2008 Ford Explorer Sport Trac

The ideal vehicle would be much like a Hasbro Transformer for grownups. It would turn into a pickup for the Saturday morning run to the home improvement store. Then it would become an SUV and carry four USSSA youth baseball players and their equipment (including the mandatory array of $400 bats) to an afternoon game. That evening, the vehicle would convert into a smooth-riding sedan for the drive to dinner. The next weekend, it would grow into a beast of burden, able to haul and tow enough gear and big-boy play toys for a serious back-county adventure far from paved roads.


The Ford Explorer Sport Trac is pretty darn close to being such a magical vehicle. Whether the job calls for a pickup, an SUV, a comfortable sedan, or off-road powerhouse, the Sport Trac fills the need. And, most important for some, it looks much more like an adventurer's pickup than a soccer mom's SUV.

Features & Equipment

New standard features for 2008 include side-curtain airbags, foglights, and a drop-in storage bin with power point. Also newly standard is a power rear window: Owners who enter their parked Sport Trac on a hot day will appreciate how this allows hot air to more quickly escape. As with previous models, the '08 comes standard with Ford's AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control electronic stability enhancement system and four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes.


Highlights of newly optional equipment include a voice-activation feature for the available satellite navigation system and the Ford SYNC hands-free in-car communications and entertainment system. An option that makes the Sport Trac a better pickup truck and a better SUV is the cargo bed extender. Folded out it adds some six cubic feet of storage capacity. In its stowed position the extender helps control small loads, while plastic grocery bags can be hung from its base feet. The optional tonneau cover keeps items secure and is easily removable. Also available is a sound system with a six-disc, in-dash CD player with powered subwoofer, and a Reverse Sensing System.

Power & Utility

Sport Trac is available in two series, XLT and the up-level Limited. The Sport Trac XLT starts around $25,000 while fully optioned versions of the up-level Limited approaches $40,000.