I’m not a fan of the road trip. Steve on the other hand loves nothing better than a summer long-haul drive. I’m good for about 2 1/2 hours and then I want to move my body and be SOMEWHERE. So when Ford Canada gave us the opportunity to test drive its 2016 Ford Edge Titanium SUV on a trip we had planned from Winnipeg to Minneapolis, I hesitated. I’m not really a car gal and not liking road trips … well, I wasn’t sure it was a good match. Steve was very keen, though. Sometimes I remember that there are two of us. We decided to go for it.
Disclosure: Ford Canada provided this test drive opportunity to us at no cost. Opinions are our own.
Why I don’t love road trips
- I don’t like sitting for long periods. Somehow this doesn’t bother me quite as much on a plane, but in a car, I get squirrelly pretty quickly.
- I get motion sickness. Especially when I try to read to distract myself from the fact that there are many kilometres to go before we reach our destination.
- I have back problems, and most car seats don’t have great lumbar support. Pain makes me crabby.
- When I’m at the wheel on the highway during the day, I get overwhelmingly sleepy regardless of how well rested I am. This makes it hard to split the driving. So Steve does most of it and then I worry that he is fatigued and is going to drive into oncoming traffic.
Helpful Features on the 2016 Ford Edge Titanium
SYNC® 3
Not the name of the latest boy band as I first thought, SYNC® 3 is the vehicle’s communication system that works with your Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. It allows you to:
- Make calls hands free as well as send text messages
- Play music that’s on your phone
- Access select mobile apps
- Stream music from your phone
- Use the vehicle’s advanced voice recognition system
- Use 911 Assist and get traffic and directions information
How it helped: Not being able to read while in motion, being able to listen to my favourite podcasts via iTunes and through the vehicles stereo speakers was a major bonus. This definitely helped pass the time. Giving the vehicle voice commands to get directions or play specific songs was pretty Knight Rider cool too.
One small quibble: When using the navigation system, every time there is turn or merge to make, the nice automated lady’s voice (Siri!) cuts in over any music you’re listening to. This wouldn’t be bad, but her voice is very soft as compared with the normal volume of the music, and is hard to hear. When the music takes over again, you’ve missed some of it. It would be much better if the music was paused while Siri gives the next direction. This is not exclusive to the SYNC® 3 system. We’ve experienced this in other vehicles we’ve used as well. Can we get the Silicon Valley tech geniuses on this please?
Seats
OK, let’s talk the basics. Considering that seating is a major feature of vehicles, I don’t think all that much attention has gone into their design traditionally. I give full points to the Ford Edge Titanium on its power adjusted seats. Here’s why:
- You can move the seats forward and back
- You can raise the seats higher or lower
- You can recline the seats almost flat
- There is an adjustable lumbar support
How it helped: Hands down, these are comfy seats! The lumber support adjustment put it over the top. It kept my crabby rating down. My back felt pretty good.
On top of all of that, the seats have adjustable heat and air conditioning. Yup, air conditioning! Using that setting, it initially felt like I had peed my pants, which is always disconcerting. Once you’re used to it though, it’s kind of nice on a hot day.
Safe Driving Features
If you’re cruising down the highway and begin to veer into the other lane, the dashboard display warns you and the steering wheel vibrates. There is also a blind spot indicator on the side mirrors to help with changing lanes safely.
How it helped: This actually gave me huge peace of mind. I felt confident if “sleepy driving” occurred, the vehicle would let us know. Note the dashboard displays a graphic and suggestion to take a break after driving for a long stretch as well.
Active Park Assist
There are more buttons on this vehicle than the cockpit of a military jet. I’m sure over our three-day trip we didn’t discover every cool feature on the Edge Titanium. By far, though, the coolest feature we tested out was the active park assist technology that automatically parallel parks the vehicle. When you activate this feature, the vehicle identifies a suitable spot on the street and gives you visual guidance on the dashboard display to get you aligned properly. Then, as you give the vehicle gas, it takes over to maneuver into the spot with perfect precision. Freaky! Check out our video of Steve trying it out.
Verdict
Steve’s rented a lot of vehicles while on business travel and he gave the Edge Titanium five stars. He thought the ride was smooth and he loved the tech-driven design.
My verdict: Yes, the 2016 Ford Edge Titanium made this road trip by far the best I’ve undertaken. Driving is still not my favourite way to travel, but having a quality vehicle with the cool bells and whistles makes it a lot easier and could tip the balance when Steve next tries to convince me to hit the open road.
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Your comments and good rating, remind me of my new 2016 Soul Red Mazda 3. The two vehicles are actually related: Mazda – Ford. I am so delighted with mine as well.
I had to Google the Soul Mazda 3 to take a peek. Pretty spiffy car there! Does it also have the air conditioned seats? Did you find that hard to get used?
I never used to like long road trips, but we’ve done several over the last few years and I’ve come to appreciate many aspects of them, including the freedom to be more on our own schedule and the ability to carry more stuff. The comfort of the vehicle makes a huge difference. I’ve had heated seats for years but cannot quite get my head around air-conditioned seats. I can imagine places where they would be very welcome. The parking is pretty cool!
I have to admit Donna, I do enjoy not having to go through airport security. You’re right, vehicle comfort makes a huge difference and this vehicle was mighty comfy, including the air conditioned seats (once I got used to them).
[…] I'm not a fan of the road trip, but the features of the Ford Edge Titanium made the drive from Winnipeg to Minneapolis pretty sweet. […]