Big Improvements for new Explorer Sport Trac
Ford has redesigned just about everything
this year, even reintroducing the Explorer
Sport Trac after a one-year hiatus.
A one-off from Ford Explorer, the best-selling
SUV in the country, the Sport Trac was first
introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model and was
a combination SUV/pick-up truck. Unique
at the time, it didn't take long for
every manufacturer to introduce similar vehicles,
including Honda Ridgeline.
For 2007 Sport Trac is a little roomier in
most ways, gets a new 4.6-liter V-8 engine
with 292 horsepower and a new six-speed automatic
transmission. A 4.0-liter V-6 good for
210-horsepower is mated to a five-speed automatic
transmission. Either is available as
rear or four-wheel drive.
My test Sport Trac was the top-of-the-line
Limited with V-8 power and a full-time all-wheel
drive system that Ford calls Control Trac 4X4. It
has a base price of $30,235, including $695
in destination and delivery charges.
Options on the test truck brought the window
sticker price to $33,330, and included power
adjustable pedals, heated two-tone leather
bucket seats, power driver seat, satellite
radio, limited electronics package with dual
automatic air conditioning, redundant steering
controls, automatic headlamps, trailer hitch,
and a six-disc CD/MP3 audiophile system.
Other included options were a hard tonneau
cover for the cargo box with a flip-folding
cargo bed extender and safety canopy side curtain
airbags.
My V-8 Sport Trac was rated at 14 miles per
gallon in the city, 20 on the highway, but
in real life, mileage for the week was worse. I
experienced as little as 12.8 mpg around town
and 17.6 on the interstate.
For 2007, Sport Trac boasts big improvements.
For one, it just looks better. It is identical
to the Explorer from the front doors forward.
Basically it is an Explorer with a small pickup
bed grafted onto the back - same chrome
grille, aluminum hood and multi-element jewel
headlamps. Yet, the wheelbase is five inches
longer and it's overall almost 17 inches
longer, resulting in a better ride.
The view of the rear is simply Ford pickup.
The cargo bed, constructed of corrosion-proof
material, includes a molded in bed liner. Three
cargo bins are integrated into the box: two
small and one large, shallow bin that runs
the width of the headboard. I first saw this
treatment on the Honda Ridgeline, which does
it better than the Sport Trac. However,
Sport Trac offers the optional, two-piece lockable
hard tonneau cover to completely enclose the
rear bed.
Inside, the 2007 Sport Trac is all Explorer,
sharing virtually every component from seats,
dash, steering wheel and center console. I
liked the two-tone leather seat treatment.
Ford still uses too much hard plastic everywhere
but employs it better than the previous generation
Sport Trac.
Other things that bothered me were the placement
of the power window and door lock buttons,
the door handle integrated into the top of
the armrest and the unusual placement of the
door pull handles. I commented on these with
my review of the Explorer and Ford has promised
to redesign the door panels halfway through
the year.
Front seats in the Sport Trac tester feel
good, but I would have appreciated a bit more
thigh support. The rear seat folds 60/40 with
the bottom cushions flipping up for additional
cargo room, but they didn't lock in place
and I expected them to drop down with hard
braking.
Rear seating accommodates three, but only
the outboard passengers have headrests, which
tend to block the view to the rear but can
be flipped down.
The interior was quiet even at interstate
speeds, but the ride, while less choppy than
before, is still truck-like. It is good by
comparison to others in this class.
Sport Trac comes with just one body style
and is available in two trim levels: XLT
and Limited. Standard features include manually
adjusted cloth sets, air conditioning, tilt
steering, cruise, power windows, locks mirrors,
AM/FM/CD, rubber floor covering with Berber
floor mats, 16-inch alloy wheels, grey bumper
cladding and black roof rails.
Limited editions use 18-inch wheels, color-keyed
or silver body trim, silver roof rails and
fog lamps.
Standard safety features on both models include
front airbags, child safety seat anchors (LATCH),
Advance Trac stability control, front seat-mounted
side airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes and
tire pressure monitors.
The 2007 Sport Trac earned the highest five-star
rating from the National Highway Transportation
Safety Administration for both front and side
impact crash test results. The Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety awarded their highest "Good" rating
for frontal crash tests.
Overall, the newly redesigned 2007 Explorer Sport
Trac improves just about everything from the
previous edition, but is not significantly better
than other four-door pickups in this class.
