2020 Ford Explorer Platinum three-row crossover road test review covering engines, power, interior space, driving impressions and more.
TranscriptThis is the all new 2020 Ford Explorer, and well, that is a Moomba. But I'm here to talk about. This is the range topping Platinum trim level. And importantly, it comes with the available new 3 liter turbo charged V6. This produces 365 horsepower and 380 pound feet of torque. For the midsize three row crossover segment, that blows away everything except for the V8-powered Dodge Durango. And this weighs considerably less than that. This can tow 5,600 pounds. That only weighs 4,800. And when you don't have it strapped to a whole bunch of weight, this absolutely hauls-- not just for the segment compared to a Honda Pilot or a Toyota Highlander or something. No, it just hauls, period.
Now here's the thing-- yes, this is the optional engine, but the standard engine is a 2.3 liter turbo charged four cylinder. It's good for 300 horsepower and 310 pound feet of torque. That too, is better than everything else in the segment. So if you're looking for performance, Ford Explorer a good one to look at.
Now as always, all wheel drive is available, but this new Explorer is on a new rear wheel drive platform. Now besides the advantages in terms of driving dynamics, this is a far more fun maybe not, but definitely a dynamic engaging vehicle than the last Explorer. Going with their new rear wheel drive platform actually has freed up space inside.
So yes, more wheelbase, there is more interior space than there was before. But I wouldn't say the second row space is exceptional for the segment. Pretty standard in terms of head and leg room. The seat here does slide by quite a bit, allowing you to bring the kids forward or maybe free up some extra cargo space. But it doesn't slide back that far to give you, like, limo-like leg room or anything.
Recline, it's again, kind of standard. But one thing as you can see here these are the captain's chairs. But what this has is this plastic tray here. And the thing with a plastic tray is OK, it's nice, but it also makes it harder to get into the back through the gap, at which point, why do you have the captain's chairs? Wouldn't it be better to have a bench back here and maybe a substantial center console?
The other thing that's kind of lacking back here is USB ports. There's only one right here. And then there's none in the back row. You're looking at seven USB ports in some of the Explorer's competitors. Now in terms of third row access, upper trim levels do come with one touch sliding, gets it out of the way. But the resulting space isn't that great. You do have more in a VW Atlas or a Dodge Durango.
To climb in, it's a little difficult to get in. All right. Now once you're actually back here, there is a lot of headroom here in the Explorer. Probably more than most. However, part of the reason is that this seat is pretty close to the ground. And as a result, you don't really have a lot of underlying support. Your knees are kind of up in the air. So if you're taller-- your taller teenager, it's just not going to be as comfortable back here as in say, a Kia Telluride, Chevy Traverse, or even a Subaru Ascent.
Now the interior represents a pretty significant departure stylistically for Ford Interiors. I think it looks a little more elevated from the last one, a little more stylish. But I don't think it quite gets to that luxurious air of a Kia Telluride even in this Platinum trim level. But it does get lip stitch leather on the dash as well as more simulated leather on the doors on all the other trim levels. It's a perfectly pleasant, soft touch, rubbery material. You also have more convincing wood here on the dash as well as on the steering wheel.
Functionally, center console, you have wireless smartphone charging on the upper trim models. Just kind of sits here against the perfectly normal under armrest in, normal cup holders. A little bin here as well as a very deep area for smartphones. This is where you would charge and plug in your phone. You have a rotary shifter here and then in upper trim levels, the various drive modes are changed with a second rotary knob.
One other thing is that without this large screen, which I'll get to in a minute, there is this handy bean right under here when you get the standard 8 inch touchscreen. Now this guy it is 10.1 inches. It is vertically oriented, as you can clearly see, which is kind of nice if you have a larger map. But honestly, I'm not sure vertically oriented really works that well in this. It's also not as well executed as say, Volvo's vertically-oriented screen.
For instance here, this is the home screen, so you're able to see both the nav screen as well as your audio information. However, there's no radio presets. You can just go backwards and forwards through all of the channels. The tuning knob does that. To get your radio presets, you have to go here into the audio screen. It's kind of a small thing, but really, they could tweak this and improve it in a number of different ways.
And then on the Platinum as well as the ST, you do have a 12.3 all digital instrument panel. And the design differs based on your drive mode. So it's a little slow to go through, so we're going to use the magic of editing here. So there's no tow-haul, and then sport, and then eco, and then while there's normal, and slippery, and trail. And then deep snow, sand.
So now I'm in the XLT. This is certainly more of a volume-selling model at around $40,000 than that fancy pants Platinum version. But this also has the 2.3 liter engine. And really, this is more than enough power. It's actually quite abundant for this segment. This engine is smooth, it is effortless for a big vehicle. It's also very quiet. And in fact, the Explorer in general is really quite a quiet vehicle. It's actually quite windy here in the Columbia River gorge, and you really wouldn't notice it here in the Explorer.
And that's just one of the reasons why this would be a very good road trip-friendly vehicle. Because frankly, when you have all of this room in the back for all of these people and you can tow a Moomba, well, that's pretty much what this is intended for. Is it a class later, is it better than a Kia Telluride, Honda Pilot, Subaru Ascent-- I don't know. You'd have to drive them back to back. But is it competitive with them? Oh yes. And it's definitely more competitive than the Explorer that it replaces.
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