meh....ill need to see it in person. i hope it succeeds though. c thats crazy how the new V6 makes just as much power as the 4.6 V8 in the 2010. i'd get 4WD though....a FWD Explorer makes me cringe still.

 

So far I like it..I really dig the semi pillarless look of the side glass
It may not be an explorer but it's good looking.

 

I think a crossover may have run over Ray Wert's mom. Either that or his first intimate experience with a woman was in the back of a body-on-frame vehicle. Whatever the reason, his article on the 2012 boarders on foaming-at-the-mouth rage. I won't link to it.

 

Video

I really like what I'm seeing so far, maybe because I don't have a romanticized ideal of the Explorer. The Explorer wasn't put on a frame for any high-minded off-roading ideal, the platform was available and cost-effective from several points of view. It never had a great suspension, a bulletproof transfer case, or a even great ground clearance. Had it been a unibody from the get-go like the XJ Cherokee it arguably would have been truer to itself.

 

i approve, great job ford!

more pics at autoblog:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/26/2...to-redemption/

 

I really like it, but having owned 4 Explorers I'm not too keen on the FWD based aspect of it.


And wtf is up with those 3rd row head rests?

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-...r/med/#3204480

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-...r/med/#3204473


Couldn't they have made them any bigger?

 

Pretty sure there's some crash standards behind those.

 

. . . Ecoboost-4 with AWD might be a tempting combination for me . . . .

*EDIT: Just read EcoBoost only offered in FWD!! BAH!!!!!

I bet in side-by-side tests a 2012 Explorer V6 AWD would have better off-road capabilities then the outgoing generation . . .

 

I know what you're talking about. He's a big GM fanboy and is instantly jealous at anything Ford does because they aren't a government-owned basket case.

 

 

Looks nice in Red Candy.

 

Build And Price is up. The turbo four is missing, but everything else seems accounted for.

http://bp2.forddirect.fordvehicles.c...#page=/Models/

 

Some notes:

Autoblog says the I4 EB is actually an option, the V6 is standard. Since you can only get the EB in FWD and loose a ton of towing capacity (2000 versus 5000 lbs with the V6) it looks to really be aimed at economy-minded soccer moms. Alan hinted a hybrid is coming on CNBC this morning, not immediately. I'm hopeful a 3.5 EB shows up some time with around 400 hp and 6000+ lbs towing capacity, that would give the Explorer 4 great powertrain choices.

 

Looks nice, if a touch overstyled in spots and unfortunately, victim of the inevitable bloat in girth and lard afflicting most cars these days. It is certainly a massive improvement over the long-in-tooth previous Explorer.

As for the girth and lard issue, Ford should issue a decree to its designers and engineers that no car can be any larger in any external dimension than the previous version and at least 10% lighter -- period -- no exceptions for whatever reason.

 

Yay, more black plastic! Looks like I won't be buying another Ford for a while, unless I feel like dismantling a new car to paint trim. Boo!

 

Such a legendary name...God i hate crossovers!!!!

 

At least we have the Grand Cherokee.

 

fronts gonna have to grow on me.....its like Explorer just jacked the front end off the out going model Edge

 

So Ford now has The Explorer, Edge and Flex that are based on pretty much on the same platform as crossovers...
Whats the point?