2006 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer V8 4WD

How do you improve a 14-year class leader? And, if it's already that good, why bother?


With competition extra tough and getting tougher every day, car companies must consistently improve their products. They must continue to upgrade and redesign them just to keep up, let alone get or stay ahead, but they typically tend to do it very carefully.

Styling

For 2006, Ford's Explorer—America's best-selling SUV with sales totaling nearly 5.5 million—gets a new interior, a freshened exterior and substantial engineering upgrades. Among those are more power, improved ride, quietness, emissions and fuel economy as well as a host of advanced safety technologies.


The new optional 4.6-liter SOHC V-8 shares the same 3-valve cylinder heads and variable cam timing used on the 5.4-liter Ford F-150 and Mustang GT V-8. Delivering 292 hp (53 horses more than the previous 4.6-liter 2-valve V-8) and 300 lb.-ft. of torque, it's mated to the first-in-class 6-speed automatic transmission, with a wide first-to-sixth ratio spread that improves both low-end performance and high-number fuel economy. As a result, for example, the V-8 4x2 Explorer delivers lower emissions than the '05 and as much as 10 percent better fuel economy (15 mpg EPA city and 21 mpg highway, even with the added power. The lively V-8 also churns out exhilarating performance and very satisfying sound.


The standard 4.0-liter SOHC V-6, upgraded for 2006, has new calibrations and controls that reduce emissions, while new spark plugs and a new camshaft improve idle quality by 40 percent, Ford says.