Explorer comes in last place in Motor Trends 7 passenger CUV comparison

[1995E]

Is the torque steer a rumbling noise that you would hear when you turn the car in a tight turn or is it actually a force that you feel on the steering wheel or car?

 

[w1kedz]

Is the torque steer a rumbling noise that you would hear when you turn the car in a tight turn or is it actually a force that you feel on the steering wheel or car?

A force that you feel.. the car will actually try to steer itself making the steering wheel feel wobbly or hard to control.

 

[w1kedz]

Torque steer is the result of having one of the front drive halfshafts shorter than the other. With the engine outputting a serious level of torque one front wheel's DRIVE will lag the other by a few compass degrees.

There are lots of root causes for TS. Unequal half shafts is one of those reasons. A few other things that affect driveshaft angle would be light engine mounts (higher tolerance mounts that allow move movement from the engine), significant body roll, etc.

Other reasons for torque steer include different torques being applied to left vs right wheel, or just plain bumpy or uneven pavement conditions.

If we are talking about the Explorer only, then I tend to lend most TS to half shaft length and dynamic torque management combined.

 

[waskly]

"Sounds like something in the driver-side A-pillar is sizzling." He tells me it could be the airbag malfunctioning. Great. Mr. Loh piles on,

i have read up to this part before i closed the article.

 

[waskly]

Is the torque steer a rumbling noise that you would hear when you turn the car in a tight turn or is it actually a force that you feel on the steering wheel or car?

torque steer is not a noise.

its when you go wot and the steering wheel pulls to one side.

 

[waskly]

Torque steer can be a fairly serious matter for FWD and front torque biased AWD vehicles. Many modern day vehicles of this type actually limit the engine torque level via DBW the steeper the turn or the harder the acceleration level is, would be.

Many pure FWD vehicles, sub-200/250HP, will actually STALL the engine if you go WOT throttle with the steering already hard-over, resulting in a need to release the throttle and more gently re-apply.

Ford has 300HP....so in a tight accelerating turn some of that HP/Torque gets routed to the rear wheels, effective REDUCING the level of torque available to the front wheels. Absent that capability torque steer would be an even more serious matter.

focus has sub 200 hp and has torque steer.

every fwd vehicle will have torque steer this is the problem with fwd vehicles.

since you really only will get torque steer at wot, most people will never know what torque steer is.

 

[peterk9]

Am curious. To those who already have their Explorers, how much in the article is credible? Torque Steer, odd noises and loose spats?

Haven't experienced any of the listed problems but then I've never put the 'pedal to the metal' to see if there is any torque steer problem. Not at $5.58 a gallon (CDN). I doubt many others drive that way either.

 

[Rick]

Additionally, a front piece of bumper trim broke loose, and the MyFord Touch system shut down for about 60 seconds, taking away all climate, stereo, phone, and navigation controls before rebooting. Can all this be chalked up to the Explorer being an early pre-production vehicle? Ford assures us that's the case and all five flaws has been addressed or redesigned.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests...comparison/explorer_issues.html#ixzz1HwOkUnbK

Well, not quite everything has been fixed. The A-pillar is a regular complaint here, and the loose piece on the front bumper... Well, when I checked out a new Limited at my local dealer, I was telling the salesman that one of our members already trimmed his air dam for more clearance. We walked to the front of the car so I could show him what I was talking about. Lo and behold... the air dam was hanging off the bumper on a brand new, on the lot car.

 

[Edgieguy]

Horrible comparo. Really does sound like they went out to compare the "sportiness" of a few 4 door sedans instead of SUV / CUV's.

 

[RSR]

MT a friend.

Here's what I've found that's not perfect in 2200 km. The right upper part of the mid sixty forty rear seat in my limited has a something loose inside and occasionally buzzes/rattles. There is access but I'll let the dealer have a look at it when I get an oil change. Other than that, along with learning about all that the Truck offers I'm enjoying the Explorer more and more.
Torque steer? Be serious. I simply can't see many future situations where this will be a bother, at least not more often than bump steer or traction issues side to side.
The Explorer is so compelling to the public that the nose prints on my windows are becoming a nuisance. Well, not really a nuisance, a pat on the back is more like it.
If you have yours or receiving yours soon, you'll want to have the pleasure (OK a bit greedy) of having the exclusivity of the new Explorer.
Perhaps MT is a friend after all!

 

[jedimike]

After reading the article, it didn't sway me one way or the other. I looked at and drove most of those vehicles before deciding on the Explorer. I don't want to throw any accusations at the MT crew. It really sounded like an objective article even though they missed some critical points that others have mentioned like ingress/egress. It really is Ford's fault for sending them a pre-production vehicle and thankfully Ford has identified (and hopefully fixed) most of those issues.

The one legitimate issue seems to be the torque steer, but it seems like a relatively minor nuissance compared to something as annoying as the single lever control stick in the Traverse or sitting on "bench seats" in the Highlander or even worse, the Durango that "feels like a slug."

 

[Rick]

Horrible comparo. Really does sound like they went out to compare the "sportiness" of a few 4 door sedans instead of SUV / CUV's.

Maybe they are confused as to their purpose. I know I am

 

[unclemeat]

Serious explorations batman. If I had bought an 11 explorer, and being a regular on this site, a motortrend comparison article would have no effect on my feelings. This is an explorer enthusist site. We are all here because we love explorers.

So the new explorer has limitations, so do all the other CUVs, so what. I am a Ford guy, and until a manufacturer makes something much better, I am not ready to jump ship. Are the others that much better? I doubt it.

 

[bdisco]

Hmmm, I might have to grow out my mullet and go check out a Durango (with a hemi of course).

 

[TurboDiesel]

Here is another positive article about the Explorer... I am sure that the bumper piece is limited to pre and early production vehicles! There is no way that Ford is going to allow something as hyped as the new Explorer to sully the reputation it has worked so tirelessly to obtain. Read it, it isn't bad... It doesn't match what MT said at all. I wish Ford had been more careful with the vehicle they allowed them to test. This is going to be the hot subject on every forum from here to the moon! http://www.canada.com/2011+Ford+Explorer+Limited/4516450/story.html

 

[chimoman]

Well,
All I have to say is this. I have been a chev man for about "forever". I was just in the market for a vehicle, with seating capacity for seven. I test drove from A to Z. The vehicle that we chose to buy was the EX. My friends almost crapped in their pants when they found out I chose a FORD. My reason for doing so was it was the best crossover vehicle on the market ( my belief). I researched vehicles for approx 4 mos before I made my decision. I test drove Chev, GMC, Acura, Mazda... no seven seater Dodge pretty much everything. The explorer beat all hands down. I purchased a tuxedo black limited with all the bells and whistles. I have been driving it about 2 and a half months. The only problem I encountered was snow build up inside the 20" wheels which makes the vehicle shake. This happened once over the winter and we have had a ton of snow. What I do know is this. I love the EX. It handles like a car and has a ton of storage space compared to the competition. It rides smooth and technololgy package is out of this world. When we were downtown the other day I let the EX park itself, and it did. All I had to do was operate the gas and gears. Kids loved it. The view through the dual sunroof is breath taking. I haven't experience any rattles wobbles WOTS SPATS or silver back gorrilas at all. Nav package works excellent.... except you can't get traffic updates in Canada. This is no fault to FORD as it is a privacy issue in Canada. Laws forbid people from tracking your vehicle, even though it's not stored on a computer or server. Different story all together. As for the pieces under the rear wheel well. I never even noticed them. Does it really matter that much. I am pretty particular. Seems to me people are picking fly poop out of pepper. What I do know is FORD has a winner with this vehicle, mine works like a charm and I am completely satisfied. I could go on and on, but my keyboard is running out of ink. And that ladies and gentlemen is from a CHEV man.

 

[TurboDiesel]

Congrats on the new EX! They are great!

 

[new to ford]

comeback from motor trend:

http://blogs.motortrend.com/tested-preproduction-ford-explorer-13787.html

still hitting the ex pretty hard!, it's hard to believe they would make the last statement at the end of the article!

 

[sm4astan]

I just saw this and was going to post the link. The article sounded good until the end, then it seems obvious someone has an axe to grind.

 

[w1kedz]

... And that ladies and gentlemen is from a CHEV man.

+1 here, I have been a bowtie guy for many years. First vehicle was an s10 when I was 16, and on from there. I swore I'd never own a Ford, however I saw the new Explorer, drove it, and bought it. It is by far the best vehicle I have ever owned, comfort, amenities, safety, and gadgets, it's all around wonderful. Also from a Chevy snob! (drove the traverse, and tahoe, and went back to the explorer to sign the papers, they just didn't compare)