Automotive Trends

      The grumblings coming out of the Windy City this auto show season have been clear. The GMC Acadia is aged and is barely getting a facelift after 6 model years on the market. But look closer folks. That large crossover you see with the gleaming red GMC badge is hardly an Acadia. No, that my friend, is a facelifted Saturn Outlook. Read more…

     Unlike the upset in 2010 when the rudimentary Ford Transit Connect was named North American Truck of the Year, the selection of the 2011 Ford Explorer as this year’s winner came as a surprise to almost no one. The ‘is it an SUV or is it a crossover’ three-row family hauler proves to be a game changer for Ford’s once best-selling model. With votes divided between the corporate twins Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango it rightly seemed that the Explorer was a shoe in for the Truck of the Year honors. Read more…

      As the Ford Explorer enters into its 21st model year, the vehicle itself attempts to redefine a segment which it led through years of prosperity. Once referred to as the ‘compact SUV,’ the genre has changed in recent years. The original Explorer was little more than a lightly re-skinned Bronco II offered in 2-door and stretched 4-door form. Eventually the 2-door would vanish and the 4-door would add a third row of seats, but one thing stayed constant all those years: body-on-frame construction. For 2011 Ford is taking a small gamble that SUV buyers don’t really care about what type of platform their vehicle is based on. Read more…

      Ford finally unmasked the 2011 Explorer today. About time too, because the slow reveal over Facebook was really starting to try the patience of Executive Editor Dye  (who still hasn’t joined the 21st century with a Facebook page). But now we have the pictures and the story behind them. Click through for our first impressions. Read more…

      Ford Motor Company has literally stamped out millions of Explorers since its introduction back in 1990. So as the SUV market fizzles and the crossover market boils what is Ford to do with its perennial hot cake seller when the customer suddenly demands waffles? More than just add a fruit topping, that’s for sure. What you see above in the Explorer America Concept shown at the 2008 NAIAS is a full-fledged, car-derived, high-riding unibody crossover. Come launch time we’ll find one of two EcoBoost (that’s greenie speak for turbocharged and direct-injected) engines under the hood. The base model will get a 2.0L 4-cylinder with about 260-hp and 280 lb-ft of torque on tap. The optional upgrade engine will be the 3.5L V6 already making its rounds in the Flex, Taurus SHO, MKS, and MKT with roughly 340-hp and 330 lb-ft of torque. Next question is whether or not we’ll get a unibody Sport Trac to take on the minivan derived Ridgeline?

I’m Cool Because I Said So!

    Sport means cool and/or active. (Ed’s Note: Webster disagrees) I drive a sports car; I am cool. I drive a sport utility vehicle; I am active. My presence on the road is commanding. I work a 9 to 5 during the week in the city. On weekends I ford rivers and leap boulders. Read more…

Just Say No To Blurring Lines

    Standing tall and proud the Explorer in no way tries to blend into the ranks with the ever increasingly popular crossover vehicle. The Explorer was one of the first SUV’s to define the segment and bring it to its prime. Then gas jumped over $3 per gallon and the weak kneed suddenly lost interest in filling the 25+ gallon fuel tanks these barges carry. Read more…