2008 Explorer America Concept

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2008 Explorer America Concept

January 08, 2008, 03:47:44 PM

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=124184

2008 Detroit Auto Show Preview: Ford Explorer America

DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford refers to the Explorer America as a "smarter utility concept." In fact, it is nothing less than a sea change in thinking. The new model is actually a preview of the company's ambitious plan to shift its once best-selling ute from a truck-based SUV platform and turn it into a car-based crossover.

In addition to its unibody configuration, the six-passenger Explorer America concept is designed to accommodate Ford's new EcoBoost turbocharged gasoline direct-injection engines — a 2.0-liter four-cylinder rated at 275 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque and a 3.5-liter V6 rated at 340 hp and 340 lb-ft. The production version of the 3.5 V6 will make its debut on the 2009 Lincoln MKS and later on the Ford Flex.

More at link.

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #1 – January 08, 2008, 03:51:19 PM

glad its a concept, b/c that thing is UGLY. i hate the tailights although they are a cool idea.. just meh. also not a fan of no c pillar, nice design idea, but that just adds more wight with the added support structures. i belive this is designed by the same people that came out with a bronco concept i think it was, looks just like it in the front. We need less of those and more sports/sporty cars!!!!!!

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #2 – January 08, 2008, 04:02:05 PM

No. Ford needs volume sellers, like this, and economy cars so they can meet CAFE standards and stay in business. They've spent the last half a decade concentrating on nothing but their sports/pony cars and full size trucks, while watching their company fall apart around them. Building cars that remind us of Iconic Fords isn't paying the bills. GM is focusing on what the market wants, not impressing the car nut (who own old cars and haven't bought a new car in Lord knows how long), and it is working well for them.

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #3 – January 08, 2008, 04:19:30 PM

Ford as well as all other automakers pretty much have to rethink every single vehicle to meet the 2020 CAFE standards. That is the motivating factor behind everything that you'll see over the next decade. So all the "normal" vehicles we've come to know and love will be going bye-bye, and that includes virtually everything that is of the older body-on-frame build. Town Car, Crown Vic, Grampa Marquis--all being replaced by unibody vehicles.

Now, this isn't really too surprising that the Explorer will go unibody. Look at all the changes that vehicle had between 1991-2008: it definitely has matured gracefully with ABS, then airbags, then a graceful car-inspired interior, then an independent rear suspension, then a full gamut of airbags and safety features. They now have all the current gizmos you'd find in other vehicles. The next logical step from here is a unibody design. It will ride and corner better, for sure, and a slightly lower stance will improve fuel economy. The new engine choices seem to be in line as well. Overall this can not only save the Explorer name and heritage, but also can potentially give Ford another hit if marketed properly.

The only question not answered is a major one: how much will it tow? Because if it can't tow as much as today's Explorer can, then the name is going to lose a lot of credibility. For those of us that bought an older Explorer/Mountaineer for the express purpose of towing something, that's going to make or break the new design...

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #4 – January 08, 2008, 04:22:20 PM

Quote from: oldraven;196487

No. Ford needs volume sellers, like this, and economy cars so they can meet CAFE standards and stay in business. They've spent the last half a decade concentrating on nothing but their sports/pony cars and full size trucks, while watching their company fall apart around them. Building cars that remind us of Iconic Fords isn't paying the bills. GM is focusing on what the market wants, not impressing the car nut (who own old cars and haven't bought a new car in Lord knows how long), and it is working well for them.

Very well said. Ford needs to look forward, not backward. 35MPG CAFE is a new reality and all manufacturers, even Toyota, will be scrambling to meet it. While everyone's been shiznitting on Lincoln for the FWD MKZ (nee Zephyr) and MKX, we'll see who has the last laugh when these higher CAFE numbers start being enforced. Kudos to Ford for thinking ahead (for once) with the Explorer concept, though I seriously doubt that there will be a 275-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine under the hood of any Ford SUV's any time soon. The V6 maybe, but the four cylinder is doubtful. The turbo-4 would make a spectacular replacement for the base Mustang's 4.0 V6, though...

Now if only Ford would leave the CUV segment alone long enough to build some competitive bread-and-butter cars...

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #5 – January 08, 2008, 04:36:42 PM

What percentage of Explorer buyers tow anything? I would say the number is minute. Ford may be allowing anyone that wants to tow more than 3000 lbs to graduate up to the Expedition or an F150.

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #6 – January 08, 2008, 04:39:59 PM

All except for the tail lights i like it, and i highly doubt the Taillights would ever see the light of day considering how slim they are. Everything else i like, ok maybe not the white interior but that about it for my qualms with it. Not to mention ford has been throwing around this little brinks design around for a while , i cant remember what they were calling it a year or so back but there was a small sport ute that looks similar to that.

The ford Synus

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #7 – January 08, 2008, 04:46:26 PM

Quote

Ford needs volume sellers, like this, and economy cars so they can meet CAFE standards and stay in business. They've spent the last half a decade concentrating on nothing but their sports/pony cars and full size trucks, while watching their company fall apart around them.

Ford's full size F-150 has been the #1 selling vehicle for how many years now?

Not to mention sales of the S-197 Mustang for the 2005-2007 model years is close to 500,000 (the '07's are showing reduced sales #'s)

These cars have made them money, but not enough. Had they done their homework on other vehicles as well (Taurus, Focus, Ranger!, Fusion, etc....) maybe they wouldn't be closing plants left and right.

Quote

The turbo-4 would make a spectacular replacement for the base Mustang's 4.0 V6, though...

And would be absolutely kick-ass in a compact AWD platform! The only other thing I'd want from it would be to fully engulf 8 foot long 2X4's.

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #8 – January 08, 2008, 05:12:21 PM

well from what i understand not EVERY single vehicle has to conform to the 2020 deal. only high volume cars, so low volume cars like say, the corvette or the miata is exempt. now i maybe wrong on that tbut thats my understanding. the crown vic which is a high volume car and all the econoboxes and SUVs that sell like hotcakes will have to conform to the 2020 legislation.

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #9 – January 08, 2008, 05:18:11 PM

Ford needs an '88 CRX

57mpg (51 by today's standards) 20 years ago

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #10 – January 08, 2008, 05:34:40 PM

i bet sports cars get lighter (awd weighs A LOT) and gets a smaller engine... look at mgs they had less than 110hp at most i believe and a very fun to drive car (from what i hear) and 200hp in a miata (again from what i hear) is scary fast. so if i had the money i'd go for something that weighs about 2000lbs or less with 150-180-200hp and i know i'd have fun in it. thats vs a big ol heavy thunderbird v8 (which IMO is a hell of a lot more fun than a tiny death trap)

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #11 – January 08, 2008, 08:22:49 PM

Quote from: ~AC;196520

well from what i understand not EVERY single vehicle has to conform to the 2020 deal. only high volume cars, so low volume cars like say, the corvette or the miata is exempt. now i maybe wrong on that tbut thats my understanding. the crown vic which is a high volume car and all the econoboxes and SUVs that sell like hotcakes will have to conform to the 2020 legislation.

CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy. Not all of a manufacturer's vehicles are required to meet the standard, but the average of the manufacturer's fleet does. This includes every single vehicle the manufacturer makes, INCLUDING TRUCKS (previous CAFE standards were different for cars and trucks). Lower fuel economy vehicles must be offset by higher fuel economy vehicles. This means that for every 20MPG Explorer that Ford sells, they would have to sell a 45MPG something-that-doesn't-exist-yet-in-Ford's-lineup to offset the Explorer's poor mileage and bring the average up to the standard.

CAFE is not a mandatory number, either - the manufacturers don't have to meet it. If they don't, though, a fine is applied to EVERY vehicle they sell (if it only applied to the offending vehicles it wouldn't do much good as these vehicles are highly profitable and can absorb a higher price easily) - this means that if Ford sold a buttload of Expeditions and pooched CAFE targets the fine would apply to everything from the Focus to the Expedition. The fine is passed directly onto the consumer, hidden in the price. Imagine how a car customer would feel buying a fuel efficient car but having to pay a premium on it because something else the same manufacturer makes is a gas hog. The fine varies - the more the manufacturer misses CAFE, the higher the fine.

The Firefly/Sprint/Metro existed ONLY to allow GM to meet CAFE targets of the time. The car was not profitable for GM, but it allowed GM to sell more profitable cars and not get nailed with CAFE fines.

The 35MPG standard will change the automotive landscape in ways you can't imagine, and $4/gallon gasoline is going to rush those changes. Those funny little microcars that puppiesan and Europe get will come here (IE the Smart car). Compact pickup trucks will likely enjoy a renaissance. So will small hatchbacks in the spirit of the CRX. Four-cylinders will become more popular than V6's in mainstream family cars such as the Camry/Accord/Malibu. Cars will start getting smaller and lighter in successive redesigns instead of larger and heavier.

...and in my opinion, it's been a LONG time coming. Cars are just stupid fat nowadays. Remember the 80's, when our Fox Thundercats were considered heavy at around 3500 pounds? Civics are getting close to that now. I think the aforementioned CRX weighed like 1800 pounds. A modern Civic adds nearly 3/4 ton to that, is larger than an original Accord, and almost as large and heavy as an original Taurus. Mustangs are approaching 4000 pounds (and in the case of the Shelby GT500, surpassing two tons). The Ford Edge is touted as a "modern unibody crossover vehicle" yet weighs almost 2.5 tons. Modern "mini"vans are as large and heavy as full-size vans from 20 years ago - there's no longer anything "mini" about them. My father's '05 Dakota 4X4 is longer and heavier than my '95 F-150 4X4 (but much narrower and with much less interior room), and I don't even want to think of how an '08 F-150 would compare to it. And the manufacturers can't be blamed. It's consumers who have demanded that their economy cars and pickup trucks ride like and are contented like luxury cars.

Hopefully 35MPG CAFE will reverse that trend and result in cars that are actually efficient, fun to drive, that sacrifice a bit of comfort for a bit of driver engagement. This includes, hopefully, the reincarnation of the manual transmission. Manual trannies provide 2-3 better MPG in an otherwise identical car, and manufacturers are going to need every MPG they can muster. Fingers crossed...

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #12 – January 08, 2008, 08:51:43 PM

thanks for clearing that up TC :)

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #13 – January 08, 2008, 09:03:28 PM

One should also point out that the upcoming 35MPG CAFE standard is based on the old, very ambitious MPG rating method, not the new one that actually rates the car at something close to what it will achieve in the real world. That is very important, and very good news for manufacturers.

2008 Explorer America Concept

Reply #14 – January 08, 2008, 09:43:30 PM

Quote from: ~AC;196481

also not a fan of no c pillar, nice design idea, but that just adds more wight with the added support structures.

I see a C pillar, but no B pillar.