GEN6
Active Member
- Joined
- May 24, 2020
- Messages
- 55
- Reaction score
- 11
- City, State
- Cleveland
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2020 Explorer XLT
I purchased my 2020 XLT in February 2020. On day one I immediately put the 4WD to test in a fairly mild setting, my driveway.
I was disappointed.
My driveway is on a fairly mild incline. Backing up through snow/ice, my XLT was generally helpless. Driving forward was not much better.
I have been driving a 2005 GMC Yukon and a 2016 Chevy Equinox up that driveway for years. They are TANKS and can crawl up the driveway at any point in any condition, stopping anywhere and continuing from a dead stop. They both have Michelin tires.
This is going to be long. Please don't get frustrated and take it out on me. I'm looking for information to help me and maybe others when winter returns.
Thoughts and questions for your consideration:
1. Are my factory 18" Hankook tires junk for snow/ice traction? It took me many years to learn there's a huge difference in traction between many other tires and Michelin tires. If I put Michelins on the Explorer, will it turn into a tank and climb the driveway with ease too?
2. I looked all over the internet, twice, and I cannot find one useful off road test of our Intelligent 4WD system. Not one real video on it either. How can that be? Is the Explorer so far outside of the off-road world that nobody will test, compare, show us how it performs when even slightly off the highway at low speed? I don't want to see or read a test on the F150 or some other Ford to evaluate our "similar" Explorer Intelligent 4WD either. I want to see our Explorer being described and tested. I have a theory that none of the YouTube videos show a slow off-road capability test because all of the cars being tested are borrowed from dealers! (seriously). I saw one or two 2020s being driven through mud puddles and that was it. I'm looking for something a little more instructive.
3. I cannot find one useful article, no not in the manual either, that really describes how our 4WD system works. I would have thought some magazine or website would have written an in depth article to describe how it works and how it compares to other 4WD systems. Motor Trend? Popular Mechanics? It is always possible I just could not find it with google search and it's really there somewhere. Again, the blurbs in the manual do not scratch the surface of explaining why our 4WD might be awesome OR watered down incapable? or how it compares to others in the real world of how it transfers power (hopefully from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip?). I see tons of google search hits on the subject of our intelligent 4WD and they are all slight variables of the information in the owners manual with zero depth in explanation.
4. I read something about switching the driving mode to dirt/snow/whatever to make the 4WD more aggressive. On my first trip home from the dealer, I switched through all of the modes and it just would not climb the driveway with any level of confidence. Slides sideways, finally gives up, lights on the dash flash, parking brake activates by itself because it just couldn't process the fact that it was helpless. Now keep in mind, a 2WD car would not climb my mild inclined driveway very well when there's snow and ice on it either. But my Explorer is a world away from my Equinox and Yukon in terms of performing this mildest of off-road challenges.
5. From what I can find in the sparse information I've found, there is no posi / locking rear / limited slip differential option (whatever you want to call it) for our 2020 Explorers.
6. The lack of information available on the above topic is amazing, considering I am passing a 2020 Explorer on the roads at least every 5-minutes and that is no exaggeration.
Any helpful feedback is appreciated. I just want to learn what I can expect to achieve with this 4WD when setup properly and I have a feeling others on this board will benefit as well.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.
I was disappointed.
My driveway is on a fairly mild incline. Backing up through snow/ice, my XLT was generally helpless. Driving forward was not much better.
I have been driving a 2005 GMC Yukon and a 2016 Chevy Equinox up that driveway for years. They are TANKS and can crawl up the driveway at any point in any condition, stopping anywhere and continuing from a dead stop. They both have Michelin tires.
This is going to be long. Please don't get frustrated and take it out on me. I'm looking for information to help me and maybe others when winter returns.
Thoughts and questions for your consideration:
1. Are my factory 18" Hankook tires junk for snow/ice traction? It took me many years to learn there's a huge difference in traction between many other tires and Michelin tires. If I put Michelins on the Explorer, will it turn into a tank and climb the driveway with ease too?
2. I looked all over the internet, twice, and I cannot find one useful off road test of our Intelligent 4WD system. Not one real video on it either. How can that be? Is the Explorer so far outside of the off-road world that nobody will test, compare, show us how it performs when even slightly off the highway at low speed? I don't want to see or read a test on the F150 or some other Ford to evaluate our "similar" Explorer Intelligent 4WD either. I want to see our Explorer being described and tested. I have a theory that none of the YouTube videos show a slow off-road capability test because all of the cars being tested are borrowed from dealers! (seriously). I saw one or two 2020s being driven through mud puddles and that was it. I'm looking for something a little more instructive.
3. I cannot find one useful article, no not in the manual either, that really describes how our 4WD system works. I would have thought some magazine or website would have written an in depth article to describe how it works and how it compares to other 4WD systems. Motor Trend? Popular Mechanics? It is always possible I just could not find it with google search and it's really there somewhere. Again, the blurbs in the manual do not scratch the surface of explaining why our 4WD might be awesome OR watered down incapable? or how it compares to others in the real world of how it transfers power (hopefully from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip?). I see tons of google search hits on the subject of our intelligent 4WD and they are all slight variables of the information in the owners manual with zero depth in explanation.
4. I read something about switching the driving mode to dirt/snow/whatever to make the 4WD more aggressive. On my first trip home from the dealer, I switched through all of the modes and it just would not climb the driveway with any level of confidence. Slides sideways, finally gives up, lights on the dash flash, parking brake activates by itself because it just couldn't process the fact that it was helpless. Now keep in mind, a 2WD car would not climb my mild inclined driveway very well when there's snow and ice on it either. But my Explorer is a world away from my Equinox and Yukon in terms of performing this mildest of off-road challenges.
5. From what I can find in the sparse information I've found, there is no posi / locking rear / limited slip differential option (whatever you want to call it) for our 2020 Explorers.
6. The lack of information available on the above topic is amazing, considering I am passing a 2020 Explorer on the roads at least every 5-minutes and that is no exaggeration.
Any helpful feedback is appreciated. I just want to learn what I can expect to achieve with this 4WD when setup properly and I have a feeling others on this board will benefit as well.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.