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Today, Ford announced the 2019 Edge ST, a new performance-focused version of the brand’s four-door, five-seat crossover. The new addition to the Ford Performance lineup gets 335 horsepower and 380 lb.-ft. of torque from a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 which sends all twist through an eight-speed automatic to all four wheels. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but don’t expect it to be much pricier than the Edge Sport’s $41,000 asking price.
However, the real question isn’t about the Edge ST’s price; it’s why did Ford want to dilute it’s stellar Ford Performance lineup by trying to make a milquetoast crossover exciting? There’s no denying that crossovers and compact SUVs are popular (sales numbers don’t lie), so I completely understand why Ford would want to expand its crossover selection. But crossovers, by design, are a compromise. They’re grey, middle of the road, not much of anything. What the Edge ST is, is just a bright shade of grey.
Kudos to Ford for trying to make a crossover exciting, joining the ranks with the likes of the Audi S Q5 and Mercedes-AMG GLA, but this isn’t the car that deserved an ST badge. Of the rest of Ford’s lineup, a Raptor-esque Expedition ST, or a C-Max ST to give the Fiat 500 Abarth a run for its money would have been welcome newcomers. Instead, we got a performance version of a car for people who don’t care about performance.
