2016 Ford Explorer Sport Review (Yes, I Actually Drove One)

Do you remember the guy who let me ride in his Challenger Hellcat? He offered to give me another ride in the Hellcat before I leave on my church mission (he goes to the same church as me). However, I instead asked him if I could ride in his Ford Explorer Sport he has talked about. He said it’s modified with an exhaust and a tune yielding a little under 500 horsepower. As much as I loved riding in the Hellcat, I was curious as to what the Explorer would be like.

He showed up to my house in the Explorer and it was rather dirty inside and out. He said that he had been camping recently and was trying to make his radar detector work while the noticeably louder than stock exhaust spewed gases from the idiling engine. He gave up and we headed out into the country to have some fun. For some reference, I have ridden in a newish Ford Explorer before this. Instead of going on the twisty backroads where he drove me when I was riding in his Hellcat, he took me to some straighter roads nearby. He stopped in the road and launched the car. The car launched well due to it’s AWD and for about half a second, it wasn’t that fast… and then the turbos kicked in. It pulled hard until redline and then shifted, with the car grabbing second gear hard with a bit of wheelspin and booking it. The Explorer is his daily driver and is going to take his Hellcat to a rented runway to race a Mustang GT. He surprised me by offering to let me drive the car. I accepeted his offer and got behind the wheel, thinking this is easier and safer to drive compared to the RWD 700 horsepower Hellcat.

Driving around normally it’s like a normal Explorer, but once you bury the gas pedal, it’s like a toned down GT-R. I floored it coming out of a corner and I felt the steering wherl twitch in my hand a little bit because I hadn’t completely straightened out the wheels yet. The brakes have good bite to them and it’s very comfortable inside. The steering is direct and light but numb but that’s ok, it’s no Mazda Miata. The exhaust sounds good and loud but isn’t ear damaging, which suits it’s daily driver uses.

Verdict: A tuned Explorer Sport is a great daily and a perfect sleeper. I am now a believer in turbochargers.