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Autoblog
For more than a decade the Ford Explorer was the top-selling SUV in the US with annual sales topping 400,000 units for many years. The best days of the body-on-frame SUV are clearly behind it, though, as the market has shifted toward crossovers like the smaller Escape and Honda CR-V, as well as larger vehicles like the Ford Edge. Ford has seen the light and the next generation Explorer is finally abandoning the traditional setup in favor of a new unit body design.
The new Explorer America concept that Ford is debuting at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show is the first public hint of where the Explorer is going in the coming years. When the Explorer is replaced around the end of this decade, the new model is expected to look much like this concept. The basic proportions and size are very close to the current Explorer, but the styling is a more modern look for this Ford stalwart. The combination of rising fuel costs and new fuel economy rules is pushing Ford to increase the efficiency of all their vehicles including the next generation Explorer.
With an emphasis on cost-effective ways of reducing fuel consumption, Ford is focusing on trimming vehicle weight as one means to that end. Ford's holistic approach to weight savings involves looking at all the systems in the vehicle. For example, the new SUV will drop the current engine lineup of the old 4.0L V6 and 4.6L V8 in favor of new EcoBoost gasoline turbocharged direct injection units (GTDI). The new lineup will consist of a 2.0L GTDI four cylinder with 275hp and 280lb-ft of torque and a 3.5L V6 with 340hp and 340lb-ft. In both cases the engines offer more power than the current units and fuel efficiency improvements of 30% and 20% respectively.
The V6 version of the new concept also weighs in at 150lbs less than the current V-8 model, which helps both the vehicle dynamics and overall fuel efficiency. What Ford is now calling the EcoBoost engines first appeared at last year's show in the Lincoln MKR concept as the TwinForce V6. That name has been retired in order to put the emphasis on the fuel efficiency-boosting potential of the technology. More gains come courtesy of the smoother body which, combined with reductions in parasitic losses from systems like the electric power assist, gives a five percent mileage boost.
On this concept, Ford is also trying out some interior packaging innovations as well. The first and second row seats are mounted on arms cantilevered from a rail mounted on the side of the center tunnel. With no seat mounting mechanism attached to the floor, a switch allows the second row seats to motor forward and stack beneath the front seats, providing easy access to the back row.
The sliding door on the passenger side and absent B-pillar are probably concept-only features that will never get to production. The integrated, matte finished three bar grille does look like an sensible evolution of the corporate face for a new decade. The concept has a bit of a chopped look to the roof profile giving a more aggressive look to the whole vehicle. Now that the Explorer will have a unibody layout with a lower floor, such a roof profile is certainly feasible without sacrificing interior volume.
Overall, the concept is an attractive update of a traditional shape with a lot of neat features and a fantastic new drivetrain. The base four-cylinder EcoBoost engine provides an additional 75hp and 25lb-ft of torque (with a much fatter, flatter torque curve to boot) with a 5mpg improvement over the current truck's base engine. The sooner Ford puts the old Explorer out to pasture the better. The new Explorer should turn up before the end of the decade. It better get here before there's no one left who wants to buy one.
This, right here, is what crossovers with a point should be like in the coming weeks, months and years.
But, is this enough to convince people that some SUVs are still worth the money?
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