had both arms out stretched to me.  The pen in one hand, the flag in the other.  As our hands met, there was a hard (a really hard) thud under the belly of the plane.  I just knew a Lear jet, 737, or something had flown into us.  The 747 banked sharply to the left, the engines roared, and our nose went up- almost straight up.  I could hear people scream, I could hear the engines whine, the whole time I’m thinking to myself, “this is it…”  

I was on the port side, and amidst all the screams from grown men & women, for some reason, I opened my eyes, and I looked out the window.  I saw the tip of our wing perpendicular, and barely above (6-10 feet max) the ground.  

The plane was shuddering, and I closed my eyes in preparation for the impact.  My hands were to the sides of my head, and with eyes still closed, I felt the left wing come up, the right wing go down, and the nose come down.  We regained our bearing, with regard to the runway, and we touched down. Now I’m thinking, “We’ve GOT to be running out of runway.  The engines roared loudly as the thrust reversers deployed.  My the Grace of God, we stopped.  

We all were looking at each other, and the cabin was very quiet.  There were a few, “What the ____s?: being exclaimed, and the attendant began clapping and, saying, "They got us down, they got us down!" 

A few of us joined in the applause.  I don’t remember if I did or not.  

I looked out my window, and saw 3-4 Italian Police cars racing towards us, with blue lights flashing. A ladder truck came too. I thought they were going to take us all off the aircraft, but they only took the pilots.  They left all 372 of us, and the flight attendants on the plane.  After about 2 hours, they opened all the doors, and told us we could get off the plane, but we could not venture beyond the span of the wings.  

We got off, and upon inspection, there were big chunks of mud stuck to the plane, branches ant twigs were in the flight surfaces, and huge chunks of mud was still packed into the landing gear.  It’s clear what happened now…  We had missed the runway- big time.  

They decided that plane would no longer be used to transport us, so they searched for another 747 to take us the rest of the way home.  The closest one was in Germany, but it had to be serviced, a crew readied, then flown to Italy, luggage and passengers re-loaded, before we could take off.  7 hours later, the new 747 arrived, and parked near us.  We unloaded the cargo holds (Well, not we- I didn’t get picked- thank God!) and soon thereafter, we de-planned, and boarded the new 747.  

Nine hours after the ordeal began, the new Pan Am 747 was thundering down the runway, next stop, JFK in NYC. If there had been a ship going to the USA, I’d have been on that, but- I ended up getting back on the horse pretty quick.  All 372 of us did.  

The rest of the flight was uneventful- just like I like them to be.  They let us aviation buffs come up to the cockpit two at a time, and over the Atlantic, at 38,000 feet, I was in the cockpit of a Boeing 747, cruising at 551 MPH.  AWESOME!!!  People talk about snow-blindness, but now I know why pilots wear shades.  The sunlight reflecting off those clouds will blind you too.   

The pilot was talking to us (he wasn’t looking out the window) and the co-pilot was looking at the controls.  Giving this engine a little more, taking a little bit off the other.  That was an awesome thing to see.  

Who knew a 747, loaded with nearly 400 people, 400 ruck-sacks, and 800 duffle bags could be so nimble, and athletic to be recoverable from the angle we were,  at the low speed we were traveling?  I’m sure Pan Am gave the pilots credit, but in my opinion, God had to lift that plane back right. Given the lack of attention to normal landing procedures, I wouldn’t be surprised if the pilots weren’t asleep.  I just don’t see how the pilot was able to recover us from that, given the little amount of time this took place in (10-15 seconds, max).  Nevertheless, I’m here to tell about it. 

Well, that’s my Maalox moment.  What’s yours? 

I don't remember if Chip was involved in this one or not, but I believe he was.  Circa 1999, I seem to remember a helicopter going down in the DFW area, and if memory serves- Chip was on that one too.

While I can't say with 100% certainty that Chip was on there (I believe he was) I do know that word of a DFW traffic chopper going down, severely shook up 104.5's traffic reporter Alicia Speed.  They were talking to her about the hard-landing. I was taking my wife to work that morning, and we were listening to the radio.  Alicia was so shaken up, she cursed on the radio. She said something to the effect of, "I work for a BLEEP**d up company, yall!"  And man, you should have heard Slammy-Sam Putney, and Skip & Company trying to cover that up...  (Hey-hey-hey!!!!)  Seeing that happen to co-workers though, that's an understandable reaction.

I'm sure there was no one on that hard-landing chopper back then, or today that didn't say, "Oh S***!" when they realized what was happening.

Thank God everyone is OK then, and now- and was able to walk away from it.

Walking away from one chopper crash is a miracle. 
Walking away from two means God in certainly on your side.

Dang, when that chopper lost power, it wasted no time coming down.  Good thing they weren't over the water, and that the pilot was outstanding with regard to auto-rotating, didn't over-react, and got everyone down safely. Pat's on the back to the pilot, thanks to God for everyone making it out OK.

We hope you come back Chip, but if you would like some ground time, I'm sure everyone whose ever had a close call in the air, (I have, on a Pan Am 747 in Rome, Italy~ whole different kind of Maalox moment) would understand.

OK, I know 635 is under construction (After 10 years, it always seems to be). I don't like drivign 635, but never really feel "unsafe" out there.  Tuesday night, in the rain, was different. 

I was just east of Garland on 635 towards Dallas. It was raining lightly, and traffic was moving kinda slow 40 - 45 MPH.  As I drove I thought to myself, "Are my headlights on?" I checked, and sure enough- they were on. I guess the  reflective material on the stripes of the road has worn off- because I couldn't see more than 3-4 stripes ahead of me.

I figured it was a just a 635 thing, but- when I exited onto 75,  guess what? I couldn't see those stripes much better. Instead of 3 - 4 stripes, I was at 5 or 6.

While I don't expect to see as clearly as one can on a clear/dry night, in the rain- that was ridiculous.  I don't know if the paint has lost it's reflectivity, if there are no reflectors left, or both.  Nighttime visibility on 635 was very poor.  I have 20/15 vision- so I know it's not my eyesight. I know anyone with eyesight worse than mine- were really enduring a Maalox moment.

Perhaps we need to go back to yellow stripes instead of white- or, maybe we just need freshly painted white lines on 635, whenever they finsih doing those HOV lanes.  At least from Mesquite to Irving... It would be very easy to wander into someone else's lane.

I've been here 10 years, and have driven 635 countless times, as well as the Tollway, George Bush, 183, 114, 121, 820, I-35E, 1-35W, 380 and 720.  I've never seen non-foggy roadway visibility that low.

Does anyone else agree, or is it just me?

Personally, I don't (At least I should say, I didn't) have a problem with unmarked police cars.  But, after hearing about people being robbed and raped on the side of the road (Although rare, one or two, is too many in my book) by people pretending to be police officers, makes me wonder if having unmarked police cars patrolling our streets and highways is really a good idea. 

Every time I see a Crown Victoria, I slow down anyway.  9.99 times out of 10, it's a gray-hair citizen behind the wheel- but, you never can be too sure- when Big Vicky is around.  And, if you've noticed, police light bars are now transparent and very thin in profile, making them harder to see from a distance. By the time you can see them- if you are doing anything ticket-worthy, you're already busted- so, I have to wonder how much benefit is truy gained by unmarked cars. Not only that, but some cities use non-traditional unmarked cars as police cruisers. I saw an unmarked Dodge Intrepid with someone pulled over in Flowermound the other day.  How often do you see an Intrepid police car?  Frisco has Tahoe's now, and Addison was sporting Pontiac Bonnevilles and Tahoes for years- but, they were clearly marked. 

For surveilance, or call-answering- fine. Have as many unmarked units as you need. But, I think for traffic stops and highway patrol, the cars need to be clearly identifiable and unmistakably, police cars. Not something some joker near a costume shop, with a Crown Vic can duplicate. Furthermore, anyone beyond the dorrs of a stripper house-party, pretending to be a police officer, should be slapped with a $100,000 fine, and 10 years in prison, minimum.

But seriously, I've seen unmarked cars light up a few unsuspecting drivers- and they are VERY well lit- with lights on the dash, on the rearview mirrors, in the grill, in the back window, and on the exterior mirrors.  I wonder what the cars looked like that pulled these people over, and violated them.  Did they have a siren too?  To me- with the siren and the lights, a police car would be hard to duplicate, unless you bought a used police car still equipped with all the lights- a story which made Fox4 news a week or so ago. 

It's bad when there are clowns who prey on people's inclination to yield to law enforcement, but- we all know they're out there.  Some people say, "Keep driving, call 911 and ask if you are really being stopped before you stop."  Sounds like a good idea, but- what if you forgot your cell phone?  What if the cop thinks you're evading him/her- or resisting arrest?

Sounds like the best plan is to just not allow unmarked cars to make traffic stops.

So Dallas/Fort Worth, what do you  think about under cover police cars?

When I moved up here, and started working in Plano, I thought I had entered Disney's Magic Kingdom (R). Everything was so nice, and Plano had the smoothest roads this side of Heaven.

Now, you can't hardly drive anywhere in Plano, or Frisco without seeing the roads torn up.  And, don't get me started on 75.  I guess that's a 30-year work in progress.  I've been here 10 years, and in that time, there may have been 30 - 45 days when some sort of construction wasn't underway on 75...

In Plano, the 75 service roads are torn up, Custer's torn up, Parker is torn up, Alma was ripped up for what looked like a year- not to mention Independence, and the work beign done near 121 (Which is a given). There's NO 'quick & easy" way to get into Frisco, all those roads are hosed. Well, with the overpass, Preston is OK, now.. Seeing the evolution is astounding, but does it have to take so long?

When they finally got the fire lit on the George bush Turnpike, they made it happen.  I drove under those overpasses for years with nothing connected to them, then- from 1997 - 1999- all of a sudden- it was connected from 75 to Midway. Now it's all the way to Irving.

My questions are:

1.)  Are these contrcts paid by the hour?  The High Five was supposed to be a 7 + year project. It's been pretty much complete (Except for the HOV lanes) since 2005, and they broke ground in 2001.  Impressive.  If they can build an overpass system in a few years, why does it take so long to fix side streets, and thoroughfares on the ground?

2.)  Why tear up so many streets at the same time?  Instead of having a handful working here, and a handful working there- it seems things would move faster if they focused all (or more) the resources on one street.road/highway as opposed to being spread so thinly...

3.)  What are you fixing?  It seems every "short cut" I try to take across Plano, there's construction.  A patch cut out here, big piece of metal there, open hole with cones around it over there...  What are they fixing? At first, it was clear new sewage/drainage pipes were going in. Now it looks like patchwork. What's broke? 

When did we all get so important?  Remember when only doctors and lawyers had cell phones and pagers?  Now, grade-schoolers have them.  While I'll admit, a cell phone has saved me a time or two thanks to 1990's GM reliability ('91 Cavalier, '94 Cutlass Supreme), and they have helped others in other dangerous situations (floods, heart attacks, kidnaps, etc..). Nevertheless, I wonder how many accidents cell phones have contributed to, how many people have been killed or injured by inattentive drivers, compared to how many lives they have saved.  For the most part- I won't even answer the phone if someone calls me and I'm driving.

I was driving back from church yesterday, headed north on 75, just past the High -Five- where traffic was flowing at 70 - 80 MPH. While driving, I noticed a lot of poor driving. Lane changes with no signals,  jokers sittign so low in their cars, I know they have trouble seeing, and I noticed more than a few people getting very close to the lines. Their cars were weaving, and if I didn't have as much wheel time as I have (22-years as a licensed driver, and hundreds of thousands of miles), I'd have assumed the people we encountered were driving drunk. 

My wife was like- "What's wrong with everybody today?"  I said, well, I've heard 1 out of every 10 drivers you meet in the day time are above the legal limit for intoxication, and at night, the rate goest to 1 in 4.  I said it's scary to think at any given time, 10 - 25% of the drivers on the roads are impaired... 

I went on to tell her- "But that guy up there (Red Jeep Wrangler, black top) is not drunk, he's messing around with his cell phone. She said, "How do you know that?"  I said, I see it all the time. He's driving slower than the flow of traffic, and he's weaving- signs of drunkedness for sure, but, also a sing of cellphone intoxication.

Eventually, he stabilized enough for me to pass him, so I decided to. I passed on the left (Like a good driver should), plus he was cruising in the lane closest to the far left, being passed on both sides.  When we got along side him, I glanced over.  Sure enough, Mister Driver was fidgiting with his cell, looking down at 65 MPH, trying to dial someone on his cell phone. Is it that important dude?  I bet it's not...

•  Hey, how'd Tiger do on the front nine?
•  I'm on my way to Wal-Mart.
• Is Wal-Mart open on Easter?

Like I said, irrelevant social conersation...

God, I wish they hadn't invented cell phones some times; or- at least I wish they'd left them at $650- $1,000 so everyone wouldn't have them. By the time we were near the Campbell, a young lady (Red Chevy Cobalt~ Maybe it's a red car thing???) was weaving, straddling the line.  I went ahead and passed her too- same thing- yacking it up on her cell phone...

Sometimes, you have to wonder- who's more dangerous? The joker who had a beer or two after work, or the multitude of jokers doing everything from reading books, to news papers, to watching DVD's (Yes, you can get someone to fix it so you can see a DVD when not in "Park" in the front seats, illegal though it may be) I think they're equally dangerous.

I think the local Police departments need to get back out there in those undercover Crown Vics, and start writing some tickets.  lord knows sometimes I wish I were an undercover police officer. With the stuff I see, I could write enough tickets to pay for a few new Crown Vics, just from stopping / citing the ones who touch/cross the lines without signalling from trying to dial their cell phones... 

It's not illegal in Texas yet, but, it should be...  I'll vote for it if it ever hits the ballot.

I realize there are bigger fish to fry, but you gotta start somewhere...