5th gen Sport to 6th gen ST?

[mikejsmith1985]

Hi, I hope this is the right place to post. We’ve had our 2013 sport since 2015 and we tuned it about 6mos after buying it and left it relatively unchanged. I test drove an ST this weekend and my wife and I both had mixed emotions. The initial bite of the brakes is great and would take some adjustment. Like wise the boost seems to come in much sooner in the ST than the sport. The 10 speed transmission shifts so smooth it almost feels like a CVT. Both my wife and I prefer the “laggy” spool of our sport over the ST instant spool and the longer physical travel of the accelerator pedal. Although I’m sure a week or two behind the wheel would allow your muscle memory to adjust and not feel so twitchy.

Comparing a tuned car to a stock car isn’t quite fair either and while off the line the ST is an absolute rocket it didn’t quite live up to my expectations on performance. It’s probably just the seat of pants dyno that’s busted as the ST is so smooth but the sport feels faster.

Our 2013 has 115k miles and has never given us an issue and just passed the Ford 99 point inspection with out a single problem, so we didn’t buy the ST because while we liked the updated styling and some added legroom in the second row we didn’t fall in love with the driving experience.

I’m curious to know how many ST owners were 5th gen sport owners and how you feel after a bit more time with the car, if you share any of the sentiments my wife and I have, and most importantly if like us you couldn’t pay cash for the ST and the Sport was paid for is it worth the expense? (Our sport still has a power train warranty to 150k or March 2021 whichever comes first)

thanks to anyone willing to share their thoughts/experience!!!

 

[RDynamic]

I think the ST would be a great step up from your 2013. The reason the ST might feel slow is because your Explorer Sport is tuned. But if you compare a stock 2013 to the new ST, it's white a big jump. Also, the ST and all other 2020-2021 Explorer's are RWD biased, so when you go around a corner and apply gas, you can feel the rear wheel just force the car to turn around a corner. It also tows more, 5,600 pounds to be exact. That's enough to tow some medium sized campers. For 2021, the Explorer has improved materials in the cabin as well. I'm pretty sure if you get a nice tune for the ST (if you were to get it), you'd be going from 0-60 in just 4.5 seconds.

A few things to note: The suspension is sport-tuned, so the ride can get jiggly and rough at some times, and the price for the new Explorer is a bit steep if you configure it with all the options. But some people opted out for the technology package, they liked the small screen better.

 

[mikejsmith1985]

I think the ST would be a great step up from your 2013. The reason the ST might feel slow is because your Explorer Sport is tuned. But if you compare a stock 2013 to the new ST, it's white a big jump. Also, the ST and all other 2020-2021 Explorer's are RWD biased, so when you go around a corner and apply gas, you can feel the rear wheel just force the car to turn around a corner. It also tows more, 5,600 pounds to be exact. That's enough to tow some medium sized campers. For 2021, the Explorer has improved materials in the cabin as well. I'm pretty sure if you get a nice tune for the ST (if you were to get it), you'd be going from 0-60 in just 4.5 seconds.

A few things to note: The suspension is sport-tuned, so the ride can get jiggly and rough at some times, and the price for the new Explorer is a bit steep if you configure it with all the options. But some people opted out for the technology package, they liked the small screen better.

My wife hates the large screen, I initially wanted it but the test drive I took makes me prefer the small screen also for the full screen backup camera (assumption as I’ve not been in a 6th gen other than the test drive this weekend) Our sport has the Steeda rear sway bar also which tightened up the turning quite a bit but I agree the ST is definitely better in the corners! I appreciate the mention of the 21 improved interior as I didn’t know there would be any changes but, was considering holding out as many folks say the first year of any major overhaul is a model to stay away from.

thanks for sharing your feedback!

 

[themishmosh]

Whatever you do, get the Street pack brakes. I think they should have been standard for the ST but wanted people to have the option of a lower price point. There really isn't a whole lot comparable in mainstream sporty 3 row SUVs. Only the Durango SRT. If you get the Steeda rear sway bar on this one as well, you will love it--just wait until the fix the rubbing issue.

 

[keithw1975]

We went from the '19 Sport to the '23 ST. I feel the same. No reason to upgrade except our old one got 50k miles and that is when we upgrade. My old '21 F-150 XLT is better in my opinion than the ST. It has the larger screen, Sync 4, and more torque. The only thing it doesn't have is the handling.

 

[peterk9]

We went from the '19 Sport to the '23 ST. I feel the same. No reason to upgrade except our old one got 50k miles and that is when we upgrade. My old '21 F-150 XLT is better in my opinion than the ST. It has the larger screen, Sync 4, and more torque. The only thing it doesn't have is the handling.

Time to update your profile. Still shows the 2019 Sport.

Peter

 

[Mekks082]

Whatever you do, get the Street pack brakes. I think they should have been standard for the ST but wanted people to have the option of a lower price point. There really isn't a whole lot comparable in mainstream sporty 3 row SUVs. Only the Durango SRT. If you get the Steeda rear sway bar on this one as well, you will love it--just wait until the fix the rubbing issue.

Rubbing issue?