January 2000 Volume 81 Number 1 "serving the protectors"
Motoring
By Jim Barnett

excellent highway cruiser, smart looking, stylish
spacious, comfortable, smoothest around

he new Ford Explorer is an excellent highway cruiser with great potential as a towing vehicle. Smart looking, the XLT model is enhanced by stylish front and rear bumper treatments, wheel-arch mouldings, sidesteps and large alloy wheels.

Ford has used plenty of chrome on the grille and bumpers, with the front bumper also sporting recessed, round driving lights. Up top is a useful pair of roof racks designed to take up to 90kg.

Explorer’s V6 engine is housed in a fairly tight engine bay. With 153kW available at 5000rpm and 339 Nm of torque at 3000rpm, there’s power to spare. The engine will freely accelerate all the way to red line, and is capable of smart acceleration.

At high revs the engine is a little noisy. But at 110km/h, the crank is turning at a leisurely 2200rpm with minimal noise. The five-speed automatic transmission is one of the smoothest around. Most shifts go unnoticed during normal acceleration, unless one’s eye is kept on the tacho.

Explorer is available in three specification levels: XL, XLT and Limited. The entry model features a 4.0-litre OHV V6 engine and five-speed manual transmission. The other two versions come with a much more powerful 4.0-litre SOHC V6 with five-speed automatic transmission. The Police Journal scrutinized the $48,500 mid-spec XLT last month.

The cabin is spacious and offers seating for five. A third row of seats is available as an option. Front seats are particularly comfortable, with bases offering better thigh support than many others. The driver’s seat, with six-way power adjustment, creates a good driving position. The rear seat’s 60-40 split fold design has two adjustable headrests. It’s reasonably comfortable, but the back squab is fairly low for tall passengers.

Explorer’s dashboard layout has all switches clearly marked and easy to use. Also featured are:

• A comprehensive set of six gauges.
• A quality, 80-watt, CD-compatible, radio-cassette player.
• Cruise control buttons on the steering wheel.
• Power window, door lock and mirror controls on the driver’s armrest.

Storage space around the cabin is limited. The glovebox is average, and although the centre console bin looks big, its capacity is disappointing. Small pockets feature in each front door, with much larger map pockets in the rear of the front seats.

The rear cargo area is quite large and fitted with four tie-down hooks and a cargo blind. There are two small storage bins in the side pockets but no auxiliary power socket. The tailgate features a separate flip-up window, which is handy for easy access.

All Explorer models come with driver and front passenger airbags and three-channel anti-lock brakes as standard. Front seat-mounted side airbags are available across the model range. Twin sun visors are fitted up front, enabling both driver and passenger to screen sun from the side and front windows at the same time. The larger visor on each side is fitted with an illuminated vanity mirror.

Considerable outback testing has enabled development of new suspension configurations specific to Australian-bound Explorers. Limited and XLT models feature self-levelling rear suspension. The system senses the height of the body over the rear suspension and keeps the vehicle level by increasing or decreasing pressure to the air shockers via a compressor.

Ford has retained its Control Trac full-time, four-wheel-drive system. A dashboard switch is used to select Auto, 4H and 4L modes. The system utilizes an electromagnetic clutch to distribute drive between front and rear axles, depending on which mode has been selected. As slippage is detected, additional power is transferred to the axle with greater grip.

Explorer’s off-road ability is best described as medium-duty, due to limited wheel articulation, fairly low (188mm) ground clearance and relatively poor ramp-over angle. But Explorer will still do everything most drivers would expect.

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