Autoblog.com First Drive

[sabasigh]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/13/2011-ford-explorer-first-drive-review-road-test/

 

[Joe Dirt]

Great article...

 

[2TimingTom]

Nice. Looking forward to it hitting the market.

 

[Hartman]

They kind of make it sound like it's better than the Jeep off road, which I don't see how that's possible.

 

[Joe Dirt]

No they didn't, I read this:

Again, none of this is to deny that the 4Runner (or indeed, the Jeep we left back on the handling course) is ultimately more capable off-road than the Explorer, but we were struck by the surprising amount of capability that's built into the Ford – certainly plenty of capability for weekend woodsmen, beachgoers and ski holidays. Either way, when it comes time to pack up the weekend cottage and escape from the Dueling Banjos on a snaking dirt road, we'd take the Explorer every time.

What it sounded like to me is "once you drive the thing, it's pretty damn good at what it needs to do, and surprisingly better at things we thought it would suck at..."

 

[edge929]

They kind of make it sound like it's better than the Jeep off road, which I don't see how that's possible.

I'm sure the Jeep is the better off-roader when it comes down to the fine details. It has too many off-road-only features that the Explorer doesn't not to have an edge. Between the extra V8 power, qudra-lift and low gears, all things the Explorer doesn't have.

While we're nit-picking, if I was to buy a vehicle for off-road use, it wouldn't be the Grand Cherokee either.

 

[Joe Dirt]

While we're nit-picking, if I was to buy a vehicle for off-road use, it wouldn't be the Grand Cherokee either.

That's a hell of a point...

 

[techieman33]

They're both unibodys, so it all comes down to gears, lockers, tires, and terrain management systems.

 

[willied]

They're both unibodys, so it all comes down to gears, lockers, tires, and terrain management systems.

And suspension.

But yeah, I think all they were saying is it was smoother off road, even though they know it isn't as extreme of an off roader as the 4Runner or Grand Cherokee.

 

[techieman33]

The grand cherokee is an offroader in name only, probably as many people buy one of those for offroad as they buy an explorer these days.

 

[willied]

The grand cherokee is an offroader in name only, probably as many people buy one of those for offroad as they buy an explorer these days.

I definitely agree. Without the articulation of at least one solid axle, what's the point of trying to sell it like it's an off roader? The only way to make it very capable is to spend $40,000 on the thing to get air suspension and what not and it's still no where near what solid axles would do. And 90+% of people who buy Wranglers don't off road them either...which is pretty pathetic because Wranglers are built really poorly.

 

[edge929]

And 90+% of people who buy Wranglers don't off road them either...which is pretty pathetic because Wranglers are built really poorly.

Not to jump on the Jeep-bashing band-wagon but my father in-law is a mechanic of 40+ years, has had his own repair shop in a medium-sized city for ~30 of that. At some point in the mid-90's he starting refusing service if you brought in a Jeep and still continues that to this day. He'll work on anything else, Mercedes, BMW, even Chrysler and Dodge, just not Jeep. With the recession in 2008, people held on to their current vehicles longer which led to him being booked-out for up to 6 weeks at a time, so he's not missing the Jeep income (or headaches as he would say).

 

[alexk]

Not to jump on the Jeep-bashing band-wagon but my father in-law is a mechanic of 40+ years, has had his own repair shop in a medium-sized city for ~30 of that. At some point in the mid-90's he starting refusing service if you brought in a Jeep and still continues that to this day. He'll work on anything else, Mercedes, BMW, even Chrysler and Dodge, just not Jeep. With the recession in 2008, people held on to their current vehicles longer which led to him being booked-out for up to 6 weeks at a time, so he's not missing the Jeep income (or headaches as he would say).

So he'll work on a Dodge Nitro but not a Jeep Liberty? Or a Dodge Caliber but not a Jeep Compass/Patriot? Makes a lot of sense.

 

[willied]

So he'll work on a Dodge Nitro but not a Jeep Liberty? Or a Dodge Caliber but not a Jeep Compass/Patriot? Makes a lot of sense.

Dodge does make vehicles other than the ones you mentioned. And he didn't specifically say what Dodges.