16 sport 2nd row

[hairysasquatch]

Does anyone else find the second row seating ( bench) to be small. I put the baby seat on the the middle seat of the second row so none of the passengers have have the belt clip sticking into their behind. with the baby seat in the middle my there is barely enough space for the anybody sit on the sides. my wife sits all crunched up next to the baby seat. and shes only 110 lbs. my honda accord can sit a of 4 people in the back.

 

[613GT500]

Yup, even with our narrow Diono RXT (brought it with us for the first test drive).
Ultimately, went with the dual bucket seat option and couldn't have made a better choice.

 

[TinMan4154]

Explorer does a great job of appearing much bigger than it really is. Both inside and out...

 

[Halwg]

Explorer does a great job ofor appearing much bigger than it really is. Both inside and out...

It's full size outside, compact inside. It hearkens back to cars of the 70's.

 

[hairysasquatch]

I think they wasted the space between the seat and the door. The 2nd row space is wide enough but the width of the actual bench seat is narrow. I feel like there is a lot of shoulder space bewtween the door and the seat.
I love the explorer and i find every little excuse to drive it. But its a shame that ford didnt use their space effectively.

 

[peterk9]

Does anyone else find the second row seating ( bench) to be small. I put the baby seat on the the middle seat of the second row so none of the passengers have have the belt clip sticking into their behind. with the baby seat in the middle my there is barely enough space for the anybody sit on the sides. my wife sits all crunched up next to the baby seat. and shes only 110 lbs. my honda accord can sit a of 4 people in the back.

The following thread may or may not interest you;
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=381281

Peter

 

[need-a-cage]

Yes, this is one reason why we didn't buy the first one we drove. That center 2nd row seat is useless but I wanted it in case we HAD to put a 7th person in there. I also didn't want to spend the extra money on captains, but that seatbelt design with the inflatable belts is really disappointing. If anyone sits in the center, even my 80lb daughter, the damn seatbelt receiver jabs you in the middle of each butt cheek. Horrible design. The center belt also covers the outboard seat belt receiver when you put it on.

 

[blwnsmoke]

We all know the middle seat is the safest for babies but it is not designed for a car seat. Only the left and right seats are designed for car seats. With one child, I keep them on the passenger side, with 2 children now, I keep the oldest on the driver's side and the youngest/smallest on the passenger as the passenger is safer then the driver's side.

 

[need-a-cage]

Yep, I don't have to deal with kid's car seats anymore. We also put the youngest on the passenger side. More for unloading by the curb than anything. My buddy just passed on the Ex Sport because of how narrow that seat is. He ended up with a new Edge Sport because he said the seat was wider and worked better for the kid's car seat. He has a newborn. The ******* also just got a new 2015 Mustang! I am jealous. At least I am getting the SUV that he wanted to get. LOL

I do hate how they waste so much room and put the seat so far away from the door. The door sills are insanely wide now too. Our 2002 has a lot more room, but screw it, I am hoping to pick up a 16 this weekend.

 

[613GT500]

Yep, I don't have to deal with kid's car seats anymore. We also put the youngest on the passenger side. More for unloading by the curb than anything. My buddy just passed on the Ex Sport because of how narrow that seat is. He ended up with a new Edge Sport because he said the seat was wider and worked better for the kid's car seat. He has a newborn. The ******* also just got a new 2015 Mustang! I am jealous. At least I am getting the SUV that he wanted to get. LOL

I do hate how they waste so much room and put the seat so far away from the door. The door sills are insanely wide now too. Our 2002 has a lot more room, but screw it, I am hoping to pick up a 16 this weekend.

I actually appreciate that the seats are not right up against the door.
In the case of an impact, it can be the difference of a minor injury versus a major one.

 

[TXOkie]

Explorer middle seat

Does anyone else find the second row seating ( bench) to be small. I put the baby seat on the the middle seat of the second row so none of the passengers have have the belt clip sticking into their behind. with the baby seat in the middle my there is barely enough space for the anybody sit on the sides. my wife sits all crunched up next to the baby seat. and shes only 110 lbs. my honda accord can sit a of 4 people in the back.

My wife and I both agreed that the middle seat was to small for anything other than two normal adults so we decided on the second row buckets....... So glad on our decision.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

the passenger is safer then the driver's side.

You might be right but I believe this is true mostly because when entering/exiting, the curb (passenger) side is safer. In a crash, statistically there is no difference.

It's a terrible choice to have to make though, right? Which kid gets the safer seat.

 

[blwnsmoke]

You might be right but I believe this is true mostly because when entering/exiting, the curb (passenger) side is safer. In a crash, statistically there is no difference.

It's a terrible choice to have to make though, right? Which kid gets the safer seat.

The way I look at it is on the passenger side, you only have to worry about being T-boned from the right side. With children on the driver side, not only do you have to worry about being T-boned from the left but you also have all oncoming traffic on that side of the vehicle and being side swiped so I do believe the passenger side is safer then the driver's side.

 

[wifes2011xlt]

The way I look at it is on the passenger side, you only have to worry about being T-boned from the right side. With children on the driver side, not only do you have to worry about being T-boned from the left but you also have all oncoming traffic on that side of the vehicle and being side swiped so I do believe the passenger side is safer then the driver's side.

Makes perfect sense for those types of collisions but across all types, the source I'm thinking about found such little evidence that one side is safer than the other that they actually combined the outboard position data to compare against middle position, which as you stated, is the safest.

Also, I've seen across the inter webs that driver side is safer because drivers instinctively steer away from obstacles, i.e. exposing the passenger side but of course, that reasoning doesn't support the source of which I'm thinking. The article was published right around the time our first daughter was born 6 years ago so it made an impression on me. I'll see if I can dig it up.