Just a little update on how things are going after 2 weeks of ownership.
Miles: a little over 500
Gas Mileage: 14.9 Per the trip computer, all city driving, short bursts on highways, and a heavy right foot at times.
Fit and Finish: Still perfect, no noises or misaligned panels or trim. Lot of complements on the color and trim level. I've had a few people at the car wash and grocery store ask to take a look at her. Most have been impressed with Ford "stepping up to the plate" the past couple of years. Ran in to a guy at the grocery store a second time and stated he placed an order on a new Taurus SHO based on what he saw in my Explorer. Others are still commenting about the "no bail outs" issue and are glad Ford is doing so well on their own. This Kodiak Brown is a different animal in the sunlight, I'm very happy with this color. I'll try to get some more pics in the future to post.
Sync / MFT: Working as advertised. Only issue I've had was with all the buttons turning orange after I connected a USB stick full of MP3s. Fixed by touching all the buttons. It was a pain doing this, but hasn't happened again since then. There is no control lag, boots up within a few seconds of starting the vehicle. My HTC WP7.5 Arrive from Sprint works perfectly. The only thing I can't do is initiate a text message through MFT, but I can reply via voice if I receive a text. I CAN initiate a text through MFT if I press the microphone button on the phone. Not a big deal, and the compatibility chart for my phone states it's an unsupported feature.
Adaptive Cruise Control: As others have stated... amazing, and I wonder how we went so long without this!
Lane Departure Control: A very cool feature, but somewhat annoying on narrow streets in city traffic. Best for use on the highway in conjunction with the adaptive cruise control.
BLIS / Cross Traffic Alert: It works and is useful. I like it.
Collision Warning: a bell and a whistle... ehh. Would like to see the LEDs work with the adaptive cruise control, lane departure and BLIS.
Stereo System (Sony): I'm impressed with it. Sound quality is good, power is good. Sirius is great with the travel link feature. I use the weather map overlay a lot.
Navigation: Works as good as any other in car system I've used. I really like the integration with Sync Services and the ability to send destinations to it from MapQuest.
V6 & 6 speed transmission / AWD: Power is good, she'll get up and go when you put your foot in it. Transmission seems to hunt a lot in city traffic. AWD seems to work fine, I've only had it on some wet roads.
Ride and Handling: The ride is flat out great! With my old 2000 XLT, you'd feel every minute you spent in it. This '13 feels like you could drive it for days without any fatigue. The seats are comfortable, supportive and hold you in position. Steering "feel" is great.
The only thing I'm not either liking or just not used to is the curve control feature in Advanced Trac. It's to aggressive for my taste. It's mostly on entrance and exit ramps where I notice the front breaks "chattering". I know... slow down... but I'm not really going too fast, perhaps just on the edge of where this system feels like it needs to intervene. I'd like it to be a little more "spirited".
Last but not least, the dual panel moon roof... worth every penny!
So far I'm giving it a 9.5 out of a 10.