| Story and photos by Mike
Batchelor
2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
<< Review - Specifications
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| Review Notes:
2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac (4.6L V8 / 5 Speed Automatic) |
| Strengths |
Fantastic ride, artful interior |
| Weaknesses |
Fuel economy, limited cargo capacity |
| EPA Fuel Mileage |
14 city, 20highway |
| The Final Word |
Ford delivers a pint-sized quad-cab with dashing
good looks and excellent road manners |
So you’ve decided that
you want a pickup truck but you don’t need the towing or cargo
capacity of a full-sized truck. You may have  decided
that you may occasionally need to toss a few bags of mulch or that rare
garage sale treasure in the bed but you don’t want to deal with
the voracious appetite for fuel or the poor parking lot maneuverability
offered by most of today’s super-sized half-ton trucks. Most importantly,
however, you need four real doors and comfortable seating for four normal
sized humans. Well, lucky for you nearly every major auto manufacturer
now offers a 5/8ths scale, quad-cab truck that will meet your needs.
While most manufactures have simply added an extra large cab and an
extra small bed to their compact pickup truck, Ford and Honda have gone
in a different direction by basing their micro-sized quad-cab pickups
on their mid-sized SUV platforms. Honda’s Ridgeline is a derivative
of the Pilot while Ford’s Explorer Sport Trac is based on, you
guessed it, the all new for 2006 Explorer.
 The
Sport Trac is a handsome truck. The giant chrome grill and obligatory
clear headlight lenses give the front end a decidedly upscale appearance
while the stubby yet intricately sculpted bed section offer a more functional
look. The overall presentation is rugged yet refined; sort of like the
Marlboro man dressed up for a night on the town in an Armani suit.
 The
rugged good looks continue on the inside where the all new interior
looks like it was heisted from of an F150. The tall center stack puts
the audio and navigation controls up high where the Good Lord intended
them to be. The HVAC controls, on the other hand, are a little low and
hidden behind the tall shifter but they are still fairly easy to manipulate.
We really appreciate the tall center console which places the cup holders
and shifter in easy reach. Our biggest ergonomic gripe is with the steering
wheel controls for cruise, audio and temperature settings. The layout
left something to be desired and we think Ford could have done a much
better job of making the buttons easier to press and differentiate without
the driver having to take his eyes off the road.
The firm seats are a little lacking in lateral support but they are
supremely comfortable and the seating position is fantastic. There is
plenty of head and legroom for six-footers and the optional adjustable
pedals make it easy for vertically challenged drivers to find a comfortable
position. Outward visibility is superb, aided by a high seating position
and very small A, B and C pillars.
 The
door handle/armrest design elicited some degree of controversy. While
most of us agree that they are attractive and the nicely integrated
door handle is an artful design element one editor found them to be
positioned right where he wanted to place his knee which made them rather
uncomfortable.
Back seat passengers are treated to fairly roomy accommodations for
two but three adults would be rather cramped. Rear seat head and legroom
are plentiful. Our vehicle was equipped with an optional DVD entertainment
system that included a remote control and wireless headphones which
should keep the kiddies, bored editors or underpaid, abused interns
entertained on long trips.
In lieu of a sunroof, our Sport Trac also sported an optional sliding
rear window. The sliding rear window offered three modes of operation,
closed, open about an inch and open all the way. You can’t open
the window half way or any other variance thereof.
The sporty white faced gauges look great and are very easy to read.
It is great to see that someone at Ford has finally decided that it
is OK to put a redline on the tachometer. We especially like the new
high resolution message center in the center of the gauge cluster. The
multi-color display is much easier to read and has a much higher quality
appearance than traditional seven bar LED or even dot-matrix displays.
 The
optional automatic climate control system works well enough under normal
conditions but has some difficulty  keeping
the cabin temperature consistent when the outside temperature dips much
below zero. A long road trip in -13 degree weather left one of our editors
with one cartoonishly blue foot while the other was toasty warm. A layer
of carpet may have helped but alas, all Sport Tracs are equipped with
an easy to clean rubberized floor rather than carpet. The optional seat
heaters, on the other hand, were among the best we have seen. They only
offer one setting but they make short work of icy cold leather seats.
On the road the Sport Trac is an absolute treat to drive. The ride
is first-rate as the rigid chassis and four-wheel independent suspension
does a phenomenal job of soaking up every bump our chug-hole infested
Midwestern roads serve up. The steering is nicely weighted but a little
vague. Overall handling is perfect for suburban duty but not exactly
sporty, nor up for the task of more severe off-road duty.
 With
292 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque on tap, the 3 valve, 4.6 liter,
V8 delivers gobs of silky smooth power. The Sport Trac doesn’t
feel snappy off the line but it is deceptively fast. On more than one
occasion we found ourselves hitting the brakes after checking the speedometer
and realizing that we were going 10 or even 20 mph faster than we thought.
We estimate a respectable 0-60 time in the mid-7 second range and Ford
claims a governed top speed of just under 100 mph. Unlike most V6 equipped
vehicles which deliver a throaty and staccato exhaust note, Sport Trac’s
song at full throttle is deep and muscular like Detroit sedans of old.
The only other pint-sized quad-cab you will find a similar V8 bellow
in is the Dodge Dakota.
The V8 is thirsty, however. The EPA rates the Sport Track at 14 city
and 20 highway. Around town we were able to approach the EPA’s
city number averaging a little more than 13 mpg but we aren’t
sure what planet they did the highway test on because we couldn’t
get more than 16 mpg on the our road trip.
 Off
road the Sport Trac’s supple ride continued to please passengers
but it’s fully independent suspension, open diffs and all weather
Michelin tires limited it to light trail duty only. Ground clearance
measurements were unavailable at press time but in our limited time
off road we found it to be sufficient enough to deliver a 17.2 degree
breakover angle. The side steps will probably be the first casualty
on any serious trail. The short front overhang provided a reasonable
28.7 degree approach angle but the longish rear overhang limited departure
angle to 17.2 degrees.
All 4X4 Sport Tracs are equipped with Ford’s Control Trac AWD
system. This system usually sends all power to the rear wheels but when
the computer detects slippage it will  automatically
divert up to half of the power to the front wheels. The system also
provides a 4X4 High mode which locks the system into 4WD and a 4X4 Low
mode which engages a torque multiplying gear set in the transfer case.
On road, the system was nearly undetectable in dry conditions. When
the roads got slick the system worked flawlessly providing ample grip
and control on snow covered roads.
The bed is what makes the Sport Trac a Sport Trac, and Ford designers
clearly did more than graft a composite box on the back of a run-of-the-mill
Explorer. The Sport Trac’s cargo box is adorned with loads of
nifty features including cargo tie-downs, three built in water resistant
storage compartments, an optional cargo cage/bed extender and a two-piece,
locking, hard tonneau cover that opens from the front or rear. With
the optional tonneau cover in place the entire bed can be secured to
keep would be thieves from pilfering whatever treasures you may be hauling.
 With
a 6,640 lb. towing capacity the Sport Trac will out-tow anything in
its class except the Dodge Dakota (6800 lbs). The Sport Trac is also
the only vehicle in its class to offer a six-speed automatic transmission.
Class leading performance and features come with a hefty price tag,
however. A base Sport Trac 4X4 with a V6 will set you back about $27,500
which isn’t out of line in its class but the Sport Trac offers
a long list of options and if you aren’t careful you can quickly
run the price into “holy crap” territory. Our loaded-to-the-hilt
Limited model, complete with a navigation system, leather seats, Audiophile
audio system, heated windshield and DVD  entertainment
system carried a staggering $37,500 price tag. With a little discipline,
however, you should be able to get a nicely equipped Sport Track in
the low $30K range.
With its rugged good looks inside and out, power to spare, and a ride
that is absolutely sublime we really like the Sport Trac. It sits at
or near the top of the heap in nearly every performance category and
with an options list as long as your arm you can order up a Sport Track
that fits your lifestyle. The Sport Trac probably shouldn’t be
your first choice as a serious off-road machine, but out of the box
it is a competent machine for light to medium trail duty. As a suburban
assault vehicle we think the Sport Trac will be pretty hard to beat.
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