Been a while

[Mike Up]

It's been a while since I've been here on the forum.

The last time I had a 2008 Explorer Sport Trac 4.6L 3V.

I also was towing a 2008 Jayco Jay Flight 19BH.

Since then I've traded to a F150 twice and upgraded to a 2012 Jayco Jay Flight 26BH.

The 2008 Explorer was a good truck.

My wife had a 2012 Escape XLT 4WD that was getting high in miles and a bit to small. Never thought I'd go with another Explorer since they changed from a truck to a car platform, but that's what we did.

We traded in her 2012 Escape and now she has a 2015 Explorer Base 4WD with sync, sirius, and tow package. We saved thousands getting the 2015 over a 2016, and to be honest neither of us cared for the new look or the interior of the 2016s. Looks like Ford is trying to copy the Land Rover Discovery.

So far pretty happy with the peppy performance of the 3.5L especially with the awesome gearing and the even better tow package axle ratio. Not quite as quick as my F150 5.0L Crew 4WD, but a lot faster than her old 2.5L Escape 4WD.

Really like the 3rd row seats, much more roomy than my previous 2005 Pathfinder's 3rd row seats.

The one thing that disappoints me about the Explorer other than the downgraded hitch and tow rating is that the 4WD is not really 4WD but AWD. A mislabel system for sure since there's no locking transfer case for equal torque split between front and rear axles.

I guess we'll see how it's AWD does. The Escapes was terrible and use to get stuck in snow, so hopefully this system will be much better.

Otherwise the wife really likes it and so do I.

If it weren't for the lousy small uncomfortable seating in the new 2015 Edge, we might have bought one of them for her. We test drove one for an hour, it had the 2.0L Ecoboost. Her back was killing her from the poor seats. The turbo engine was Ok, kind of like the F150 3.5L Ecoboost, but it had turbo lag as did the F150, and the the Explorer with the Normally Aspirated 3.5L feels much quicker and less strained than the lighter Edge with the 2.0 Ecoboost.

Overall really liked the Explorer better than the Edge but the Explorer was substantially more expensive.

The Wifes Escape was loaded and she never used the features or really cared much for them. For that reason we got the base model as the XLT had features she wouldn't use or didn't want. It worked out great.

So we're pretty happy with the wifes new Explorer. And if we ever decide to go back to a small pop up camper, it should tow it just fine.

 

[tmg19103]

My 2009 Escape is my present beach buggy. Good clearance with the previous generation Escape, 16's air down nice and wide for sand, light to "float" over the sand. Actually drives better on the sand than my true 4x4 Pathfinder did, which was my previous beach buggy. I would not buy the latest model Escape you had for the beach.

So unless you are going to do some serious offroad with the Ex where you need a lot of clearance and better approach and departure angles, the Ex will be more than fine for level enough sand that is not too mucky and lighter offroad while giving you a much better road ride and feel.

Since you have a F150 you can take that offroad. Sound like best of both worlds to me.

 

[Mike Up]

My 2009 Escape is my present beach buggy. Good clearance with the previous generation Escape, 16's air down nice and wide for sand, light to "float" over the sand. Actually drives better on the sand than my true 4x4 Pathfinder did, which was my previous beach buggy. I would not buy the latest model Escape you had for the beach.

So unless you are going to do some serious offroad with the Ex where you need a lot of clearance and better approach and departure angles, the Ex will be more than fine for level enough sand that is not too mucky and lighter offroad while giving you a much better road ride and feel.

Since you have a F150 you can take that offroad. Sound like best of both worlds to me.

Thanks but her old 2012 Escape was the same generation as yours. They changed in 2013 and we didn't care for the smaller cargo area, lower payload, and more small car like characteristic of the '13.

We don't drive on the beach or in the dunes around us. Her car is strictly a grocery getter. We have bad snow and ice around here especially from Lake Michigan Lake Effect snow. So good traction is good. The '12 Escape got stuck all the time so I'm hoping the new Explorer doesn't with it's 'upgraded' AWD. I just wish it had a locking transfer case as my Full Time/Auto 4WD 2008 Sport Trac did, but not many of the newer crossovers do.

 

[peterk9]

I can't recall if the Base model has the Terrain Management System or not but you can't beat a good set of dedicated Winter tires for the region you live in, AWD or not. I have used a dedicated Winter set for my AWD vehicles for the past 13+ years.

Peter

 

[Mike Up]

I can't recall if the Base model has the Terrain Management System or not but you can't beat a good set of dedicated Winter tires for the region you live in, AWD or not. I have used a dedicated Winter set for my AWD vehicles for the past 13+ years.


Peter

Drivetrain is the same as other models. The terrain management is the same as the XLT and Limited.

Her tires are brand new obviously so they should be good with AWD. Not a fan of swapping winter tires every season.

Escape awd was bad. There were times I watched the front axle swap torque with the rear axle, but they didn't drive together and why we were stuck. The axles need to share torque and drive together to keep from getting stuck and the Escape's lousy system just didn't do that.

I just bought a set of BFGoodrich All Terrain TA KO2s for my F150 since I wore out the Goodyears. These are Snow Tires as well as All Terrain with the Severe Snow Stamp on them. Not sure they would work well on the Explorer though.

 

[tmg19103]

Escape awd was bad. There were times I watched the front axle swap torque with the rear axle, but they didn't drive together and why we were stuck. The axles need to share torque and drive together to keep from getting stuck and the Escape's lousy system just didn't do that.

Interesting now that you clarified we have the same generation Escape. Mine is garaged all winter at my summer place so I have never driven it in snow, which you say it does not handle well.

No doubt sand is much different than snow, but like a posted, I find the Escape better in some pretty tough sand than my previous true 4x4 Pathfinder I kept up there.

As you know, the Escape does not have TM. My Ex does and I have driven it in snow and I never bother to take it out of "normal" mode - which should be the same AWD as the Escape. I had no prob with my Ex in 8-10 inches of snow this past winter. I just kept it in "normal" mode and it was fine.