Everything Alan Mulally has learned, experienced, and changed at Ford Motor Company is encompassed in the 2011 Ford Explorer. A bestseller at 400,000-plus per year in the '90s, the Explorer met its automotive Waterloo during the Firestone tread-separation debacle. Sales of the body-on-frame Explorer dwindled to 52,190 in 2009, as Ford was launching its new Taurus. Ford redesigned the sedan far beyond its original intentions, though retaining the Volvo-derived D4 platform. Now, thanks to Mulally's push for quicker updates of Ford models, it's the Explorer's turn.The new, unibody Explorer borrows the Taurus' D4 architecture, making it a Taurus-level update of the Freestyle/Taurus X. In the Explorer, the architecture offers better packaging, fuel mileage, handling, and maneuverability for SUV-crazy Americans who long ago tired of trucky dynamics.
Helping erase bad memories of Firestone tire tread separation (if not for our constant mention), the 2011 Explorer has standard AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control and Safety Canopy with rollover sensor. It adds Curve Control, which reduces engine torque by braking in tight curves when the system senses the driver is going too quickly. It cannot be turned off.
And it pioneers the industry's first inflatable seatbelts, for the second of the CUV's three rows. Like the Taurus, the Explorer comes with an impressive list of standard and optional features and a higher grade of interior materials and fit and finish. Polished 20-inch aluminum wheels with Hankooks are optional on the popular XLT and standard on the top-spec Limited.
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