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" On-Sale Date: Now Price: $41,545 Competitors: Jeep Grand Cherokee V-8, Dodge Durango R/T Powertrains: 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6, 365 hp, 350 lb-ft EPA Fuel Economy (city/hwy): 16/22  What&amp;#039;s New: The Ford Explorer has never been a nameplate you might associate with an athletic driving experience. Yes, when this generation of Explorer came out for the 2011 model year, it came with a more car-like chassis. That, along with its modern styling, helped the new Explorer become a hit and win the North American Truck of the Year award. Yet it still wasn&amp;#039;t exactly what we&amp;#039;d call fun to drive. The new Ford Explorer Sport aims to change all that.  Ordinary Explorers use either a 3.5-liter V-6 or a 2.0-liter Ecoboost four-cylinder. But under the hood of the Sport is the same motor used in F-150 pickups and the Taurus SHO sport\u2014a 3.5-liter Ecoboost V-6 pumping out 365 hp. It comes paired to a six-speed automatic and an all-wheel-drive system.   Ford engineers stiffened the chassis to improve the handling too. For example, Sport models have a unique &amp;quot;tower-to-tower&amp;quot; underhood brace that ties the top of the front suspension together over the engine. And they added a &amp;quot;cross-tunnel brace&amp;quot; that runs across the chassis underneath the cabin. Together, Ford says, these changes added 37 percent to the Explorer&amp;#039;s lateral stiffness at the front subframe attachment points.  The suspension was optimized for Sport duty at each corner, with new springs and dampers. Upfront, Ford lowered the suspension by about 15 mm, and the rear uses new &amp;quot;cross-axis&amp;quot; ball joints to help tighten response. The front brakes are more than an inch larger on the Sport, providing a 53 percent increase in thermal mass and a 20 percent improvement in brake fade, Ford says. And since this is a sport package, the wheels and tires are larger with 20 x 9\u2013inch wheels wrapped in 255/50R20 rubber. Tech Tidbit: To impart a sportier vibe to the powertrain, the Explorer Sport&amp;#039;s Terrain Management System has been recalibrated and now allows 50 percent of the power to flow to the rear axle in the conventional dry-road setting, up from 35 to 40 percent in the standard Explorer&amp;#039;s AWD system. That amount of lockup (50/50) was previously only allowed by the system in some its more extreme off-road modes. To handle the additional heat generated by the more aggressive torque distribution, the engineers added a cooler to keep temperatures down. Driving Character: Take a long, slow walk around the Explorer Sport and its hard not to appreciate the subtle design tweaks. The Sport looks hunkered-down and aggressive. The blacked-out trim, stylish wheels, and dark-tinted headlights make this one of the best-looking domestic SUVs. Slide into the seat and it&amp;#039;s familiar territory. The seats themselves offer the same amount of support, but there&amp;#039;s new stitching and leather colors.  The brawny Ecoboost V-6 provides plenty of power and torque. This is a quick vehicle, but the Ecoboost&amp;#039;s flat torque curve dulls the sensation of speed. It pulls smoothly and silently, but you don&amp;#039;t get that rush of adrenaline as the engine reaches its peak of power. As a result, it often seems as though the car is going faster than you think. The V-6 revs at just 1800 rpm at 60 mph, so there&amp;#039;s almost no engine noise at freeway speeds.  Squeeze on the power through a set of gently arcing curves and the chassis feels taut and responsive, with nicely weighted steering. But when you hustle the Sport on the hilly, tight, and twisty roads in the Santa Monica Mountains until the tires squeal, it looses its composure and begins to feel like the 5000-pound SUV it is. The Sport is a bit cumbersome and doesn&amp;#039;t feel comfortable playing at that pace. The stability control system cuts in abruptly, not like the gentle and refined guiding hand we&amp;#039;ve come to appreciate from today&amp;#039;s better systems. The Explorer Sport prefers connecting curves at about 80 percent of its ability. One culprit could be the Ecoboost V-6 itself, which adds about 70 pounds to the nose of the SUV. Those beefier crossmembers add another 30 pounds. Perhaps that heft dulls some of the fun. The Sport&amp;#039;s ride on most roads is firm, but on uneven and broken pavement the low-profile tires produce relatively sharp impacts. In a perfect world, we&amp;#039;ll take the Sport&amp;#039;s style, its Ecoboost V-6, and its steering. But we&amp;#039;d trade the suspension and 20-inch tires for those from the standard Explorer. Favorite Detail: It&amp;#039;s easy for automakers to ignore the details such as tailpipes on their ordinary cars. On an entry-level SUV, exhaust pipes are rarely seen. But performance vehicles need cool tailpipes, and the Explorer Sport has twin-polished tips exiting a unique rear valance panel. They look just right. Driver&amp;#039;s Grievance: The Explorer Sport has &amp;quot;sport&amp;quot; right in its name. Yet there is no official &amp;quot;sport&amp;quot; mode. Yes, engineers have tuned the AWD system to respond in a more sporting matter, but we want a specific mode that would engage firmer, quicker shifts from the transmission and a less intrusive setting for the stability control.  Bottom Line: The Explorer Sport is an attractive and quick SUV. Under most circumstances, it&amp;#039;s an engaging partner when the road twists. And we like that the Sport and still work hard if it needs to; the performance upgrades didn&amp;#039;t diminish the Explorer&amp;#039;s 5000-pound tow capacity. But this is not an inexpensive vehicle. Although the Sport begins at $41,545, our test unit was loaded with voice-activated navigation, power tailgate, and many other options that pushed the price up just shy of $48,000\u2014only $12,000 less than a Range Rover Sport HSE. That&amp;#039;s a little too close for comfort. If we could haggle even a little off the Range Rover&amp;#039;s price tag, our money would probably be spent in a Land Rover store instead. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/a8181/2013-ford-explorer-sport-test-drive-13506930/>