Ford has announced that the all-new 2011 Explorer will be available with an advanced terrain management system that optimizes the four-wheel-drive system “Talking with customers told us that flexibility and freedom to tackle any road, anytime is important to them, ” said Explorer Chief Nameplate Engineer Jim Holland. “We saw the opportunity to eliminate a compromise by adding an intuitive and efficient terrainmanagement system that can demystify four-wheel-drive control and enable the driver to properly match 4WD trac
Official information about the upcoming unibody Ford Explorer is beginning to trickle out in earnest. Ford already let loose at the Chicago Auto Show with the nugget that the Explorer would be offered with a four-cylinder EcoBoost motor (quite a switch from the model’s historic under-stressed V6 and V8 options). And we’ve seen prototypes floating around Dearborn, MI — ones that revealed the new Explorer’s primarily front-drive power train configuration.
Those spy shots made us wonder anew how exactly a unibody, front-/all-wheel-drive Explorer was really going to be any different than the bevy of crossovers that Ford already produces (Edge and Flex, most notably). Part of the answer comes with Ford’s announcement today that the Explorer will offer a terrain management system that integrates power train and braking settings to provide appropriate traction for a given weather or road condition. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is very much like the system pioneered by Land Rover while the company was owned by Ford.
Ford says the system helps the Explorer deliver better fuel economy by eliminating a transfer case and heavy drive-line components. Obviously, the better-off-roading-through-electronics approach is viewed with some suspicion by hard-core off-road enthusiasts. But we don’t anticipate seeing too many Explorers on the Rubicon Trail.
