ford had to redesign the flex and slap the explorer badge on it because the flex wasn't selling that well. so, i doubt they drop the explorer.
Minivans are still the way to go for a family vehicle. So practical.
No AWD though, which can be tough for us in the north.
What needs to happen are a diesel minivan and/or a hybrid. That will help mileage and provide the same minivan utility.
No AWD though, which can be tough for us in the north.
Crossovers are basically less-bad-looking minivans. Meh.
That's right, I forgot about the Sienna. It's a pretty rare package though, gotta go new and those things are spendy.
Back in the day you could get an AWD Previa. I still see 'em around. They even made them with superchargers and 5-speed manuals (according to my owners manual).
150hp but it only weighed a little over 3k pounds at least according to the scales at the dump. That was the fully loaded power everything version minus rear seats. It moved pretty good with a few real cheap mods. The new ones weigh 4300lbs to 4500lbs depending on options. They do have a bit more power though.
I used to have one. Not supercharged or 5 speed
By far the best/nicest van Toyota ever made.
We had 2 sunroofs, kids loved that thing (I did too).
I had to get rid of it mostly due to sliding door trouble (wife's fault hehe) and seat belts that didn't lock in (safety). Also we had some accident damage and exhaust was shot.
Wasn't worth investing into, but it broke my heart to get rid of her....
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/02/review-2011-ford-explorer-xlt-awd/Imagine, for a moment, you are a plant. Well, not just any plant. You are Robert Plant, and everywhere you go, people want you to sing “Stairway to Heaven”. I’d rather not, you tell them. Never liked that one much, to be honest. We’ve a much better song that I’d much rather sing. Called ‘Kashmir’, dontcha know. Much better, that one. For years, you refuse to perform the song. You cancel a proposed Led Zeppelin reunion because the promotion company insists, positively insists, that you play “Stairway”. You’d rather play “Kashmir”. And since you don’t really need the money, that’s the end of it.
I suspect the people who run Ford can sympathize a bit with Mr. Plant. Their “Stairway” is a four-door SUV called the Explorer. You might have heard of it. Sold a bunch, that Explorer, even though it was always kind of a hokey tune, a Ranger truck with a cap and a couple rows of plastic-leather seats, perched sky-high on underinflated Firestones.
The Explorer was never a truly outstanding answer to the family-wagon question, so a couple years back Ford created the Flex, which is an outstanding answer. It should have made the Explorer obsolete, but there were two problems. It wasn’t really an SUV, and it wasn’t an Explorer. And since Ford, unlike Zeppelin’s Golden God, needs the money…
The traction control can't handle the engine though. I'll squeal the tires in my T&C if I don't gently hit the gas pedal. The van sounds impressive when you floor it, and at 280HP it gets those 2 tons of metal to 60 in about 8 seconds. It even has a semi-manual transmission (you can shift gears when in Drive by moving the shifter left or right).
You can almost see a cloud of brake dust when you stop on the brakes though. Chrysler seems to be famous for putting in overpowered engines and not upgrading the other components to match.
At least you have traction control. My modified 89 turbo would smoke the tires from a roll and try to rip the steering wheel out of your hands lol. While I had my 89 caravan I also had an 89 5.0l mustang. Now you want to talk about some crappy brakes. My van stopped a better than that mustang and by a good bit.
Ha! I had an '84 Mustang GT. How did performance cars from that period NOT have 4 wheel disc brakes? The rears were still drum brakes!
i didn't say they stopped selling the flex. the explorer is a flex that looks a bit more SUVish in order to increase sales is what i said. i guess if you wanted to be really accurate you'd say that both are ford D3/4 platform vehicles, along with the taurus and the taurus x/freestyle wagon that preceded both current wagons.
ttac put it best, i think
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/02/review-2011-ford-explorer-xlt-awd/
Parent? I had a dodge caravan for 12 years and am a single dude without kids. Best beater I've ever had. I almost never had the rear seats in the thing and used it like a truck, a much more comfortable and nice to drive truck. It hauled my mtn bikes, dogs, and pretty much anything else I could shove in there which was a lot more than you could a SUV.