AH, THE CLASSIC AMERICAN SUV — big enough to blot out the sun, but ‘barely more sophisticated than vehicles from the horse-drawn era. The original Ford Explorer was an absolutely colossal success in the States, yet when it went on sale in the Middle East in the late Nineties, it was soon sent home with its tail between its legs. Then it hit the skids there too, spiked by front- page hysteria over a spate of roll-over accidents and, later, fuel price hikes.
In its prime, it had buoyed up the whole Ford Motor Company; in its latter days, it was a lame-duck embarrassment.
Time to reboot the whole Explorer idea. It’s still big — a salad-dodger, even compared to the Audi Q7, so it won’t be coming to the UK. But it’s now pretty sophisticated, safe, refined and not even too drainingly thirsty.
Key to the change has been a shift to a monocoque body and all- independent suspension. This has been controversial, as it was with the Range Rover. Hard-core backwoods fans worry that the absence of a truck chassis means it won’t be as tough for endless off-roading or towing But it brings a night-and-day. transformation in handling and ride At American road speeds at least the Explorer now goes where its pointed instead of wandering around stupor. The steering has sensible weighting, and body roll is contained, though things aren’t exactly fun. The ride’s reasonably stable too. The V6 engine hums dutifully away, its six- speed auto ‘box calibrated to give a low first for off-roading and a high sixth for cruising. It was snowy when l drove, but the AWD and chunky-treaded tyres kept a firm grip on things.
That 3.5-litre V6 is the standard powertrain. Bizarrely, you can pay more for less: an option is a four- cylinder with 2WD. Because it’s the torquey 240bhp Eco Boost turbo as used in the Mondeo, real—world performance is about the same as the V6, and economy is much better.
We wonder how the Americans will take to paying extra for fewer cylinders. The Explorer might be a fatty, but it uses its size well. It packs in seven decent-sized seats, and the rear two have a brilliant independent electrically powered flip-fold trick. Cabin finish is right up there too. The top versions get a whole kitchen sync of electronics, including touchscreen, wireless connection for your devices, and voice control.
