Inside, the 2013 Explorer can be stocked with high-tech features, including a navigation system offering the most fuel-efficient route to your destination.
For 2013, the Explorer also has more safety features than ever and earned a top, five-out-of-five stars in federal government crash testing. And with an optional, turbocharged four-cylinder engine helping the 2013 Explorer earn a government rating of 20 mpg in city driving and 28 mpg on the highway, the Explorer ranks as the best large-sized SUV in highway fuel economy.
Pricing is on par with large SUVs that offer three rows of seats.
The seven-passenger, 2013 Explorer has a starting retail price of $31,995 (with destination charge) for a front-wheel drive model with 290-horsepower V-6 and automatic transmission. The 2013 Explorer with the fuel-efficient, turbocharged four cylinder costs about $1,000 more, and the turbo four is available only on front-wheel drive Explorers.
No V-8 is offered for the Explorer anymore. But a new-for-2013 Explorer Sport, with price starting at $41,675, gets the 365-horsepower, turbocharged V-6 that?s in the performance Ford Taurus SHO sedan.
In 2000, the Explorer was the top-selling SUV in the United States, with annual sales of 400,000 or more. But highly publicized rollover crashes and questions about the Explorer?s Firestone tires hammered sales, and competitors proliferated and benefited over the years.
Through 11 months of calendar 2012, for example, Explorer sales totaled 146,963.
Still, buyers wanting a competitively priced, roomy, domestically built SUV that can pack in the safety and convenience features of a sedan will find much to like in the 2013 Explorer.
The Explorer now uses a more car-like platform for a nicer ride. It?s the same one used in Ford?s Flex crossover SUV, and it gave the test Explorer a compliant ride over road bumps and a bit of cushioned ride over sharp humps on an off-road trail.
Yes, the Explorer still is offered with a drive system for all four wheels, and the test Explorer, a Limited model that topped out at just over $47,000, included the easy-to-operate terrain management knob with settings for driving in snow, mud and sand.
But the Explorer no longer has a transfer case and locking differential for rugged off-roading.
People in the front two seats had good views out above most other vehicles on the roads. But the driver has no real view of what?s immediately ahead of the Explorer hood, which sits high and imposing. Likewise, the rearview camera and reverse sensing system were a must, as it was impossible to see if anything low was behind the Explorer.
Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20121229/NEWS/112299981/1011/rss01&source=rss
sf 49ers joe paterno died 49ers game ravens steven tyler national anthem paterno newt gingrich
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.