Were there production changes to this years 2013 Explorer Sport

[Mwright3]

Hello all,

I'm new as far as posting on this site, but have been lurking for months. I ordered my Explorer Sport back on March 25th and recently took delivery on May 16th. My explorer was built on May 2nd. I barely had it a week before dropping it off at Car Toys to rip out the crappy Sony speakers for a complete system upgrade minus the radio of course, but the short time I had it I immediately noticed one small change that got me thinking, what other changes were made.

The change I noticed which was obviously a flaw in the previous explorers and I'm glad they changed it was the door that closes where the USB's and AV connection is, now has a hole on the right side to run wires such as a USB cable through when closed. My wife has the 2012 Limited explorer and hers doesn't have it. I often wondered, that is dumb, how do you close the door with wires hanging out.

Anybody know if anything else has changed? Also, I should get my car back tomorrow or Thursday evening at the latest if anyone is interested in seeing pics. I'm replacing all 9 speakers with focal 6.5's or focal 4"s in the case of the dash and third row speakers. The sub is being replaced with a JL audio 10w6v3d-4.

Michael

 

[peterk9]

Hello all,

I'm new as far as posting on this site, but have been lurking for months. I ordered my Explorer Sport back on March 25th and recently took delivery on May 16th. My explorer was built on May 2nd. I barely had it a week before dropping it off at Car Toys to rip out the crappy Sony speakers for a complete system upgrade minus the radio of course, but the short time I had it I immediately noticed one small change that got me thinking, what other changes were made.

The change I noticed which was obviously a flaw in the previous explorers and I'm glad they changed it was the door that closes where the USB's and AV connection is, now has a hole on the right side to run wires such as a USB cable through when closed. My wife has the 2012 Limited explorer and hers doesn't have it. I often wondered, that is dumb, how do you close the door with wires hanging out.

Anybody know if anything else has changed? Also, I should get my car back tomorrow or Thursday evening at the latest if anyone is interested in seeing pics. I'm replacing all 9 speakers with focal 6.5's or focal 4"s in the case of the dash and third row speakers. The sub is being replaced with a JL audio 10w6v3d-4.

Michael

Welcome to the Forum Mwright3. :wavey:
I don't know if the Sport has the same speakers as the 12 speaker system that I have in the Limited but I don't have a problem with mine. Could they be improved? Of course but mine is a lease so I'm going there. I hope the upgrade will work for you. Interesting point on the pop up door. I don't have anything plugged in that would require that change but I can certainly see the benefit. The only problem I have with mine is that in cold weather the lid won't pop up. I have to press on the back of the lid to get it to come open.
If you update your profile with the model and year of your Explorer it should show in the left margin where your name appears. That way the members will know what you have and it would help in answering any future concerns since not all models are the same.
Good luck with the upgrade and enjoy the music.

Peter

 

[Mwright3]

Thanks for the info, I just updated my profile to show the make and model. As to the Sony speakers, they are the same as the ones on the limited, but being the audiophile that I am, while it may be adequate for most, I decided to upgrade.

Again thanks for the reply. I really appreciate the wealth of information on this forum.

Michael

 

[1995E]

Well the Explorer Sport (and the rest of the 2013 lineup except the base) have the disc brakes from the Interceptor program and a revised tranny that is different than the 2011's. You'd be happy going with the Sport.

 

[Yo Adrian]

Michael,

Can you advise what size speakers sizes can be mounted in the front and rear doors. I know that the Sony's are 6.5 inches, but is there the option to easily mount 6X8? 6X9? I have read conflicting statement of the speaker sizes . . .

I too plan to swap out the four doors and put better tweeters in. Was planning to upgrade the 8 inch sub too with a DVC 1 ohm kicker speakers I also bought. Haven't yet conceded to adding power amps, etc . . . yet.

Thanks,

Adrian

 

[Mwright3]

The Sony speakers in the front were 6x8 or 6x9's I believe. I'm not doing the work myself so I can't tell you what can be put in easily, but the speakers I'm having Car Toys put in are Focal 6.5 speakers in place of the Sony factory speakers. To be specific it is the Focal 165v30 which is the 2 way component system. The tweeters will replace the Sony tweeters in the front as well.

The Sony speakers in the rear are actually 6.5 and I'm replacing those with Focal IC165's which are also 6.5 speakers so no major change there.

The third row and center dash speakers are about 3 inches and I'm replacing them with the focal 4" IC100's. They are having to do custom work to fit those in. The same goes for the sub. The Sony factory sub is 8" and I'm having a JL audio 10w6v3-d4 put in its place.

I'm not using the Sony amp but It has to remain as it talks head unit so I'm told. The amp that I'm using for the front speakers, rear doors and sub is a JL audio 900/5. The amp I'm using for the dash and third row speakers is a JL XD400/4. The last thing I ended up adding was OEM signal processors. I believe they were the audio control lc8i and lc2i

 

[Riley]

Well the Explorer Sport (and the rest of the 2013 lineup except the base) have the disc brakes from the Interceptor program and a revised tranny that is different than the 2011's. You'd be happy going with the Sport.

Not all '13's have the improved brakes, only ones built after 12/3/2012.

 

[Riley]

Welcome to the Forum Mwright3. :wavey:
I don't know if the Sport has the same speakers as the 12 speaker system that I have in the Limited but I don't have a problem with mine. Could they be improved? Of course but mine is a lease so I'm going there. I hope the upgrade will work for you. Interesting point on the pop up door. I don't have anything plugged in that would require that change but I can certainly see the benefit. The only problem I have with mine is that in cold weather the lid won't pop up. I have to press on the back of the lid to get it to come open.
If you update your profile with the model and year of your Explorer it should show in the left margin where your name appears. That way the members will know what you have and it would help in answering any future concerns since not all models are the same.
Good luck with the upgrade and enjoy the music.

Peter

As for the door not popping up, make sure the little rubber stoppers are still present near the open part of the door. Those help it to spring open when you push down on it. A few other models also had this problem with them being left out from the supplier.

 

[steve04KU]

Mine is a 01/13 build and doesn't have the media cutout in the lid. Some have it some don't.

 

[Riley]

Mine is a 01/13 build and doesn't have the media cutout in the lid. Some have it some don't.

Yours probably just missed the changeover as it occurred in Jan.

 

[ieee_raider]

Yours probably just missed the changeover as it occurred in Jan.

I actually really love that little feature! Glad we got a later build (March)