2012 Ford Edge: Car Seat Check

At 76 inches across, the 2012 Ford Edge is wider than its competitors, the Nissan Murano, Dodge Journey and Toyota Highlander, but not wide enough to fit three child-safety seats across the second row. The Ford crossover carries five passengers and has a new turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder engine for 2012.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide 30 rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back TurboBooster seat.

Cars.com Family Reviews the 2012 Honda Pilot

The 2012 Honda Pilot is a roomy three-row crossover that works well for families, according to Cars.com Family contributor Carrie Kim. She wasn’t thrilled by its boxy looks but was willing to overlook them because of the Pilot’s versatility. This family hauler can carry eight passengers, fit three child-safety seats across its second row and has a two-tiered cargo area behind the third-row seats.  

2012 Honda Pilot

As Automakers Face Hurdles, Responsiveness Becomes Key

Carmakers are reacting faster to the market these days, and their success hinges on speed more than ever.

As we head into the holiday season, consider two carmakers whose latest products have had not-so-merry receptions. Honda, stung by a new round of supply shortages from flooding in Thailand, faces harsh reviews over its redesigned Civic — a compact car we've noted drops the ball in cabin quality, though we still recommend it for other strengths. The redesigned Odyssey minivan, meanwhile, has stumbled on reliability in Consumer Reports' latest surveys.

Rival automaker Ford, a longtime reliability leader among Detroit automakers, faces its own issues in recent quality rankings, mostly over the controversial MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch center controls.

Both automakers are responding.

Nearly 250,000 Owners Will Get MyFord Touch Upgrade

As we reported earlier, Ford will upgrade the performance speed and usability of its MyFord Touch system and will deliver the upgrade via USB jump drive to existing customers starting early next year. The 2013 Ford Escape, Flex and Taurus will be the first new Fords equipped with the upgraded system.

We’re now learning that the performance upgrade will affect some 250,000 existing Ford owners — purchasers of the Ford Focus, Explorer, Edge and Lincoln MKX, according to the Los Angeles Times blog. MyFord Touch debuted more than a year ago, on the 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX.

The jump drive will be mailed to owners, and Ford says the upgrade should take about 45 minutes to complete. If owners don’t feel up to upgrading the system themselves, Ford says you can bring your Ford to a dealership that will perform the upgrade for free. Another 200,000 Fords equipped with MyFord Touch were sold outside the U.S.; Ford is still deciding on how to upgrade the system for those owners.

The improvements come after intense customer and critic complaints that the system was confusing, slow and buggy. In fact, the prolific introduction of MyFord Touch over the year, apparently much to chagrin of Ford buyers, was enough to dramatically decrease Ford’s reliability and initial quality scores with Consumer Reports and J.D. Power and Associates, respectively. Ford says that nearly 85% of people who own vehicles with MyFord Touch find it easy to use, before the upgrade.

2012 Ford Edge, 2012 Ford Explorer EcoBoost: First Drive

Ford is addiing its turbocharged EcoBoost engines to the Edge and Explorer crossovers — but not the 3.5-liter powerhouse from the Flex and Taurus SHO. Instead, for 2012, the crossovers get a 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder whose power rivals a typical V-6: 240 horsepower and 270 pounds-feet of torque. The front-wheel-drive EcoBoost Explorer is EPA-rated at 20/28 mpg (city/highway), while the EcoBoost Edge, gets an impressive 21/30 mpg — nudged to the 30 mark by active grille shutters, which the Explorer lacks.

Both cars are on sale now. Near Ford’s Romeo, Mich. proving grounds last week, we took the people-haulers, well, people-hauling.

2012 Ford Edge EcoBoost Gets 30 MPG Highway

The 2012 Ford Edge SUV with the new 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine will get an EPA-estimated 21/30 mpg city/highway with front-wheel drive, according to the automaker.

That fuel-economy score bests all of the Edge’s competitors, including the V-6 Nissan Murano (18/23 mpg), four-cylinder Toyota Venza (21/27 mpg) and V-6 Honda Accord Crosstour (18/27 mpg). In fact, Ford says the fuel-economy rating bests all other SUVs of its size or larger in addition to cars like the Honda Civic Si or Saab 9-3. Most people aren’t cross-shopping those vehicles, however.

The fuel rating is a big turnaround for the Edge. When the car debuted in 2007, it had a measly 16/23 mpg rating.

The EcoBoost four-cylinder packs 240 horsepower and 270 pounds-feet of torque; the engine is less powerful than either V-6 offering found on the Edge. In the larger 2012 Ford Explorer, the powertrain nets 20/28 mpg.

The 2012 Ford Edge EcoBoost hits dealerships later this summer.

Ford Drops Sync Price by $100 on Explorer, Edge

Ford has cut the price of its Sync system by $100 on the 2012 Ford Explorer and Edge, and it’s offering the technology on all trim levels for both models.

The new starting price for Sync on the base Explorer and Edge is $295, down from $395. In past model years, Sync was unavailable on those trims. Ford hasn’t announced if the price cuts will impact the cost of MyFord Touch, an optional system that has Sync built into it available on higher trims.

The 2012 Ford Edge has a starting MSRP of $28,465 (up $825 from 2011), while the 2012 Ford Explorer starts at $28,995 (up $635), including undisclosed destination fees. Both models are in production and heading to dealerships.

Ford says the 2013 Ford Taurus, Focus, Escape and Flex will get new — presumably lowered — pricing for Sync, too. 

2011 Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX Earn IIHS Top Safety Picks

The 2011 Ford Edge and its twin, the Lincoln MKX, received the Top Safety Pick designation in the midsize SUV category from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

To earn the award, a vehicle must receive the top rating of Good in front, side, rear and rollover crash tests. The vehicle also must have electronic stability control, which is standard on both Ford crossovers.

Measurements taken during the tests show a low risk of significant injury in a 40-mph frontal-offset crash. A head injury is possible; the test dummy's head hit the steering wheel through the airbag during testing. During side-impact tests, the heads of the driver and rear passenger were protected from the 3,300-pound deformable barrier traveling at 31 mph (shown above).

To pass IIHS’ roof-strength test, a vehicle’s roof must be able to withstand the force of four times the vehicle’s weight. Both the Edge and MKX can withstand 4.7 times their own weight.

The Edge and MKX join eight other Lincoln and Ford brand models on the Top Safety Pick roster: the Taurus, Fiesta, Fusion, Explorer, Flex, MKZ, MKS and MKT.

Learn More

2011 Ford Edge review 
2011 Lincoln MKX review

Recall Alert: 2011 Ford F-Series, Edge, Lincoln MKX

Ford is recalling 8,022 vehicles from the 2011 model year because an electrical short may develop in the body control module and cause a fire, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The vehicles in the recall are the 2011 Ford Edge, F-150, F-250, F-350, F-450, F-50 and the Lincoln MKX. The vehicles were built from Oct. 25 to Nov. 20, 2010.

The affected vehicles were previously inspected using a diagnostic system to check whether the body control module needed to be replaced, based on the serial number. However, the system’s custom software was not reading the correct set of characters and could not determine if a body control module needed replacing. An electrical short in the body control module could cause overheating and lead to a vehicle fire.

The recall is expected to begin Monday. Dealers will inspect the body control module and replace it if necessary at no charge. Owners can call Ford at 866-436-7332 or NHTSA’s hotline at 888-327-4236.

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Ford Paying Dealers to Teach MyFord Touch Tech

Ford’s new MyFord Touch multimedia interface is causing some learning pains for both customers and Ford dealerships alike, prompting the automaker to offer a new carrot with which to promote the system, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The carrot, in this instance, is cold, hard cash. Ford will give each dealership a $75 delivery allowance for every car sold with MyFord Touch. That action is in response to complaints from dealerships, many of which have hired dedicated technology specialists who train Ford owners on how to use the system. The incentive is supposed to encourage more of this type of consumer training and to promote MyFord Touch, which Ford hopes to have in 80% of its vehicles by 2015. There’s a separate $50 incentive for cars equipped just with Sync.

MyFord Touch has been widely panned by the press. We recently tested a Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX that were equipped with the system; overall, we thought it was a high-tech headache that still needs a lot of work before it’s more widely implemented throughout Ford’s lineup.

Ford to Give Allowance for Touch-Screen System (Detroit Free Press)