New Explorer interior

[Kaido]

Interesting...

https://www.autoblog.com/2019/01/09/2020-ford-explorer-revealed-rear-drive-platform-naias/

 

[heymrdj]

At least externally I’m really digging the facelift. Waiting to see more release info.

 

[EXCellR8]

I'm confused. Is it only available in RWD or is there also a 4x4 option or trim level?

Also, they could have brought that screen down a smidgen seeing as there is no shift lever to worry about when using radio controls...

 

[NutBucket]

Looks nice! Kudos to the Ford designers. So does this mean the ST will do proper donuts? LOL

 

[heymrdj]

I’m glad to see it going rwd. More room for bigger transmissions with more gears and more cooling that doesn’t have the cooling issues that fwd pancake transmissions have.

 

[herm0016]

FTFY.


Why the heck would you make it portrait? otherwise, seems fairly nice. i would rather have more storage in the center than some fancy dancy gear shift lever or dial. Still don't get why we have to have 2 stalks and no shift lever on the column. because racecar?

 

[NutBucket]

This is the column shifter of the current S-Class

 

[heymrdj]

View attachment 2332

FTFY.


Why the heck would you make it portrait? otherwise, seems fairly nice. i would rather have more storage in the center than some fancy dancy gear shift lever or dial. Still don't get why we have to have 2 stalks and no shift lever on the column. because racecar?

Seems to be the way of the market. Ram and Tesla's screens are that way too. I'm guessing it's a bit for safety, to keep some of the screen contents closer to the windshield so that your peripheral can catch anomalies while you're playing with your toys. I also think tall uses the dash real estate better, lord knows I need them air vents wide and open.

 

[herm0016]

Seems to be the way of the market. Ram and Tesla's screens are that way too. I'm guessing it's a bit for safety, to keep some of the screen contents closer to the windshield so that your peripheral can catch anomalies while you're playing with your toys. I also think tall uses the dash real estate better, lord knows I need them air vents wide and open.

the RAMs screen does not stick up like an ipad on a mount though. its integrated with buttons down both sides. either the rams or landscape is better than this.

ram put their shifting dial on the dash too. damn. i really think the ram is the best of the current pickups interiors.

 

[tsupersonic]

Looks better than Ford interiors, but still there are parts I don't like. What's up with the dial shifter? That's just not premium at all. Don't get me started on the screen!

 

[Herr Kutz]

The screen on the lower trims should be better as long as the base screen is not the same 3" screen they have on their aging vehicle lineup. I don't need a three row crossover, but I have to say I kind of like the idea of a RWD explorer and the 4 cylinder turbo/10-speed combination.

 

[Kaido]

The screen on the lower trims should be better as long as the base screen is not the same 3" screen they have on their aging vehicle lineup. I don't need a three row crossover, but I have to say I kind of like the idea of a RWD explorer and the 4 cylinder turbo/10-speed combination.

I'm curious to see how the 10-speed does on a car that big. I hated it on the V8 Mustang I test-drove, it felt like driving a tractor haha. Made the engine sound all weird with the constant shifting, didn't care for it at all! But I think the F-150 Raptor has the same tranny & I haven't really heard much complaining about that, so maybe it depends on the vehicle...

I'm curious as to why they went with such a large screen, as opposed to a HUD setup. I was able to test out several HUD systems last year and have gotten REALLY nice. I mean, I understand the marketing appeal of a giant tablet in your car, but a HUD would be awesome. I'm still upset that they didn't put one in the Model 3...such a cool AND useful feature!

 

[Kaido]

Looks better than Ford interiors, but still there are parts I don't like. What's up with the dial shifter? That's just not premium at all. Don't get me started on the screen!

Oddly enough, dial shifters are considered "premium". I absolutely hate them, because they are not intuitive, and most designs required that you look down to operate them. Car makers do weird stuff like that sometimes though...Jeep had that odd setup that killed the poor kid from the Star Trek movies, and Tesla has a minivan-style shifter behind the wheel.

 

[EXCellR8]

Still not understanding the appeal of the RWD only SUV... especially those in snow-laden areas in the winter. But since this is an interior thread and not in regards to power train, looks plush enough for long trips.

 

[Kaido]

Still not understanding the appeal of the RWD only SUV... especially those in snow-laden areas in the winter. But since this is an interior thread and not in regards to power train, looks plush enough for long trips.

I'm okay with opening it up for discussion, haha!

You get more towing capacity & stuff from a RWD setup on an SUV, among other things, so it kind of makes sense...

 

[NutBucket]

The claim is more efficient packaging....which is fascinating since I thought that was one of the advantages of going to FWD in the first place. But I guess with and AWD vehicle it's moot?

Besides, it's not only RWD. It's RWD or optional AWD. With all the advances in traction and stability control it'll be just as capable as any FWD vehicle IMHO.

The real question is can you fully defeat those systems to do donuts and burnouts!

 

[Herr Kutz]

I'm curious to see how the 10-speed does on a car that big. I hated it on the V8 Mustang I test-drove, it felt like driving a tractor haha. Made the engine sound all weird with the constant shifting, didn't care for it at all! But I think the F-150 Raptor has the same tranny & I haven't really heard much complaining about that, so maybe it depends on the vehicle...

I'm curious as to why they went with such a large screen, as opposed to a HUD setup. I was able to test out several HUD systems last year and have gotten REALLY nice. I mean, I understand the marketing appeal of a giant tablet in your car, but a HUD would be awesome. I'm still upset that they didn't put one in the Model 3...such a cool AND useful feature!

Check out Doug demuro’s review of the ranger with the 4-pot and 10-speed. He is a fan of it....the power train anyway.

Edit: Tom Voelk had good things to say about the 10-speed in the ranger too:

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I imagine the portrait mode is useful for things like maps, where seeing ahead is useful. Also might be able to be split in two for easy reaching the top 'app' and something you don't need as much on the bottom half.

 

[Kaido]

Check out Doug demuro’s review of the ranger with the 4-pot and 10-speed. He is a fan of it....the power train anyway.

Edit: Tom Voelk had good things to say about the 10-speed in the ranger too:

On a tangent, re: the Jeep Gladiator mentioned in the video - not gonna lie, despite my past history with Jeep, I really want one Maybe if I got the stick-shift transmission this time...

 

[Kaido]

Check out Doug demuro’s review of the ranger with the 4-pot and 10-speed. He is a fan of it....the power train anyway.

Edit: Tom Voelk had good things to say about the 10-speed in the ranger too:

I'd have to drive it, because I'd imagine they tweak the systems from vehicle to vehicle. My experiences so far:

1. Jeep Renegade 9-speed auto: Laggy. Hated it. So much.
2. Dodge Charger 8-speed auto: Not quite as laggy as the Renegade, but still bad enough that I decided not to trade my Jeep in for one (it was from the same dealership as my Renegade & they offered me a pretty nice deal to trade it in, due to my hassles with the Jeep).
3. Ford Mustang 10-speed auto: Not so much laggy, as much as weird & constant shifting. Made the V8 sound suuuuuper weird. Didn't like how it felt driving it AT ALL.
4. Kia Stinger 8-speed auto: Actually really great. Super smooth. I'd still prefer a 5 or 6-speed automatic transmission, or even a good-quality CVT (like a late-model from Nissan or Subaru, not the Honda ones), but I wouldn't say no to this particular higher-geared automatic transmission.

I'm very curious to try Toyota's new Direct Shift-CVT, which is basically First Gear + CVT. They say it's better than a dual-clutch transmission & eliminates the weirdness of a CVT when starting from a full stop:

https://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/powertrain2018/cvt/

I also love little hot hatches & am really liking their new Corolla Hatchback, especially with the 6-speed MT option, which has crazy features like automatic downshift rev-matching & basic anti-stall measurements. The crazy part is, you can get the fully-loaded XSE model for $24k, which is pretty nice for all of the features you get:

• 168hp 6-speed manual
• 38 MPG highway (30 city!)
• 7" touchscreen with Apple CarPlay & Alexa
• Toyota Safety Sense 2.0

TSS 2.0 has a really nice set of features, which includes low-light capabilities via a radar & camera for stuff like TACC, lane-departure alert, steering assist automatic high beams, road-sign assistant that displays stuff like speed limit signs & stops-signs on the screen, pre-collision automatic braking, etc. If I hadn't gone with my Ecoboost Mustang, this would have been a strong contender!

 

[Herr Kutz]

On a tangent, re: the Jeep Gladiator mentioned in the video - not gonna lie, despite my past history with Jeep, I really want one Maybe if I got the stick-shift transmission this time...

They look sweet, but based on the ridiculous price of the new JL wrangler, I know this will be way more than I would want to pay.

I'd have to drive it, because I'd imagine they tweak the systems from vehicle to vehicle. My experiences so far:

1. Jeep Renegade 9-speed auto: Laggy. Hated it. So much.
2. Dodge Charger 8-speed auto: Not quite as laggy as the Renegade, but still bad enough that I decided not to trade my Jeep in for one (it was from the same dealership as my Renegade & they offered me a pretty nice deal to trade it in, due to my hassles with the Jeep).
3. Ford Mustang 10-speed auto: Not so much laggy, as much as weird & constant shifting. Made the V8 sound suuuuuper weird. Didn't like how it felt driving it AT ALL.
4. Kia Stinger 8-speed auto: Actually really great. Super smooth. I'd still prefer a 5 or 6-speed automatic transmission, or even a good-quality CVT (like a late-model from Nissan or Subaru, not the Honda ones), but I wouldn't say no to this particular higher-geared automatic transmission.

I'm very curious to try Toyota's new Direct Shift-CVT, which is basically First Gear + CVT. They say it's better than a dual-clutch transmission & eliminates the weirdness of a CVT when starting from a full stop:

https://newsroom.toyota.co.jp/en/powertrain2018/cvt/

I also love little hot hatches & am really liking their new Corolla Hatchback, especially with the 6-speed MT option, which has crazy features like automatic downshift rev-matching & basic anti-stall measurements. The crazy part is, you can get the fully-loaded XSE model for $24k, which is pretty nice for all of the features you get:

• 168hp 6-speed manual
• 38 MPG highway (30 city!)
• 7" touchscreen with Apple CarPlay & Alexa
• Toyota Safety Sense 2.0

TSS 2.0 has a really nice set of features, which includes low-light capabilities via a radar & camera for stuff like TACC, lane-departure alert, steering assist automatic high beams, road-sign assistant that displays stuff like speed limit signs & stops-signs on the screen, pre-collision automatic braking, etc. If I hadn't gone with my Ecoboost Mustang, this would have been a strong contender!

It's good to hear the Kia's 8-speed shifts well. I plan to head over the the Hyundai dealer later today and test drive a new 2019 Santa Fe since I've been reading good things about them (minus the fuel economy), and the advertised discounts I've been seeing so far are quite large.

 

[Muadib]

Other than the new screen, the inside looks just like my 2017.

 

[KentState]

Not really in the market for this type of vehicle, but the interior doesn't look that special. The screen orientation is awkward, but it's utilitarian which is the point of an SUV. The upside is that they have a ton of buttons and not 100% touchscreen.

 

[Herr Kutz]

They look sweet, but based on the ridiculous price of the new JL wrangler, I know this will be way more than I would want to pay.



It's good to hear the Kia's 8-speed shifts well. I plan to head over the the Hyundai dealer later today and test drive a new 2019 Santa Fe since I've been reading good things about them (minus the fuel economy), and the advertised discounts I've been seeing so far are quite large.

So I made it out to a dealer yesterday and test drove a 2019 Santa Fe SEL plus. As I expected based on the reviews, it does feel underpowered, but it is better than what I have now. I forgot to pay attention to how well it shifted, but this is a good thing because if a vehicle is jerky, especially at low speeds, I pick up on it very quickly (I’m looking at you Toyota 8-speed). It must have been seamless because I did not notice the transmission at all. Overall, the SEL plus had basically every feature I want. Hell, I could probably step down to the SEL trim. My one issue was that I like to put the seat up pretty high and the rear view mirror would not go up high enough due to the large base so I had to put the seat a bit lower than I wanted. It warrants another test drive to make sure this is actually a problem. Oh yeah, one more thing. The rear window shades were up and it made merging scary as hell because I couldn’t see a damn thing other than what was in the fairly small side mirrors.

This probably deserves another thread, but I’m tired of salesmen switching the vehicle into sport mode while I’m fucking test driving. The guy at the Hyundai dealer did this to me yesterday and it’s fucking annoying as hell so I had to switch it back to normal and tell him something about it. The guy at the Mazda dealer was worse. He put the CX-5 I was driving into manual mode and started pressing the +/- button to change through gears...with absolutely no thought behind why he was going up or down. My local Subaru dealer does it right. I’ve been there several times and a few of those times they just handed me the keys and said cya when you get back. That’s how it should be done.

 

[rstrohkirch]

I haven't taken a test drive with a salesman in a long long time. I don't mind them sitting in the car with me while I'm looking over the interior and have questions. But they can wait at the dealership while I drive it.