Limited 4dr All-Wheel Drive
2009 Ford Edge

2009 Ford Edge Sport – Click above for high-res image gallery Twenty-two inch wheels. A chocolate bar shy of two feet, the 2009 Ford Edge Sport has alloys the size of manhole covers. Despite being made of aluminum, these wheels pull the eyes of onlookers magnetically. The big rollers are not everyone's cup of tea, but they're the defining feature of the Edge Sport – even the standard Sport model kicks it with 20s. Ford adds even more visual slickness to the Edge Sport with smoked lenses for the head- and tail-lamps that go along with an uncommonly tasteful bodykit. We spent a week to-ing and fro-ing with an Edge Sport just to see if those rollers crushed our kidneys into renal failure, or if this crossover's aggressive looks are matched to a chassis that you can get along with every day. Click on the jump to find out. %Gallery-67642% Photos Copyright ©2009 John Neff / Weblogs, Inc. Surprisingly, the Ford Edge Sport is not a four-wheeled meat tenderizer. Ride quality is always a subjective land mine where one man's buttoned down is another man's harsh, but the Edge Sport pulls off its outsized sneakers. The Sport is firmer than other Edge models, partly due to the tires matched with the 22s – high performance 40-series Pirelli all seasons sporting a 265 millimeter cross-section. Beyond tires that would be aggressive for any street car, the unsprung mass of such gigantic hunks of metal at each corner could make for terribly bad vibes from behind the wheel. To bolster its chance for success, Ford set its suspension tuners upon the big CUV. The result is increased damping rates all around, stiffer rear springs and an additional millimeter of diameter for the front anti-roll bar, now 34mm. The attention given to the suspenders works well out in the wild, with the 22s costing surprisingly little in terms of ride quality over the standard 20s with which the Sport ships. The Edge's normal poise is there, with noticeably tight rebounding that keeps ride motions on the well-disciplined side of firm. For drivers that find the typical soft, slow-witted dynamics of most SUV/CUVs objectionable, the Edge Sport shows that the segment can be tuned for something other than lumbering mush. Mechanically, the Edge Sport isn't terribly different from its other brethren. The same 3.5-liter V6 and slick-operating six-speed automatic transmission are here. The 265 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque that this engine delivers will pull the 4,000-plus pounds around with satisfying snap when the tachometer needle swings north. Admittedly, however, those gigundo hoops promise performance that the engine bay can't muster. EcoBoost anyone? The Edge Sport's braking prowess is a bit of a letdown from the rest of the mechanical harmony. While pedal feel is reasonably good, there's surprisingly little return without a firmer-than-normal braking foot. Peering through the spokes of those big wheels just adds aesthetic disappointment to the performance shortcoming. With Conestoga-sized wheels, the standard rotors and calipers appear puny. …
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