Edging Fordwards in SUV market

Ford is well-known in North America for its dominance of the SUV and pickup truck market, while here in Europe the blue oval brand is playing catch-up with the SUV competition. That is about to change with the arrival of the Edge, which is a larger and more serious SUV than the current mid-size Kuga.

There is a real American feel about the Edge; it just feels solid and strong from behind the wheel. And that forced me to look at where it is positioned in the market. The size and performance put the Edge well ahead of the Kuga, so it is a match for the bigger players, but not yet big enough to meet the Audi Q7 or BMW X5 head on.

That is why I pitched it against the likes of the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Land Rover Discovery Sport when I sat down to analyse where it fits. Relative to these, the Edge is pricey while it has an impressive specification with a lot included that will be add-ons, and expensive ones at that, for the others.

Ford’s new 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine is impressive in terms of its performance, but not so on economy. The engine is very smooth and lively so that it accelerates with absolute ease, coupled with the six-speed manual gearbox.

The engine generates 180bhp and backed up with 400Nm of torque, which means the Edge can accelerate and is almost a match for the BMW X3. Hit the floor and it has the same solid feel that you expect from quality mid-range SUVs and it hugs the roads. There is great road holding and confident cornering, even on smaller roads.

The price you pay for this impressive driving feel comes in the form of poorer fuel economy than some of the competition. The official figures at 17km/litre (5.8l/100km or 49mpg) look good on paper, but on the road it was a far different experience.

I found that I was achieving almost half of that level, so getting to 12km/litre (34mpg) was a challenge. The engine is lively and in a sense encourages you to drive on, but at the expense of fuel economy. While it is a very smooth and pleasant driving experience, it could be a costly one.

Relative to the competition, this new Ford Edge is somewhere between the Volkswagen Tiguan and the Land Rover Discovery Sport in terms of economy. Kuga drivers who might aim for the bigger Edge need to be prepared for poorer economy figures.

The big engine power and torque gives expectations of good towing ability, but the Edge is at the lower end of the class at 2t. This surprised me as it is a full-time 4x4 vehicle but its heavy kerb weight of 1.9t limits the towing ability based on its gross vehicle weight rating.

The Edge is a spacious SUV with good passenger space in the rear and solid feeling seats up front that have loads of adjustment. I was comfortable within minutes after taking to the seat. The rear legroom is good and this SUV is designed for three adults in the back.

The boot is also very spacious with plenty of load capacity and a space saver spare wheel included. Across a comparison measurement, the Edge boot space is well ahead of the competition, giving it a feeling of a bigger SUV.

The electric handbrake is standard and there are lots of safety features including the Ford Sync system included as standard. The car has no Euro NCAP crash test rating as yet, but you can expect that it will meet the five-star standards.

The safety kit includes active noise control, which claims to work like noise-cancelling headphones to counteract unwanted noises in the cabin. The Edge comes with pre-collision assist with pedestrian detection to apply the brakes to avoid collisions with other vehicles or even pedestrians. And, finally, it is fitted with Ford adaptive steering, which claims to automatically adjust the steering ratio according to speed for more precise steering.

There are two USB connection points and facility to use an SD navigation card. The Sony brand radio system is very impressive and the Ford sat-nav system was clear using a large, centre screen that doubles as the screen for the reversing camera, as well as all of the infotainment stuff.

Ford has pitched the Edge entry price high at €55,700 or £29,995 in NI. That’s a good deal more expensive than the Kuga, while you are getting a more powerful, spacious and better performing SUV.

It is even more expensive than the quality end mid-range SUVs on the market; the only difference is that the Ford Edge comes loaded with impressive features from the start. A higher specification and more powerful 210bhp version, is also available for an extra €5,000 (£2,000 more in NI).

The Edge gives Ford its third SUV for the Irish market, alongside the Kuga and EcoSport. The Edge is the more solid and substantial machine of the three. It is a real SUV with reasonable off-road ability and very good on-road manners, but it is pricey.

Amarok gets bigger engine and more towing power

Volkswagen launched its new bigger engine for the Amarok 4x4 pickup as the National Ploughing Championships opened in Screggan, Tullamore. The new 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine the Amarok uses is among the latest generation of Volkswagen V6 engines. The price of the new Amarok V6 is from €38,459, including VAT, a marginal increase from the previous 2.0-litre model.

Irish drivers of the Amarok can look forward to an additional litre of displacement offered by the 3.0-litre engine. Its new engine will deliver up to 550Nm of torque and a power output of up to 224bhp, which is over 50bhp more than the average for vehicles in this segment. The V6 engine propels the Amarok from 0-100 km/h in an impressive 7.9 seconds.

The new V6 diesel engine claims to deliver high torque at low engine speeds even under the most demanding of conditions. The powerful top-of-the-line six-cylinder engine produces its maximum torque at only 1,500rpm.

For Irish drivers, there will be a choice of 204bhp or 224bhp from the same 3.0-litre V6 engine, combined with a permanent all-wheel-drive system and a Torsen differential with the eight-speed automatic gearbox.

The latest offering comes with 17in brake discs on the front axle of the 224bhp Amarok and 16in discs at the rear. The Volkswagen automatic post-collision braking system, which has won multiple awards, is also included as standard.

The new Amarok has an extra Comfortline option in addition to Trendline and Highline trims. The wheels in the various equipment levels offered with the Amarok are now larger. The Amarok Highline features 18in alloy wheels and the park distance control parking assistant, which uses a rear-view camera. The overall impression of the Highline is improved further by bi-xenon headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED licence plate lighting and a well-equipped and luxurious interior.

Land Rover unveils the new Discovery

Land Rover has unveiled its new Discovery, which comes with a full-sized, three-row, seven-seat capacity in an SUV that the company claims has unbeatable capability and versatility. The new Discovery design has strong hints of the Discovery Sport while being larger in size. It will be on sale early in 2017.

This fifth-generation Discovery claims to be strong, safe and light with a full-size SUV architecture. The new Discovery retains its trademark design feature, which includes the stepped roofline.

This design claims to optimise headroom for passengers travelling in the third row of seats. It also accommodates Discovery’s tiered seating configuration, which sees each row of seats positioned higher than the one in front. Both third-row seats incorporate ISOFIX mounting points giving five in total in SE models and above to put child seats in the most appropriate seat for any journey.

The new Discovery is designed to accommodate seven full-sized adults in an SUV body measuring less than five metres in length (4,970mm). That is marginally longer than the current Discovery.

The new Discovery comes with Jaguar Land Rover’s InControl Touch Pro infotainment system. This uses a large 10in touchscreen positioned high on the centre console, reducing the number of switches on the centre console by a third.