Ford Edge ST

In its bold move, Ford Motor Company announced that they will stop selling passenger cars in North America as they shift their focus on mostly SUVs and trucks as well as the Mustang. The end of Ford passenger cars do spell an end of bringing hot hatches in American soil and with today's Focus and Fiesta are only available in Europe with hot variants coming to the mix, it's pain to say for Americans about what comes next for Ford now that they stop selling passenger cars on American soil, including hot hatches such as old Focus ST and the Fiesta ST. One such solution comes from this; the Edge ST, the first high-performance SUV from Ford Performance. Does it deliver hot hatch performance in SUV looks?

2019 Ford Edge ST

Following Ford's responses that they will not sell passenger cars on American soil as well as the next Focus and Fiesta's ST variants won't make it Stateside, the Ford Edge ST fills the void of the ST emblem and while it sounds painful for most Blue Oval enthusiasts, Ford's new sports utility hero wants to save the day with its 2.7L V6 EcoBoost engine tuned to produce 335hp, recalibrated 8-speed AT, and sport tuned suspension, not to mention standard all-wheel drive with selectable traction control. Whoa, did I say them all?

Needless to say, this $42,355 high-performance crossover has a lot of things to say about being an SUV that tries so hard to be worthy of the ST badge, a badge that was been adorned by previous-generation Focus and Fiesta hatchbacks in the past and with these hatchbacks ceased to exist on American soil, thanks to you-know-who, this morbidly-obese crossover in hot hatch costume tries so hard to figure things out for the sake of delivering its fun-to-drive character in a different perspective.

One of the crazy aspects of the Edge ST is the inclusion of the enhanced active noise that allows the sound of the engine to be heard through the cabin. Great noise but great joke indeed. While the noise part is a bit of a "it's joke" moment, the revised electronic throttle programming makes the Edge ST more responsive even when slowing down through a corner, which feels somewhat okay to handle for a crossover with hot hatch credentials stole from its dying breed.

Speaking of dying breed, the Ford Performance-tuned suspension really makes it up for its sizing. It feels like that clever moment when a Dodge Durango SRT is almost as fast as the Ford Focus RS round Laguna Seca but this is the Ford Edge ST we're talking about and how this new sports utility hero responds is everyone's guess, especially when it comes with Intelligent AWD with AWD Disconnect as well as Torque Vectoring Control like the one from the Ford Focus RS. This crossover balances all the work and play like it really means it.

When opted with the special Ford Co-Pilot 360 Assist+, the Edge ST comes with numerous safety features that will make the trip back home from another day in paradise more safe and secure.

It's hard for Ford to find a substitute for hot hatches that became victimized by their bold move to not sell passenger cars in its home market because of their shift to crossovers and trucks and for the Ford Edge ST, it sometimes doesn't live up to what the Focus ST and the Fiesta ST delivers but with all that power, the all-wheel drive, the dynamics, and some other stuff, this sports utility hero sure knows how to play Double Dare in all the right and wrong barrels. The more you know.

Photo: Ford Motor Company