Posted: 7/9/2010 9:15:30 AM EDT
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Ford is going to officially unveil the 2011 Explorer soon.
Here is a spy shot: 
The new Explorer will be unibody, with an east/west engine and optional AWD. Independent suspension. It will come with either a 3.5L V6 or a 2.0L I4 Ecoboost. This Explorer won't be as "trucky" as the old one. On the other hand, most of the old Explorers weren't used off road much. |
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Well there goes that one. One more SUV goes the way of the wagon. I don't think this is a bad thing. What we are seeing is a clear separation into the true off-roaders and the wagon/crossover vehicles. Not many people need a hard-core offroading truck, and for those who do, there are Jeeps, Land Rovers, etc. What most people do with their SUVs is go to the mall, and some might tow a trailer now and then. At the same time, CAFE regs require big fuel economy increases, which are easier to achieve in a lighter vehicle. |
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The current version is off-road incapable and now this one will be even worse. You won't explore anything but mall parking lots. When was the last time you saw an Explorer rock crawling 50 miles off the pavement? They are grocery getters by design, they are designed to make soccer moms feel safe. Most are not even 4x4 anymore and many have gone to AWD only. I have an AWD Explorer and it freaking rocks in the snow so I do like those but I would like to be able to turn it off to save fuel in the dry. The one pictured above is starting to get too far from the original concept and moving closer to this crossover nonsense which is not all that great IMHO. |
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The current version is off-road incapable and now this one will be even worse. You won't explore anything but mall parking lots. When was the last time you saw an Explorer rock crawling 50 miles off the pavement? They are grocery getters by design, they are designed to make soccer moms feel safe. Most are not even 4x4 anymore and many have gone to AWD only. I have an AWD Explorer and it freaking rocks in the snow so I do like those but I would like to be able to turn it off to save fuel in the dry. The one pictured above is starting to get too far from the original concept and moving closer to this crossover nonsense which is not all that great IMHO. I wasn't even addressing rock crawling. The original ones can at least get to my property which does not require serious off-road capability. The newest ones just don't cut it. |
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The current version is off-road incapable and now this one will be even worse. You won't explore anything but mall parking lots. When was the last time you saw an Explorer rock crawling 50 miles off the pavement? They are grocery getters by design, they are designed to make soccer moms feel safe. Most are not even 4x4 anymore and many have gone to AWD only. I have an AWD Explorer and it freaking rocks in the snow so I do like those but I would like to be able to turn it off to save fuel in the dry. The one pictured above is starting to get too far from the original concept and moving closer to this crossover nonsense which is not all that great IMHO. I wasn't even addressing rock crawling. The original ones can at least get to my property which does not require serious off-road capability. The newest ones just don't cut it. I went too far but I don't think Explorers have been really off road worthy for about 10 or 15 years now. They have been grocery getters for a while now. Here is a pic of the concept car. 
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The current version is off-road incapable and now this one will be even worse. You won't explore anything but mall parking lots. When was the last time you saw an Explorer rock crawling 50 miles off the pavement? They are grocery getters by design, they are designed to make soccer moms feel safe. Most are not even 4x4 anymore and many have gone to AWD only. I have an AWD Explorer and it freaking rocks in the snow so I do like those but I would like to be able to turn it off to save fuel in the dry. The one pictured above is starting to get too far from the original concept and moving closer to this crossover nonsense which is not all that great IMHO. I wasn't even addressing rock crawling. The original ones can at least get to my property which does not require serious off-road capability. The newest ones just don't cut it. I went too far but I don't think Explorers have been really off road worthy for about 10 or 15 years now. They have been grocery getters for a while now. Here is a pic of the concept car. http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/jalopnik/2009/03/2011_Ford_Explorer.jpg Mine does exceptionally well in the snow (I went to college in Vermont) and does well in the sand at the beach here in MD. I don't do any serious trail 4wding or anything but does what I want it to offroad and I've never gotten stuck in mine. The above picture does look like an abortion however. |