We’ve just caught a 2011 Ford Explorer prototype with some of the camouflage peeled away and managed to get off a few frames before it was hastily recovered. We’re now able to see the cutline of the rear door, the shape of the rear glass and the chrome door handles you can expect to see on all four doors.
We can see the rear doors on the new Explorer are not nearly as squared-off as the current model. The cutline of the rear door also seems to reinforce the rumors we’ve heard of the new Explorer having a C pillar very similar to the recently discontinued Taurus X.
Code-named “U502,” this all-new Ford Explorer is in for a big change. While Ford’s iconic SUV has always ridden on a body-on-frame chassis, the 2011 model will switch to the D4 unibody platform. Ford’s D4 platform, a moderately updated version of the D3, currently underpins the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT. Ford is hoping for a significant weight drop, and in turn, 20-25% better fuel mileage, by switching the Explorer to a unibody setup.
The two powertrains we have confirmed for the Explorer are the 2.0L 4-cylinder Ecoboost and the regular, non-turbocharged 3.5L V6. While the twin-turbo, Ecoboost V6 could still find its way into the Explorer sometime after launch, it may only be part of police of package.
Under the camouflage, we can see a typical Ford 3-bar grille. You also get a look at an impressive pair of projector headlights and trick set of LED taillights.
On the inside, expect 3 rows of seats, with the third row being jump seats.
One thing you should not expect with this new Explorer is a Mercury or Lincoln variant. We’ve also learned there will be no Sport Trac model. Watch for production to start in the second half of 2010 at Chicago’s Torrence Avenue assembly plant.
12/07, 11:30 AM
posted by:
And The Winner Is…
Seriuosly, this has so much camouflage it could look like a Rapide and we’d never no. Give us a call when you actually SEE what it looks like.
12/07, 11:30 AM
posted by:
And The Winner Is…
Make that know…
12/07, 11:32 AM
posted by:
JakeK66
Oh wow! Yeah show us your ankle like if it was a strip club in Afghanistan!What, no exposed face shots?
12/07, 11:50 AM
posted by:
worst 3
what engine choice confuse me, what will be the base engine? the 2.0 ecoboost is supposed to put out the power of a v6 and have the fuel economy of a 4cy. the 2.0 has about the same amount of torque with a better torque curve and a little less hp then the 3.5. unless it the 3.5 ecobost what is the point.
if the 3.5 is the base engine you would be upgrading to a lower power engine? they would probably coast around the same to make to. right?
12/07, 11:59 AM
posted by:
idrinorbarsaku
worst 3,
WTF just went on in your comment? I’ve seen drunk people write better than that…LOL
You celebrating new years early or something??
12/07, 12:14 PM
posted by:
NMOFGMs Daddy
Just wait till you see the masterpiece from worst 2 and worst 1.
12/07, 12:20 PM
posted by:
Ashes to Ashes_Dust to Dust
I fear Ford has subdued the original concept styling too much to appease the masses. However, had they followed the excellent illustrations provided by Leftlane’s artist they could have had a bolder styling and better marketplace contender. The grill badge is lower than LLN’s illustrations, and larger. Still, what little is shown of the dashboard looks very promising regarding the interior. It should do well, and at least Ford has been consistent in the Explorer’s legacy.
12/07, 12:28 PM
posted by:
j-dubb
why is this news!!!!!!!! this is the same pics from November…slow day LLN??
12/07, 12:30 PM
posted by:
DenverGuy217
must be a very slow day at LLN, or everyone is still busy shopping online to work on new pieces
12/07, 12:56 PM
posted by:
andy
the sport-trac is one of the only Ford products that appeal to me, i see them all over the place so sales must not have been terrible. they should have kept it
12/07, 1:02 PM
posted by:
FSVT_ROCK
It is not going to be that bad, compare GM – haha.
12/07, 1:35 PM
posted by:
yarddog82abn
Not bad looking camo…..
12/07, 1:48 PM
posted by:
j-dubb
With the Ford Explorer rollovers claiming upwards of 800 lives! and 250 handicaps Ford is still allowing these rolling death chambers to roam our streets and neighborhoods with this 2011 model.
Ford has to be stopped!
http://www.sptimes.com/News/061701/Firestone/Attention_shifts_from.shtml
12/07, 1:51 PM
posted by:
orangecones
explorer is a car past its prime, and i am not even talking about the current model, i’m talking as a brand, explorer is a dinosaur. Then again, its profitable because people buy them, even the whole tire-exploding-rollover fiasco. Strange. Then again people are still buying Toyotas for quality despite the shot throttle controls and rusty frames.
12/07, 2:45 PM
posted by:
The Realist
So…seeing as the Flex has failed miserably (100K sales a year anyone…http://www.leftlanenews.com/ford-establishes-100000-annual-flex-sales-goal.html)…will this appliance replace it?
12/07, 2:49 PM
posted by:
The Realist
“orangecones
explorer is a car past its prime, and i am not even talking about the current model, i’m talking as a brand, explorer is a dinosaur. ”
And…yet…it’s outselling the Flex this year:
Explorer sales to date – 45,578
Flex sales to date – 34,083
Now THAT’s a bold move!
12/07, 2:52 PM
posted by:
car parts
Gosh looks like a chop shop. I don’t like it.
12/07, 4:16 PM
posted by:
j-dubb
bold move my a**!
12/07, 7:43 PM
posted by:
bigp
j-dubb u are a Dumn @zs 4 real, if i knew where u where i would hit u in the mouth. the 2.0 eb maybe an sfe model , i cant wait to see it . my mom just may trade the expedition in.
12/07, 7:44 PM
posted by:
mitzo
Why does this vehicle make me want to crawl in a hole and cry myself to sleep?
12/07, 8:33 PM
posted by:
zoomzoomer
A2AD2D is right.. Ford had a great opportunity to remake the Explorer with the dynamic, modern styling of the concept.. but it appears that the rear door shape and the thin black wheelwell surround that the door cuts over have been carefully designed to look EXACTLY like the current Explorer.. which looks almost EXACTLY like the Explorer before it! The redundancy of this FWD-based unibody model alone merits breakthrough styling.. but I guess we aren’t getting it.
12/07, 10:56 PM
posted by:
85ZingoGTR
Enough with the wraps already!! All I seen of this car for months is a hunk of metal on wheels under covers!! I don’t want to see this car again until it loses the camoflauge!!!
12/07, 11:23 PM
posted by:
twintornados
Looks like Sport Trac will be replaced by…. F100? Ranger? Some other four door trucklike sedan? My vote is Transit full size chassis with a four door pick up body “top hat”….rwd and awd variants, base motor will be 3.5L, with 3.7L and Ecoboost variants….I want one, I want one, i want one….
12/08, 12:38 AM
posted by:
worst 3
yea, my post was written very poorly sorry. never in the morning should i type.
really im just confused on why they are putting the 3.5L and 2.0L turbo one as an option in this car with such similar power numbers from them and probably coast, and witch one will be the base.
12/08, 2:00 AM
posted by:
fordman
Hey everybody,Ford SUCKS! Why do we have to keep on seeing pictures of this sack of crap?
12/08, 8:53 PM
posted by:
85ZingoGTR
I sense a little irony in fordman.
01/18, 6:17 PM
posted by:
lok55
When the Fiesta and the European Focus were announced as becoming reality for the North American market I thought hooray, Ford is finally listening to all the people in the US who have been saying “Why can’t we get the really cool Fords they sell in Europe?” instead of designing and marketing product for Aunt Bertha & Uncle Joe in Omaha (no offense to all you Omahans but you get my drift).
The advance photos of the new Explorer make me wonder if the Fiesta/Focus products were just an aberration of coolness. If that white thing is close to the final product, there will be no resurgence of the Explorer nameplate. It looks like a morphodite mix of a Freestyle and a Forester. Gag. If they were totally re-doing it, how hard could it have been to make it look at least a little bit like the Explorer America concept vehicle? Not cool, Ford, not cool.