Big Improvements for new Explorer Sport Trac

Ford has redesigned just about everything this year, even reintroducing the Explorer Sport Trac after a one-year hiatus. 

A one-off from Ford Explorer, the best-selling SUV in the country, the Sport Trac was first introduced in 2000 as a 2001 model and was a combination SUV/pick-up truck.  Unique at the time, it didn’t take long for every manufacturer to introduce similar vehicles, including Honda Ridgeline.

For 2007 Sport Trac is a little roomier in most ways, gets a new 4.6-liter V-8 engine with 292 horsepower and a new six-speed automatic transmission.  A 4.0-liter V-6 good for 210-horsepower is mated to a five-speed automatic transmission.  Either is available as rear or four-wheel drive. 

My test Sport Trac was the top-of-the-line Limited with V-8 power and a full-time all-wheel drive system that Ford calls Control Trac 4X4.  It has a base price of $30,235, including $695 in destination and delivery charges.

Options on the test truck brought the window sticker price to $33,330, and included power adjustable pedals, heated two-tone leather bucket seats, power driver seat, satellite radio, limited electronics package with dual automatic air conditioning, redundant steering controls, automatic headlamps, trailer hitch, and a six-disc CD/MP3 audiophile system. 

Other included options were a hard tonneau cover for the cargo box with a flip-folding cargo bed extender and safety canopy side curtain airbags.

My V-8 Sport Trac was rated at 14 miles per gallon in the city, 20 on the highway, but in real life, mileage for the week was worse.  I experienced as little as 12.8 mpg around town and 17.6 on the interstate. 

For 2007, Sport Trac boasts big improvements. For one, it just looks better. It is identical to the Explorer from the front doors forward. Basically it is an Explorer with a small pickup bed grafted onto the back — same chrome grille, aluminum hood and multi-element jewel headlamps. Yet, the wheelbase is five inches longer and it’s overall almost 17 inches longer, resulting in a better ride.

The view of the rear is simply Ford pickup. The cargo bed, constructed of corrosion-proof material, includes a molded in bed liner. Three cargo bins are integrated into the box: two small and one large, shallow bin that runs the width of the headboard. I first saw this treatment on the Honda Ridgeline, which does it better than the Sport Trac.  However, Sport Trac offers the optional, two-piece lockable hard tonneau cover to completely enclose the rear bed. 

Inside, the 2007 Sport Trac is all Explorer, sharing virtually every component from seats, dash, steering wheel and center console.  I liked the two-tone leather seat treatment. Ford still uses too much hard plastic everywhere but employs it better than the previous generation Sport Trac. 

Other things that bothered me were the placement of the power window and door lock buttons, the door handle integrated into the top of the armrest and the unusual placement of the door pull handles. I commented on these with my review of the Explorer and Ford has promised to redesign the door panels halfway through the year. 

Front seats in the Sport Trac tester feel good, but I would have appreciated a bit more thigh support. The rear seat folds 60/40 with the bottom cushions flipping up for additional cargo room, but they didn’t lock in place and I expected them to drop down with hard braking. 

Rear seating accommodates three, but only the outboard passengers have headrests, which tend to block the view to the rear but can be flipped down. 

The interior was quiet even at interstate speeds, but the ride, while less choppy than before, is still truck-like. It is good by comparison to others in this class.

Sport Trac comes with just one body style and is available in two trim levels:  XLT and Limited. Standard features include manually adjusted cloth sets, air conditioning, tilt steering, cruise, power windows, locks mirrors, AM/FM/CD, rubber floor covering with Berber floor mats, 16-inch alloy wheels, grey bumper cladding and black roof rails.

Limited editions use 18-inch wheels, color-keyed or silver body trim, silver roof rails and fog lamps. 

Standard safety features on both models include front airbags, child safety seat anchors (LATCH), Advance Trac stability control, front seat-mounted side airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes and tire pressure monitors. 

The 2007 Sport Trac earned the highest five-star rating from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration for both front and side impact crash test results. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded their highest “Good” rating for frontal crash tests.

Overall, the newly redesigned 2007 Explorer Sport Trac improves just about everything from the previous edition, but is not significantly better than other four-door pickups in this class.