By Eric Trytko
The 2019 North American International Auto Show unofficially kicked off with a pre-show debut. Say hello to the 2020 Ford Explorer, which was revealed at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.
Now in it’s sixth generation and nearly thirty years of production deep, the Explorer returns to a rear-drive platform. Two engine choices are on deck. There’s the 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine, which produces 300 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque. You can find this engine as standard equipment on the base, XLT, and Limited trims. Jump to the Platinum trim to find a 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6. This version produces 365 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. A 10-speed automatic transmission is standard for both engines.
Put that EcoBoost to good use
The 3.0-liter EcoBoost can tow up to 5,600 pounds. That’s a 12% increase over the outgoing 3.5-liter EcoBoost. Outfitted with the 2.3-liter EcoBoost and Class III Trailer Tow Package the 2020 Explorer can tow up to 5,300 pounds.
Original Explorers from the early 1990s were about the same size as the Escape of today. The modern Explorer has grown quite a bit. You’ll need help to park this beast. Ford has answered that need with Active Park Assist 2.0. Standard on the Explorer Platinum, this allows the driver to park in a parallel or perpendicular spot with the press of a button. The steering wheel, gear shifter, gas pedal, and brake pedal all work their magic to make parking ease happen.
Available reverse brake assist, also standard on Platinum, uses radar and ultrasonic sensors to detect an object in the Explorer’s path. It can then apply the brakes automatically to avoid an imminent collision when the vehicle is backing up at a low speed – such as when exiting a driveway, just in case you can’t be bothered to turn around to look where you’re going or look at the rearview camera.
The 2020 Ford Explorer comes standard with the automaker’s electronic safety suite called Co-Pilot360. This is a set of driver-assist technologies that include:
- Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking, which includes Pedestrian Detection, Forward Collision Warning and Dynamic Brake Support
- Blind Spot Information System with Cross-Traffic Alert
- Lane-Keeping System
- Rearview camera with built-in lens cleaner
- Auto headlamps with auto high-beams
Other available Ford Co-Pilot360 technologies include Evasive Steering Assist and Post-Impact Braking.
Chris Billman, Ford Co-Pilot360 engineering manager, says “It’s not about filling the vehicle with technology for technology’s sake. It’s about improving the experience, making driving less stressful, and helping the driver feel more confident behind the wheel.”
Of course we want more
“Explorer drivers told us what they want – more capability, more power, and more space,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s head of product development and purchasing. “They want more technology, not just for the driver, but for the whole family. And they want all of it with a beautifully sporty exterior. This new Explorer gives them all of that, and more, helping make every journey more enjoyable.”
Henry Ford once said if he asked customers what they wanted they would have said a faster horse. Customers will always say they want more space, power, etc.
The Explorer will feature a 10.1-inch center display in portrait mode (think iPad style) with Sync 3 featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto along with Waze navigation. The center stack will also have the ability to wirelessly charge your phone. Four USB-C ports are available for wired charging in the cabin. Up to three 12v outlets and one 110v outlet can also be found. Optional will be a 980-watt, 14-speaker B&O premium audio system.
The instrument panel is a 12.3-inch all-digital unit. It uses 3D animated graphics to change information depending on which of the seven drive modes are selected on the available Terrain Management System. Rear-wheel-drive-only Explorer drive modes include normal, sport, trail, slippery, tow/haul and eco. Vehicles equipped with four-wheel drive add a deep snow and sand mode for improved performance off road.
Ford made it a point to emphasize that this new Explorer is built on a rear-drive platform. Gone is the softer, crossover Explorer.
Who is it for?
The story that Ford is trying to tell with this new Explorer is to take a vacation. Take that trip with your family or significant other and make memories. Do it in the Explorer. It’s a fine narrative for a vehicle reveal. But Explorer shoppers might just be happy to know they can actually go exploring with their Explorer now. At least more so than they used to.
Base price of the 2020 Ford Explorer will be $400 higher than the outgoing model (2019 Explorer starts at $32,365 minus Destination and Handling). Given all of the fresh safety tech and increase in standard features, that’s actually fairly impressive.
Ford is saying that 2020 Explorer will go on last in early Summer of this year.
Ross Ballot 
Jeff Glucker
Is it just me, or did Ford decide it was open on season on nicking styling cues from all its PAG brands (Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin) after it sold them on? So many RR and discovery details on this, not to mention sticking a vaguely aston grille on everything from the Mondeo to the Transit in the last generation.
Not a bad thing though. This perspective has a very pleasant Flex-like, slightly wagon-ish vibe to it:
https://hooniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2020-Ford-Explorer-14-1024×759.jpg
I’m sure it is only good at hiding its abhorrent size though.
That is a large butt.
Agreed. It’s platform mate, the new Lincoln Aviator looks even lower.
Looks like at least three different designs were combined there. The front end is pretty generic too, but then ‘they all do that’.
I’ve read that it’s 10 inches longer, which is significant. Wider, too, but I don’t know by how much. I just hope all that exterior girth amounts to some more space inside. Other than the FWD platform, my biggest complaint was the cramped interior.
What’s the problem with FWD on these things? They never go offroad, they will never be driven in a sporty manner. Do they just understeer too much? For what is basically a soccer mom minivan-in-hiking-boots, I can’t see what benefits RWD would bring other than maybe towing?
Personally, FWD(based) was perfect for mission, but it’s exciting that there’s something RWDish from a non-German marque (and also, a non-Durango, which is a great truck but has a very specific look).
That’s the thing: the older RWD-based Explorer did actually go off-road, and it did tow. It’s the reason my father still has his third-gen Mountaineer. Your view of the “soccer mom” Explorer only exists because Ford neutered it in 2011. While not an off-roader like the Wrangler, the prior Explorer was used in surveying, running power line cuts, etc. No one uses the Edgesplorer for actual utility anymore, but they may now. Not everyone lives in the city or suburbia, either, so I think the 2020 Explorer will appeal to a broader audience.
Correct, the first-gen Explorer was meant to be truly offroad capable. Everything after was progressively more mall-ified. Even with the shift to RWD I doubt that that was done for offroad capability as truly designed-for-offroad vehicles are largely dead outside of the Wrangler. Even Range Rover/Discovery are primarily mall cruisers now, albeit with never-to-be-used offroad capabilities to maintain the “image”. It’s a shame the Cherokee/Vitara segment is now basically gone.
Agreed. Is it a LR? Nope. It’s a cop.
Your cops drive Land Rovers? Wow, ours tool about in mere Dodge Chargers and Ford Explorers.
No. Explorers that look like LR.
Ha! Sorry, I misread your comment.
Police Land Rovers are still a touchy subject in the northern part of the Island of Ireland…
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8380/8523004408_934135f86d_b.jpg
good times…
Understandable, it’s a shame the current political climate means the old tensions are coming out again, just when things were looking up for Belfast.
Forget that.. the front end is basically a toyo highlander from a 3 generations ago
https://file.kbb.com/kbb/vehicleimage/housenew/480×360/2012/2012-toyota-highlander-frontside_tthigh121.jpg
I think the 2016-2019 looked very LR-ish, but this 2020 reminds me more of an older Toyota.
(Edit: as I now read, hansgman thinks so, too.)
I can see some of that too, but there’s a definite Discovery Sport/RR vibe about some of the details.
So, it went from FWD to RWD based. How does that make this inherently more rugged than the outgoing model?
That’s a big screen.
I could care less if it’s more rugged, as long as it’s RWD again. However, most FWD-based crossovers have pretty insubstantial rear diffs and half shafts, given that most of the power, most of the time, is directed to the front. I once considered converting a CRV to rear-drive, but was told that sending all the power back there would likely result in mechanical failure.
Does RWD also contribute to the tow-rating? Or is that based mainly on vehicle weight and braking rather than traction limits?
It can, yes. The rear suspensions on most FWD vehicles are fairly insubstantial, and that’s what needs to support the tow. FWD-based AWD vehicles are a bit beefier, and can tow moderate loads well. If you’re pulling anything significant, though, you want a RWD platform, preferably with a frame.
That’s not to say you can’t tow moderate loads with a FWD, but personally, I don’t feel very confident doing it because putting weight on the hitch takes weight off of the front tires, where all of the power is being delivered. It diminishes traction. Throwing a load on the rear wheels of a RWD car only improves contact for the driving wheels. The more substantial rear suspension of a RWD also helps prevent squat, which again helps mitigate weight transfer off of the wheels that steer.
380 lb-ft you say? I’m listening.
…and now I’m trying to think of other vehicles that returned to a previous drive layout after an era of a different layout.
Dodge Charger & Chrysler 300 would be contenders (started RWD, went FWD, are again RWD), though the Charger had a transverse engine when it was the ’80’s hatchback while the ’90’s 300M’s engine was longitudinal.
Very few RWD vehicles have appeared at all since midsized sedans and CUV’s srarted going FWD based.
Cadillac Seville (STS, whatever) went from FWD in the 80’s and 90’s to the upsized CTS before they bailed on it, and the CT6 might count if you see that as the replacement for the Deville/DTS instead of the XTS.
Good call. Another technicality is the MG ZT V8, which was a RWD version of the FWD ZT aka Rover 75.
My understanding is that this new Explorer is built on the CD6 platform, used by the Lincoln Aviator and which will serve as the platform for the next Mustang. It can accommodate both longitudinally-mounted engines with RWD or AWD, as well as transversely-mounted engines with FWD or AWD, and Ford’s range of I-4s and V6s.
No the CD6 is longitudinal, RWD/AWD only and ready for I4s, V6s and V8’s presumably since it will underpin the Mustang.
Well, I’m not sure where I read about it first, but a quick internet search offers many sources confirming that the CD6 can indeed accommodate RWD-L, FWD-T, or AWD-T/L. I’ve seen no mention of V8 possibilities, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. However, with Ford moving the Raptor to V6, I’m concerned that the Mustang may be heading in the same direction. A V8-less Mustang suggests Armageddon is nigh.
http://fordauthority.com/fmc/ford-motor-company-platforms/ford-cd6-platform/
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/01/2020-ford-explorer-details/
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/s650-mustang-expected-in-2021-on-ford-cd6-platform-128175.html
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/06/camaro-rival-watch-2021-ford-mustang-to-ride-on-explorer-platform/
380 lb-ft you say? I’m listening.
I like the new Explorer. It’s not as good looking as the new Aviator, but that’s as it should be. Heirarchically speaking, a Ford should be good looking, but never better looking than it’s Lincoln platform-mate. They nailed it!