Man..going back and reading some of the posts in this thread is interesting...and since I've taken on moderator duties in this forum, I'll stick my .02 in.
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My take on the new Explorer vs. older Explorers. I've had a '92 that was mostly stock and saw nothing much more difficult than forestry roads, a '94 that was lifted and locked that saw true offroading, an '01 that was mildly lifted and saw true offroading, and now an '11 that will probably never see anything more than forestry roads or trails.
Is the new Explorer in the same vein of vehicles as the older ones? No, not even close. The only thing that makes it an "Explorer" is the name. Is there something wrong with that? No, welcome to evolution. You can't please everyone all the time, so, a company like Ford chooses to aim the vehicle features at the segment of the population that it thinks will generate the most revenue. It has opted to go away from the truck platform here because it feels that the market, in general, doesn't want that. Yes it may irritate a small amount of people that it's not a truck anymore, but Ford is a corporation and they follow the money trail, not the sentiment trail.
Want a Ford truck? Buy a Ranger or an F-series. Want a vehicle that can haul a decent amount of people or cargo, can tow 5000 lbs, go mildly off the beaten path, get reasonable gas mileage and have great creature features? Buy an Explorer.
Coming from someone who has done plenty of wheeling, I'm not disappointed that the Explorer has left it's roots as a RBV. The name is just a placard on the front of a vehicle. Don't like the vehicle? Go buy one with a different name on the front that suits your purpose. If I decide to go back into wheeling, I won't be modifying an Explorer this time, I'll be going back to a Samurai. Far easier vehicle to modify for offroading than any Explorer.
And has been said above, don't bash it if you haven't driven one and please don't degrade other members for their choice in vehicles. All are more than welcome to state their opinions (as many already have), but please keep it civil.