The original Ford Explorer helped transform midsize SUVs from rugged work vehicles to family haulers. For 2011, Ford has completely redesigned the Explorer, and reviewers say the new model manages to be both a comfortable family vehicle and a credibly rugged SUV. “Ford's re-imagined Explorer is a very nice 7-passenger crossover that, unfortunately, is in competition with a lot of other very nice 7-passenger crossovers,” says Consumer Guide. If reviewers have one complaint about the new Explorer, it’s the price. Reviewers often compare the Explorer and the Grand Cherokee, which starts at about $2,000 more than the base Explorer.
Details: Ford Explorer
The Ford Explorer is a completely new vehicle for 2011. It comes in three trims: the base Explorer, Explorer XLT and the Explorer Limited. Later in 2011, the Explorer will be available with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The Explorer can seat up to seven people.
Ford’s radically redesigned 2011 Explorer casts away preconceptions with an impressive appetite for the rough stuff that belies its stylish new exterior.
I was going to start this review of the re-designed 2011 Ford Explorer by calling it the car that saved my life. At least a dozen people commented during our test that the vehicle looks nothing like the old Explorer and more like a beefed up Ford Escape. Overall, the new Explorer is about 100 pounds lighter than the previous generation Explorer model.
Ford intends the Explorer to look and feel like a crossover but in reality is a full SUV that can carry and pull cargo.
Of course, every Explorer, even the entry-level model that costs $28,190 includes a third row seat for seven total passengers. If you fold the third row seats down, you get 43.8 cubic feet of cargo space. If you fold down the second row seats, you get 80.7 cubic feet of space.
All-terrain driving
Ford is pretty serious about making all-terrain driving accessible to everyone. In the Explorer, when you switch modes, you can feel the vehicle changing to match the terrain. This can be a little jarring at first if you have driven an SUV and never played around with the 4×4 settings. In practice, the dialing system worked beautifully.
I also tested the mud settings in thick snow and dirt, and then tested the sane setting in lighter snow where there wasn’t as much ice present. I also tested the normal mode which is basically like using the SUV in rear-wheel drive.
For example, on hard-packed snow, the Explorer did intelligently change wheel speed to keep me going straight. So what about heavy snow? In the exact same snow bank where I tested the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Explorer easily propelled through about 8 inches of snow. For highway driving on snow and on dry pavement, the Explorer also behaved perfectly. There were a few minor instances with the Grand Cherokee when the car slipped a bit out of turns, but the Explorer hugged the road in my tests. The Explorer offers quite a few extras beyond just the terrain dial. (I tested this with a Sprint 3G card but it did not work; Ford tells me Verizon cards do work.)
Like the Edge, the Explorer also alerts you when you go in reverse if there is any traffic behind you. Ford has a video that shows how they work.
Of course, we’ve already covered the Ford SYNC system for voice-activated driving and several other amenities now standard on many Ford vehicles, such as rain-sensing wipers. The Explorer offers a snow mode that behaves like 4×4 low but it’s not quite as beefy as the Grand Cherokee in our tests.
That said, Ford deserves high accolades for the new Explorer. Overall, the Explorer kept us going straight on slippery roads.
In hopes of delivering a successful three-row crossover, Ford has gutted its best-selling seven-seat SUV, the Explorer. The new Explorer will undoubtedly please SUV fans but it might leave families flat, thanks to a tight second row and high step-in height.
Performance
All Explorers feature the same 290-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6, which is rated at 17/25 mpg city/highway with front-wheel drive and 17/23 mpg with all-wheel drive. On a positive note, the Explorer is nearly 8 inches shorter than the Traverse and 3 inches shorter than the CX-9, so it may fit in more garages and parking spaces.
The gauge cluster features the MyFord system, which includes small LCD screens on both sides of a central speedometer. The second row of this three-row crossover, nay, SUV, was where the Explorer comes up short. The bench seat in my tester was short on legroom. (Dual bucket seats are optional.) You can check out a thorough review of the Explorer's ability to handle a variety of child-safety seats here.