Ford Explorer Canada

The Ford Explorer SUV has been manufactured by Ford since 1990 and has been one of the most sold crossovers in the history of SUVs, Ford was a pioneer of the now family friendly and city driven sport utility vehicles, starting with the 2-door Ford Bronco in the mid 1980’s and then going a little bigger with the full sized Ford Explorer, Ford created the SUV segment later adding the Ford Expedition and the Ford Excursion to Ford’s SUV lineup. The Ford Explorer is currently slated in between the smaller Ford Escape compact crossover and the Ford Expedition with 3 rows of seats.

Ford Explorer 1991-1994
The first generation Ford Explorer was based on the Ford Ranger platform but with the comfort of an SUV body, it was originally available in the Ford Explorer Sport 2-door and Explorer 4-door models. They were both equipped with one standard V6 4.0L engine, optional four-wheel drive or 4×2 rear wheel drive and was coupled with a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission. The Explorer in Canada was available in four trim versions; the base model Explorer XL, Explorer XLT, while the Explorer Sport was only available as a 2-door version and a fully loaded Explorer Eddie Bauer edition. While the Explorer Sport 2-door model was very similar to the Explorer it replaced the popular 2-door Bronco II.

Ford Explorer 1995-2001
The second generation Explorer received a completely new design, with a more aerodynamic stylish exterior and a completely redesign interior dashboard, console and seats, it also increased in size and weight. The new Explorer also received a new car based suspension system replacing the Twin Traction Beam suspension used the the truck based Ford Ranger and
F-Series pickup trucks. A larger V8 5.0L engine was included to the lineup and available in the Eddie Bauer and Limited Explorer with all-time 4wheel drive, while the V6 4.0L engine received an upgrade coupled with a 5-speed automatic transmission.

In 2001 Ford also introduced the Explorer Sport Trac, using a Ranger based pickup box on the Ford Explorer body. The Ford Explorer Sport Trac shares the same platform and interior design with the Explorer but is a pickup truck model and fits between the Ford Ranger and F-150 pickup. The Explorer Sport Trac made its debut in 2000 as a 2001 Explorer model and shared the same V6 4.0L engine with the Ford Explorer and Ranger, the Sport Trac edition was later discontinued in 2010, making way for the fifth generation 2011 Ford Explorer.

Ford Explorer 2002-2005
The third generation Ford Explorer was redesigned for the 2002 Explorer model, following a similar style to the 2003 Expedition and sharing some of the same interior design, it again grew in height and width. From the exterior their are very few notable differences between the 2002 Explorer and 2003 Expedition other than obvious size and the front headlights. With Ford’s new approach to a more luxury featured interior and comfortable feel, the Explorer now competed with other full sized SUVs like the Toyota Highlander and Toyota Land Cruiser, Honda Pilot, GMC Acadia & Chevrolet Equinox.

The 2002 Explorer was available with an optional third row of seats for a total of seven passengers, the V8
5.0L engine was replaced with a smaller V8 4.6L 16-valve modular engine which it shared with the Ford Mustang and F-Series, while the V6 4.0L is standard for all 2004 Explorers. The 2-door Explorer Sport was discontinued for the third generation, the new Explorer also featured a new independent rear suspension, a similar suspension design used by Mercedes in the Mercedes Benz M-class crossover.

Ford Explorer 2006-2010
The fourth generation Ford Explorer was designed by Canada’s largest auto supplier, Magna International, based in Aurora, Ontario it works withVolkswagen, BMW and Toyota in Canada. The 2006 Ford Explorer again grew in size making room for the Ford Freestyle (aka Ford Taurus X) between the Explorer and Escape compact crossover. The Explorer received a long list of standard features including tire monitoring system, electronic stability control computerized technology (ESC) improving vehicles safety and stability, it included a 292HP V6 4.0L base engine and an optional V8 4.6L 24-valve engine it shares with the 2010 Mustang.

The Ford Explorer was nominated for the 2006 North American Truck of the Year award which was won by the new Honda Ridgeline pickup truck. In 2008 at the North American Auto Show in Detroit, Ford unveiled the Explorer America concept SUV which included the EcoBoost V6 3.5L engine used by Ford Edge with 340HP and 340 lb/ft of torque.

Ford Explorer 2011-2013
The last generation Ford Explorer is built on a D4 platform shared with theFord Flex and complete redefines the Explorers style, with a bold move by Ford’s designers steering away from a truck body and built on a car-based crossover platform. The 2011 Explorer was designed by Jim Holland which also worked on the 2012 Range Rover design, adding more luxury features to the new Explorer.

The 2012 Ford Explorer in Canada is available with V6 3.5L with a twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti VCT) an advanced version of the popular fuel efficient VVT technology, with an impressive 290HP and 255 lbs/ft of torque, with towing capacity of 5000 lbs. With Ford’s intelligent 4wheel-drive terrain management system the 2012 Explorer provides superior traction control, the intelligent 4WD is fully automatic delivering traction to the wheels with the most traction when wheel slip is detected. The 2012 Explorer includes MyFord Touch and SYNC voice activated technology, which combines touch screen navigation system with a superior entertainment system and rear-view camera all wrapped into an 8 inch LCD screen which makes the Active Park Assist system even easier by taking the work out of parallel parking.