Driving Impressions
reviewed by
Our Explorer Limited proved to be a most pleasant sport utility to drive. The wheelbase helped eliminate a great deal of the choppiness found in other sport utilities. The Twin Traction Beam front suspension with axle/coil springs and rear two stage leaf springs provided a smooth ride with little body roll in turns.
The 4.0-liter 160-hp V6 is coupled with a four-speed automatic transmission, standard in our Explorer Limited. Pedal-to-the-metal provided swift, sure acceleration and great passing and merging power, but the power fell short of Grand Che{{{Cherokee's V8. The engine did emit some noise as the power increased.
Our Explorer Limited had auto-locking front hubs with a Touch Drive transfer case for on-the-fly shifting from 2WD to 4WD and back at normal road speeds. Manual locking hubs and a manual shift transfer case are optional.
We took our Explorer on our favorite off-road course, and it performed flawlessly, climbing a rather steep grade with no trouble and negotiating a rock-strewn stream and a suspension-testing two-track. We're convinced Explorer can do anything any competing sport utility can -and probably better.
Trailer towing can be accomplished by mounting a ball on the step bumper, but capacity is limited to 3,500 pounds. Add an aftermarket load equalizing hitch and the cooling package, specifically a 3.73 rear axle and towing capacity is increased to 5,400 pounds for the 4x4; 5,600 for the 4x2.
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