Fwd Ecoboost winter driving question. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Fwd Ecoboost winter driving question.

awmenard

Well-Known Member
Joined
April 1, 2013
Messages
139
Reaction score
1
City, State
Montreal
Year, Model & Trim Level
2011 Explorer Limited
Hello to all,

This will be my first post but I've been looking around and reading on this forum for the past year or so.

Last year around the same time I was looking to purchase a new SUV, my main concern was gas mileage and wanted something well equipped. Had had a bad experience with a used car (Mazda Cx7) my wife wanted peace of mind so new it was going to be.

The 2012 Explorer was nice but the price was a little out of our ballpark, so we settled on something smaller a 2013 Mazda cx5. The car is great not much complaints. However the good news is we are expecting another child, so we need something with a little more room.

Now we our currently on vacation for 2 weeks but I have pretty much signed on a 2012 Limited Ecoboost FWD that will be waiting for us on our return. The truck only has 25k, I believe I got a great deal (30 000$) the car also comes with ford ESP, after trade in my payments will roughly be 30$ more then what we are paying for our Cx5. Similar Explorers AWD usually sell for about 38 000$.

Now here is my concern... I know no truck is perfect, I have saw all reviews and comments about the good and the bad of the Ex.

My wife is worried about driving the truck in winter. I would hate to drive an SUV and be stuck in our great Canadian winters. Of course the truck will have some winter tires, (Quebec law for winter).

So can anyone who has driven a FWD Explorer share their experiences. I don't wanna make another purchase that I could regret. At this point I don't mind spending a little and getting a AWD if it will same me the headaches in the winter.

Thank you in advance.
 






You can not get an AWD Ecoboost with the 2.0L motor. For AWD you would have to get a regular Exp or a 13 ecoboost Sport......As to winter driving with the FWD, it pulls ok in snow up to about 6", but believe me, if I had to drive it full time in Winter, and or constant snow, I'd not like it very well.......I have a 2013 2.0L XLT....
 






Hello to all,

This will be my first post but I've been looking around and reading on this forum for the past year or so.

Last year around the same time I was looking to purchase a new SUV, my main concern was gas mileage and wanted something well equipped. Had had a bad experience with a used car (Mazda Cx7) my wife wanted peace of mind so new it was going to be.

The 2012 Explorer was nice but the price was a little out of our ballpark, so we settled on something smaller a 2013 Mazda cx5. The car is great not much complaints. However the good news is we are expecting another child, so we need something with a little more room.

Now we our currently on vacation for 2 weeks but I have pretty much signed on a 2012 Limited Ecoboost FWD that will be waiting for us on our return. The truck only has 25k, I believe I got a great deal (30 000$) the car also comes with ford ESP, after trade in my payments will roughly be 30$ more then what we are paying for our Cx5. Similar Explorers AWD usually sell for about 38 000$.

Now here is my concern... I know no truck is perfect, I have saw all reviews and comments about the good and the bad of the Ex.

My wife is worried about driving the truck in winter. I would hate to drive an SUV and be stuck in our great Canadian winters. Of course the truck will have some winter tires, (Quebec law for winter).

So can anyone who has driven a FWD Explorer share their experiences. I don't wanna make another purchase that I could regret. At this point I don't mind spending a little and getting a AWD if it will same me the headaches in the winter.

Thank you in advance.
Welcome to the Forum awmenard.:wavey:
Although I've spent more time driving RWD and FWD vehicles over the past 50 years, I don't think that I'll get anything other than an AWD again. I like the added security and stability it offers even though in the Explorer it basically FWD most of the time in ideal conditions. Although I'm in Ontario, I have used Winter tires for the past 15 years when the season roles around. I bought the Base model Explorer 17" wheels for my Winter tires to replace my 20" ones.
If the vehicle you purchase has the 20" tires like mine, it is very expensive to find 20" Winter tires. I searched 1010tires.com and there were only 3 Winter tires in the 255/50R20 size and they ranged in price from $390 - $420 each.
And as plumbago posted, you can not get AWD in the 2.0L Ecoboost.
Good luck.

Peter
 






Get a set of Blizzaks and call it a day.
 






Back
Top