2018 Ford Explorer Gets Mildest of Refreshes in New York
Staying fresh until the next-generation SUV arrives
Though we fully expect an all-new Ford Explorer to debut in 2019 and the current one just got a refresh two years ago, SUV sales are hotter than the surface of the sun right now and Ford isn't about to leave any on the table. As such, the 2018 Ford Explorer has received an itty bitty facelift to keep its sales up until the new model is ready.
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You'll be able to distinguish a 2018 Explorer by its new grille and foglights, which are variations on the existing design. You'll also be able to tell if it has the 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 as those models will get quad exhaust tips. There are also four new paint colors and five new wheel options.
Inside, the changes are hidden from view. A 4G LTE modem and wireless hotspot can be equipped, which also nets you Sync Connect, allowing you to lock and unlock your doors and start the engine from the FordPass mobile app, as well as locate your vehicle on a map.
Finally, Ford has grouped several popular safety and driver assistance systems together into a new Safe and Smart Package. It includes collision warning and emergency braking, lane keeping, blind spot warning, cross-traffic warning, adaptive cruise control, auto high beams, and rain-sensing wipers.
The 2018 Ford Explorer heads to dealerships this fall.
Source: Ford
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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