Spy Photos: 2011 Ford Edge

These are the first photos of the refreshed 2011 Ford Edge, seen on the streets of Dearborn on the same day as the facelifted Lincoln MKX. We expect the 2011 Edge to get its official debut at one of the winter auto shows with sales beginning in the spring of 2010.

You can see that the original Edge's love-it-or-hate-it razor grille has been pruned back on the 2011 model. Though the new grille is still quite large, both it and the new headlamps remind us a little bit of the front end on the Ford Taurus, one of the better looking cars in the Ford lineup.

Around back, the overstyled, clear-lens taillamps we never cared for on earlier Edges give way to more convention red and amber lenses.

Down the side of the 2011 Ford Edge, you'll notice reshaped rear quarter windows that give the illusion of a faster rear roofline and generally help Ford's medium-size crossover appear less boxy and rotund.

The door handles are slightly longer, too, and will apparently will be chrome on some models. And we do hope these wheels are production-spec, too, as they are comfortably un-huge and vaguely reminiscent of the wheels on the Europe-only Focus ST.

Of course, the big news on the refreshed 2011 Edge will undoubtedly be the addition of Ford's twin-turbocharged and direct-injected, 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 to the options list. We hope Ford provides bigger brakes to go with the extra horsepower, which is expected to come in around 350.