Ford Explorer
Car and Driver
Tested: two thousand seventeen Ford Explorer Platinum
2017 Ford Explorer Platinum
- Dec 2016
- By GREG FINK
- Photography By MICHAEL SIMARI
Introduced last year as part of a mighty refresh, the Ford Explorer’s top-of-the-line, $54,180 Platinum trim is a push-button gear selector and a few chunks of bodywork away from passing for a Lincoln. Albeit exterior differences inbetween the Platinum and lesser Explorers are few—consisting of details such as an egg-crate grille, chrome mirror caps, and 15-spoke wheels—the flagship Explorer’s passenger compartment separates itself from the herd with high-brow fittings such as a 10-inch digital gauge cluster, quilted leather seats, a leather-wrapped dashboard, and real wood and aluminum accents on the dash, doors, and steering wheel.
Hustle Hard
A linebacker with the speed of a running back, the 4980-pound Platinum is both the heftiest and quickest Explorer to go through our testing regimen since the model adopted unibody construction for the current generation that debuted for 2011. Credit the Platinum’s twin-turbocharged Trio.5-liter V-6 EcoBoost engine that it shares with the more aggressively styled Explorer Sport. Packing three hundred sixty five horsepower and three hundred fifty lb-ft of torque, the engine produces slick and linear muscle through a six-speed automatic transmission that includes a pair of steering-wheel-mounted spanking paddle shifters. All-wheel drive is standard. Unlike the Sport, which can be optioned with a set of 20-inch Continental summer tires for $995, the luxury-themed Platinum’s 20-inch wheels are packaged in all-season Hankook tires.
In spite of a 41-pound weight disadvantage, however, our Platinum test car managed to better or equal the acceleration times we recorded in a two thousand sixteen Sport fitted with the summer rubber. The zero-to-60-mph run takes a brisk Five.8 seconds, the century mark is reached in 15.Two seconds, and the quarter-mile is crossed after 14.Four seconds at ninety eight mph, besting the Sport by 0.Two 2nd, 0.6 2nd, and 0.Two 2nd and two mph. The only acceleration test in which the Platinum wasn’t quicker was from fifty to seventy mph: both twin-turbo Explorers did it in Four.Four seconds. Similarly, the Platinum matched the Sport in clawing its way around our 300-foot skidpad at a respectable 0.83 g. The Sport’s summer tires proved advantageous only in our braking test—stopping this Platinum from seventy mph required one hundred seventy four feet, eight feet longer than the Sport on its stickier Continentals.
Cabin Fever
While the Platinum’s interior is packed with premium materials, build quality is less than stellar. Our test car’s door panels were misaligned with the dashboard, the leather of which displayed signs of wear at the seams before the odometer reached two thousand five hundred miles. On the plus side, the addition of Sync three to two thousand seventeen Explorers is a boon to ergonomics. Menus within the central touchscreen are logically arranged, and touch inputs never needed a 2nd or third tap of the screen to confirm a request. The Platinum also comes standard with features such as a dual-panel sunroof, adaptive cruise control, a blind-spot warning system, lane-keeping assist, a front-mounted camera, and an automatic parking system that can steer the Explorer into an open spot.
Despite providing more legroom in all three rows than the Two.9-inch-longer Dodge Durango, as well as an extra four cubic feet of cargo space behind its rearmost row, the Explorer’s interior can feel cramped. Exceptionally broad side sills make injecting the cabin somewhat awkward. Once inwards, the Explorer’s broad dashboard and a seating position that’s slightly offset toward the center make this mid-size crossover feel especially big and ungainly to navigate. Adding salt to the Explorer’s packaging wound is a front wheel well that invades the space for the driver’s left foot more than in most modern vehicles, rendering the petite dead pedal all but worthless to those with big feet or even average-size feet clad in boots. While our test car’s optional ($695) second-row bucket seats were convenient, they lacked integrated armrests, resulting in arms suspending listlessly when the ($150) second-row center console was open and in use. Choosing the buckets also deletes one seating position, reducing our test car’s capacity from seven to six passengers. Meantime, the Explorer’s cushy, power-folding third-row seats suggest a meager 40.7 inches of hiproom, Trio.9 inches less than the Honda Pilot’s despite the vehicles’ virtually identical overall widths.
Everyman Brand
With a base price north of $50,000, the Explorer Platinum blurs the line inbetween premium mid-size crossover SUVs and mainstream models. Compared with an Acura MDX or an Infiniti QX60 with equipment levels similar to that of our $55,025 Blue Jeans Metallic test car, the Platinum costs $2315 less than the MDX and $2870 less than the QX60. Both the Acura and the Infiniti provide somewhat more prestigious brand names; however, neither vehicle’s V-6 engine produces anywhere near the power of the Ford’s twin-turbocharged brute.
Those seeking power might also want to look at the Dodge Durango tooled with the 360-hp Five.7-liter V-8 engine. Even stronger than the Explorer Platinum (a two thousand sixteen Durango R/T registered five thousand three hundred sixty nine pounds on our scales), the eight-cylinder Durango is objectively less capable than the Platinum, with lazier acceleration figures, a longer braking distance, and less lateral grip. Nevertheless, the eight-pot Dodge is more joy to pilot and is rated to tow up to seven thousand four hundred pounds when decently tooled, two thousand four hundred more than the Explorer Platinum. The Dodge’s fuel-economy rating of fourteen mpg city and twenty two mpg highway falls behind the Platinum’s 16/22 rating; we averaged seventeen mpg during our time with the Ford and recorded twenty mpg on our 200-mile, 75-mph highway-fuel-economy test. Based on that 20-mpg figure, the Explorer can travel toughly three hundred seventy miles on a tank, which is far less than many of its peers.
Regardless of which vehicles you most consider to be its competition, the two thousand seventeen Ford Explorer Platinum’s high-end materials, array of features, and strong engine permit it to stack up fairly well. Even so, consumers may be better off opting for the $7880 less expensive, but identically powerful, Explorer Sport. Based on our testing data, however, we can’t recommend the optional summer tires on that Explorer.
Highs and Lows
Highs:
Quick for a pachyderm, top-notch materials, wonderful appearance.
Ford Explorer Reviews – Ford Explorer Price, Photos, and Specs – Car and Driver
Ford Explorer
Car and Driver
Tested: two thousand seventeen Ford Explorer Platinum
2017 Ford Explorer Platinum
- Dec 2016
- By GREG FINK
- Photography By MICHAEL SIMARI
Introduced last year as part of a strong refresh, the Ford Explorer’s top-of-the-line, $54,180 Platinum trim is a push-button gear selector and a few chunks of bodywork away from passing for a Lincoln. Albeit exterior differences inbetween the Platinum and lesser Explorers are few—consisting of details such as an egg-crate grille, chrome mirror caps, and 15-spoke wheels—the flagship Explorer’s passenger compartment separates itself from the herd with high-brow fittings such as a 10-inch digital gauge cluster, quilted leather seats, a leather-wrapped dashboard, and real wood and aluminum accents on the dash, doors, and steering wheel.
Hustle Hard
A linebacker with the speed of a running back, the 4980-pound Platinum is both the heftiest and quickest Explorer to go through our testing regimen since the model adopted unibody construction for the current generation that debuted for 2011. Credit the Platinum’s twin-turbocharged Three.5-liter V-6 EcoBoost engine that it shares with the more aggressively styled Explorer Sport. Packing three hundred sixty five horsepower and three hundred fifty lb-ft of torque, the engine produces sleek and linear muscle through a six-speed automatic transmission that includes a pair of steering-wheel-mounted spanking paddle shifters. All-wheel drive is standard. Unlike the Sport, which can be optioned with a set of 20-inch Continental summer tires for $995, the luxury-themed Platinum’s 20-inch wheels are packaged in all-season Hankook tires.
In spite of a 41-pound weight disadvantage, tho’, our Platinum test car managed to better or equal the acceleration times we recorded in a two thousand sixteen Sport fitted with the summer rubber. The zero-to-60-mph run takes a brisk Five.8 seconds, the century mark is reached in 15.Two seconds, and the quarter-mile is crossed after 14.Four seconds at ninety eight mph, besting the Sport by 0.Two 2nd, 0.6 2nd, and 0.Two 2nd and two mph. The only acceleration test in which the Platinum wasn’t quicker was from fifty to seventy mph: both twin-turbo Explorers did it in Four.Four seconds. Similarly, the Platinum matched the Sport in clawing its way around our 300-foot skidpad at a respectable 0.83 g. The Sport’s summer tires proved advantageous only in our braking test—stopping this Platinum from seventy mph required one hundred seventy four feet, eight feet longer than the Sport on its stickier Continentals.
Cabin Fever
While the Platinum’s interior is packed with premium materials, build quality is less than stellar. Our test car’s door panels were misaligned with the dashboard, the leather of which showcased signs of wear at the seams before the odometer reached two thousand five hundred miles. On the plus side, the addition of Sync three to two thousand seventeen Explorers is a boon to ergonomics. Menus within the central touchscreen are logically arranged, and touch inputs never needed a 2nd or third tap of the screen to confirm a request. The Platinum also comes standard with features such as a dual-panel sunroof, adaptive cruise control, a blind-spot warning system, lane-keeping assist, a front-mounted camera, and an automatic parking system that can steer the Explorer into an open spot.
Despite providing more legroom in all three rows than the Two.9-inch-longer Dodge Durango, as well as an extra four cubic feet of cargo space behind its rearmost row, the Explorer’s interior can feel cramped. Exceptionally broad side sills make injecting the cabin somewhat awkward. Once inwards, the Explorer’s broad dashboard and a seating position that’s slightly offset toward the center make this mid-size crossover feel especially big and ungainly to navigate. Adding salt to the Explorer’s packaging wound is a front wheel well that invades the space for the driver’s left foot more than in most modern vehicles, rendering the puny dead pedal all but futile to those with big feet or even average-size feet clad in boots. While our test car’s optional ($695) second-row bucket seats were comfy, they lacked integrated armrests, resulting in arms stringing up listlessly when the ($150) second-row center console was open and in use. Choosing the buckets also deletes one seating position, reducing our test car’s capacity from seven to six passengers. Meantime, the Explorer’s cushy, power-folding third-row seats suggest a meager 40.7 inches of hiproom, Trio.9 inches less than the Honda Pilot’s despite the vehicles’ virtually identical overall widths.
Everyman Brand
With a base price north of $50,000, the Explorer Platinum blurs the line inbetween premium mid-size crossover SUVs and mainstream models. Compared with an Acura MDX or an Infiniti QX60 with equipment levels similar to that of our $55,025 Blue Jeans Metallic test car, the Platinum costs $2315 less than the MDX and $2870 less than the QX60. Both the Acura and the Infiniti provide somewhat more prestigious brand names; however, neither vehicle’s V-6 engine produces anywhere near the power of the Ford’s twin-turbocharged brute.
Those seeking power might also want to look at the Dodge Durango tooled with the 360-hp Five.7-liter V-8 engine. Even stronger than the Explorer Platinum (a two thousand sixteen Durango R/T registered five thousand three hundred sixty nine pounds on our scales), the eight-cylinder Durango is objectively less capable than the Platinum, with lazier acceleration figures, a longer braking distance, and less lateral grip. Nevertheless, the eight-pot Dodge is more joy to pilot and is rated to tow up to seven thousand four hundred pounds when decently tooled, two thousand four hundred more than the Explorer Platinum. The Dodge’s fuel-economy rating of fourteen mpg city and twenty two mpg highway falls behind the Platinum’s 16/22 rating; we averaged seventeen mpg during our time with the Ford and recorded twenty mpg on our 200-mile, 75-mph highway-fuel-economy test. Based on that 20-mpg figure, the Explorer can travel harshly three hundred seventy miles on a tank, which is far less than many of its peers.
Regardless of which vehicles you most consider to be its competition, the two thousand seventeen Ford Explorer Platinum’s high-end materials, array of features, and strong engine permit it to stack up fairly well. Even so, consumers may be better off opting for the $7880 less expensive, but identically powerful, Explorer Sport. Based on our testing data, however, we can’t recommend the optional summer tires on that Explorer.
Highs and Lows
Highs:
Quick for a pachyderm, top-notch materials, cool appearance.