By: Eric Peters
There are lots of crossovers that look like SUVs but aren’t. Few can pull more than 3,500 lbs. and none are built on a truck-type, rear-wheel-drive based layout. That’s why they are crossovers rather than SUVs.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Crossovers are fine for people who want a vehicle that’s good in the snow and don’t need a vehicle that can pull a heavy load – but like the looks of an SUV.
For people who want more than just looks, there are SUVs like the Ford Explorer.
What It Is
The Explorer is a mid-sized SUV – as distinct from the multitude of mid-sized crossovers that look like SUVs. It is based on a rear-drive layout and comes standard with rear-wheel-drive rather than front-wheel-drive/all-wheel-
It has room for seven in three rows, though the third row is tight and mainly there for kids and cargo.
The base rear-drive Active trim stickers for $39,785. Full-time 4WD is available as a stand-alone option. So equipped, the MSRP rises to $41,785. Either way, this trim comes standard with a Class III hitch and a maximum tow rating of 5,300 lbs. – on par with the pulling capability of a mid-sized truck. A turbocharged 2.3 liter four cylinder engine that makes 300 horsepower is standard – another point of difference vs. most mid-sized crossovers that come standard with much less powerful engines. Many do not offer optional engines as powerful as the Ford’s standard engine.
The next-up ST-Line stickers for $44,595 (RWD) or $46,595 (4WD) and adds more aggressive visuals as well as some functionals, including a set of 20 inch wheels and short sidewall tires. This trim also gets an upgraded 10 speaker Bang and Olufsen audio system.
The Platinum trim – $52,100 with rear-drive, $54,100 with 4WD – includes the ST-Line’s visual and functional upgrades and adds a twin-panel sunroof, massagers for the front seats, heated second row captain’s chairs, power folding third row and a 14 speaker B&O sound system. The 4WD version of the Escape can also be equipped with a larger, 3.0 liter turbocharged V6 engine that touts 400 horsepower as part of a $4,615 Platinum Ultimate package.
There is also a high-performance ST variant that comes standard with the 3.0 liter V6 plus a sport-tuned suspension, upgraded brakes and 21 inch wheels with high-performance tires, plus paddles shifters for the transmission and all the ST-Line’s cosmetic upgrades. The rear-drive version lists for $54,240; with the optional 4WD system, the price tops out at $56,240.
Competitors include the Dodge Durango – which is a little larger but costs less to start ($38,495) has a higher max tow rating (6,200 lbs.) comes standard with a V6 – and is still available with a V8 as well as a 4WD system with a two-speed transfer case an Low range gearing.
There’s also the slightly smaller Chevy Blazer, which also costs less ($35,400 to start) but tows less (3,250 lbs.) comes standard with a smaller (2.0 liter) engine and only has room inside for five people.
What’s New for 2025
In addition to some exterior styling tweaks to the front and rear clips, the ’25 Explorer gets a new, Google-based infotainment system and all but the base Active trim are available with Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving tech.
What’s Good
SUV – rather than crossover – capability.
Standard engine is very strong; optional engine even stronger.
Third row is standard.
What’s Not So Good
Automatic Stop/Start “technology” is standard – along with an array of “driver assistance technology” that ought to be optional – for those who want to be “assisted.”
Optional engine is only available in the expensive Platinum and ST trims.
Because it is an SUV, the third row is tight for adults.
Under The Hood
The Explorer’s standard 2.3 liter turbocharged four touts 300 horsepower and 310 ft.-lbs,. of torque – output that is on par with what many early 2000s V8s put out – and that’s one reason why the Explorer can pull 5,300 lbs. even though it only has a four cylinder engine. The other reason, of course, is that the Explorer is an SUV and so more ruggedly built. And because it is rear-drive rather than front-drive.
The little four also touts not-terrible gas mileage – 20 city, 29 highway. And it can get the nearly 4,800 lb. Explorer to 60 in 7 seconds, too.
If that’s not quick enough – and if you can afford it – the Explorer is available with a 3.0 liter turbo’d V6 that makes 400 horsepower and 415 ft.-lb.s of torque that knocks about 1 second off the 0-60 time and adds 300 more pounds of maximum towing capacity, which goes up to 5,600 lbs. Impressively, gas mileage goes down hardly at all. Equipped with the larger, 100 horsepower-stronger V6, the Explorer still manages 18 city, 25 highway.
Of course, this is on par with the mileage you’d get if the Explorer had a V8 – in which case it would not need a turbo to make 400 horsepower. So why doesn’t the Explorer come with a V8 – as it did, once upon a time? The answer is that the smaller engine helps with compliance. Like every vehicle manufacturer, Ford has to satisfy its customers while also complying with the government’s regulations, including those pertaining to the “emissions” of carbon dioxide. The words are italicized to make a point in relation to “emissions” – which is that the latter used to be only those things that caused or contributed to pollution, i.e., the stuff that makes the sky brown, the air harder to breath and makes your eyes water.
Whatever your position on the subject of “climate change,” CO2 is not a pollutant because it does not cause or even contribute to any of those things. But it is considered an “emission” now – by the EPA – and the only way to “emit” less of it is to reduce the quantity of it coming out of the exhaust pipe; it cannot be chemically cleaned up via catalytic converters and more efficient burning of fuel. The only way is to burn less fuel – and smaller engines do just that.
The turbo is added to make power on demand. This could be rephrased as to make up for lost displacement on demand. It amounts to the same thing. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing in that buyers get what they want – power/performance – and Ford delivers what the government demands.
Except for the added cost.
The turbo’d six engine costs more to make and so for you to buy – significantly impeding the number of buyers who can afford to indulge. And because it is under pressure – literally – it may not have as long a service life as a less-stressed V8.
Both the 2.3 liter and the 3.0 liter engines are paired with a ten speed automatic and you can choose either rear-drive or a full-time 4WD system. Interestingly – and laudably – Ford lets you have the 3.0 liter engine with rear-drive, if you prefer.
On The Road
As soon as the Explorer moves, it’s evident it’s an SUV rather than a crossover trying to look like an SUV. This is a good thing – if you like the planted, heavy (in a good way) authoritative driving feel of an SUV. There’s real heft here – which not only feels good, it is good in that weight is an inherent, built-in safety advantage. This thing feels like you could drive it right through a crossover and come out the other side.
It ought to feel that way given it weighs just shy of 4,800 lbs. empty.
That heft is on account of ruggedness, – the heavier-duty, more truck-like underthings – hence the standard 5,300 lb. tow rating.
Another thing to like about this big lug is it’s small standard engine. – which makes the power (300 horsepower and 310 ft.-lbs. of torque) of a much larger engine. Put another way, it is not necessary to upgrade to the larger, optional engine – which is a significant cost savings that does not come at the cost of low towing capability. As a point of comparison, the Acura MDX – which is a crossover about the same size as the Explorer that looks like an SUV – can only pull a maximum of 3,500 lbs. even though it comes standard with a V6. (Note that the MDX weighs about 700 lbs. less, too – a function of it being a less rugged vehicle).
The only objectionable thing about the little four is that it sounds little. It is not a bad sound. Just an incongruent one. Imagine the sound of a 250 cc single emanating from a big Harley cruiser bike and you get the idea. The optional six corrects that incongruity. It almost sounds like a V8, in fact – but only when pressed. If you don’t press down too much on the accelerator you just go – without any incongruent sounds.
This Explorer also handles and drives like a modern car – even though it is an SUV – which is quite something when you reflect upon the history of SUVs and of the Explorer in particular. The first-gen Explorers weren’t dangerous – except in the hands of people who did not understand that SUVs weren’t designed to be driven at 80-plus on low-inflated tires for hours on the highway. Sometimes, one of those under-inflated Firestone tires would fail – suddenly – and the Explorer would do a barrel roll.
SUVs were never meant to be mass-market vehicles but that’s what they became. And Ford – along with the other manufacturers of SUVs – redesigned their suspensions (and so their handling characteristics) to be more like those of cars and so less likely to barrel roll in the hands of a driver who bought an SUV without understanding that an SUV isn’t car (or a car-based crossover, either).
The ST is as expected the best-handling of the bunch. The 21 inch wheels and short sidewall tires deliver sharp and accurate steering response and even though the suspension in this trim is tuned to be firm the ride is not hard. With the seat massagers on, the ride is in fact extremely pleasant.
At The Curb
The Explorer is 198.8 inches long so about the same overall size as a current slightly-larger-than-mid-sized sedan such as a Toyota Crown (which is 196.1 inches long overall). But it has room for several more people than a Crown or any other equivalent-size sedan and vastly more room for cargo – because you have essentially the entire interior space to work with rather than just a trunk (the Crown’s has just 15.2 cubic feet while there’s 18.2 cubic feet behind the Explorer’s third row and the total available space can be opened up to 87.8 cubic feet).
The Explorer also looks like the SUV it is. Or – put another way – it does not try to look like what it isn’t, as seems to be the trend among crossovers. But – unlike any new truck – it is not all jacked-up and so not a climb to get in and out of. This is a major appeal of both SUVs and crossovers relative to today’s trucks – at least to people who are not wanting to have to climb up to get in.
There’s still 7.9 inches if ground clearance, though – and that (plus the optional full-time 4WD system) will get you through the snow and raises you high enough off the ground to drive out into the field, if you need to. There’s no low range transfer case, though – and no 4WD Low range – so this Explorer isn’t really set up to deal with more than fields and dirt/gravel roads that crossovers can safely ascend.
The Rest
It’s nice that you do not have to pay extra for the 4WD system if you don’t feel the need – even in the Platinum and ST trims. On the other hand, if you want to get the six rather than the four, you must buy at least the Platinum trim and then nearly another $5k to get it as part of a bundled package that includes other things you may not want – or want to pay extra for.
The Bottom Line
The Explorer’s not as capable an SUV as the Durango but it is an SUV – unlike all those crossovers out there that look like SUVs – and it does offer things you cannot get in a Durango, such as massaging seats. You could look at a Range Rover – which is very capable and has the massaging chairs – but one RR costs more than twice as much ($107,900) as two Explorers.
Plus, if you get the Explorer, other drivers will assume you’re a cop and get out of your way!
