| The
2009 Ford Edge , a new crossover utility vehicle (CUV) , a unibody
design, universal among today's passenger cars and for crossovers.
Unibodies — the car's body, floor pan, and chassis form
a single structure — can provide higher structural rigidity,
lower curb weights, and dynamics that are more like passenger
cars than the trucklike responses of body-on-frame SUVs.
The Edge's wheelbase is one of the longest in this mid-size
class, the chassis is exceptionally stiff. High chassis rigidity
and a long wheelbase equal good ride quality, another edge
for the Edge. With subframe-mounted front struts, a multilink
rear, and anti-roll bars fore-and-aft, the Edge smoothes lumpy
pavement — as well as dirt-road nastiness — without
feeling squishy, for the most part, the Edge is about as composed
and responsive.
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