Car Gazing
Why's the Explorer hot? It just does its job
By Derek Price
If you want to see an automotive superstar, forget about spotting a Ferrari or Lamborghini. Just look in your neighbor's driveway.
Chances are you'll see a Ford Explorer parked there, the suburban equivalent of Tiger Woods – trendy, stylish, athletic, and wildly popular. Americans love this Ford truck enough to make it the world's best-selling SUV for more than a decade, despite it getting more bad press than the guy who killed John Lennon.
Maybe Kobe Bryant could learn something here.
In any case, the Explorer is popular not because it's flashy or pretty, but because it simply does its job well. It's rugged, powerful, comfortable, and even highly refined after a complete redesign for 2002. Major changes last year included two family-friendly godsends: a car-like independent rear suspension and a third-row seat.
While the new suspension is a huge improvement over the previous generation Explorer, it still feels like a truck from behind the wheel. Seating position is high, which provides great visibility but allows surprisingly little headroom, and the ride is relatively stiff and bouncy. If you want a vehicle that feels like a car but looks like a truck, buy one of the car-based wimp wagons.
But if you're looking for a real truck that can drive off road, tow a 7,000-pound yacht, and be comfortable enough to haul kids to soccer practice, the Explorer's for you.
Changes for 2003 are minor, mainly involving equipment packages and safety features designed to eliminate the nasty "R" word – rollovers. Ford's AdvanceTrac system, now standard on all models, is intended to keep the Explorer upright even when drivers make mistakes, like overcorrecting after a tire blowout.
In case the Explorer tips over in a wreck, a "safety canopy" is designed to cushion passengers with side-curtain air bags. Better yet, the front air bags have an advanced system that tailors their explosion force – or completely turns them off – based on the severity of the wreck and the passengers' weight. Pretty cool, eh?
In addition to the traditional versions of the Explorer, Ford now offers the NBX package with a large cargo basket and two-tone bumpers. It also has bigger wheels and tires for a tough, active look.
Two engines are offered, both of which are smooth and quiet – at least as far as truck engines go. A 4.0-liter, 210-horsepower V6 is standard, but a 4.6-liter, 238-horsepower V8 is more fitting for the brawny Explorer. Neither are a bad choice.
Inside, the Explorer can range from spartan to luxurious, depending on how much you're willing to pay. The top-of-the-line Limited model we tested cost nearly $41,000, which included enough gadgets and leather to feel almost like those fancy-pants, car-based imports, none of which come close to matching the Explorer's versatility. More popular models include the base XLS ($25,970), popular XLT ($28,745), and classy Eddie Bauer ($32,670).
Compared to the Explorer of just a few years ago, today's version feels much more upscale and refined, almost like a luxury car in some aspects. Yet even as it becomes more practical like a modern station wagon, it hasn't lost the rugged nature that made it famous in the first place.
That's why this superstar doesn't fade.
(Derek Price is a newspaper editor and freelance writer living in Texas.
Contact him at dprice@cargazingonline.com)
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