2013 Ford Explorer Sport with 350+ Horses Priced at $40,720*

The new 2013 Explorer Sport popped up on Ford's official website today providing us with the base price of the performance model that starts at $40,720, not including an $825 (*) destination charge that puts the total to $41,545. Read more »

Ford Explorer Backs Into Brand New, Hand-Built Sports Car on its First Day Out, NSFW Language Ensues…

What would you do if someone backed into your brand new sports car that you spent months building with your own two hands on the first day you took it out for a spin?

Well, chances are you would freak out, though we do not know how many of you would react in the same way Kevin Patrick did when a Ford Explorer SUV backed into his hand-built Exocet. The young man digressed into an angry series of profanities aimed at the Ford driver.

We'll have to assume that in his fury, Patrick missed the older man with the three children standing across the road…

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Ford Explorer Backs Into Brand New, Hand-Built Sports Car on its First Day Out, NSFW Language Ensues…

What would you do if someone backed into your brand new sports car that you spent months building with your own two hands on the first day you took it out for a spin?

Well, chances are you would freak out, though we do not know how many of you would react in the same way Kevin Patrick did when a Ford Explorer SUV backed into his hand-built Exocet. The young man digressed into an angry series of profanities aimed at the Ford driver.

We'll have to assume that in his fury, Patrick missed the older man with the three children standing across the road…

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Ford Adds Some Oomph to Explorer with +350HP Sport Edition Powered by a 3.5L Turbo [40 Photos]

This is the first ever performance version in the history of the Ford Explorer and it will arrive in U.S. showrooms later this year. Ford hasn't said anything yet, but it's only reasonable to assume that the new Explorer Sport will make its first public outing at next week's 2012 New York Motor Show.

The new addition to the Explorer's range justifies its Sport tag by employing the use of Ford's 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6 engine, which the company says makes "at least 350-horsepower" in this application. Ford has not released any other performance numbers.

“Adding an EcoBoost drivetrain to Explorer Sport delivers even more fuel efficiency and performance to the lineup,” said Bill Gubing, Explorer chief engineer. “This is our highest- performance, most capable Ford Explorer ever.”

The force-fed six-cylinder is matched to a paddle-shifted six-speed SelectShift Automatic transmission with a unique 3.16 to 1 final drive ratio and four-wheel drive with a Terrain Management System.

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Ford Video Teases New Performance Version of Explorer SUV

A new edition of the Explorer will soon be revealed and Ford wants viewers to take a guess at what it is by carefully watching a 26-second long teaser video.

The mesh grille, dark alloy wheels and of course, the throaty exhaust sound, all point to a performance variant of the fifth generation Explorer.

We'll know for sure on Wednesday, March 28, as Ford will be revealing full details on its SUV model, which will probably make it to the 2012 New York Auto Show. For the time being, head past the jump to check out the clip for yourself.

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New Ford Police Interceptors to Lead the Way at NASCAR Races in Miami

While the appearance of police cruisers at a race is never a good sign, there's always an exception to the rule.

Take Ford for example. The automaker has just announced that its brand-new 2013 Police Interceptor Utility and Sedan models will serve as the pace cars for the 2011 Ford Championship Weekend NASCAR races at Homestead Miami Speedway from November 18 to 20.

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Tjin Edition Preparing 2012 Ford Explorer and Mustang GT 5.0 for the SEMA Show

As usual, the upcoming SEMA Show in Las Vegas will be crowded with plenty of one-off and accessorized vehicles from most carmakers. As a preview, the crew over at Tjin Edition have released some up skirt photos of two of the Ford models they are currently working on in partnership with the Detroit automaker.

First up is Tjin Edition's take on the 2012 Ford Explorer. The teaser picture only provides a glimpse of the tuned crossover model, but the company has shared some initial details.

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MT Slams 2012 Ford Explorer 2.0L EcoBoost, Says it's Slow, Clumsy, Pricey and Thirsty

Now here's a review that is bound to get the conversation heated up. Motor Trend's senior editor, Jonny Lieberman of former Jalopnik, The Truth About Cars and Autoblog fame, tried out the new 2012 Ford Explorer with the 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four that produces 240-ponies. And well, let's just say he didn't like it one bit.

After testing the Explorer, Lieberman states, among other things, that the 2.0-liter model is "slow, clumsy, pricey, thirstier than we would have thought, and a packaging disaster".

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Awesom-o: Ford Builds Life-Size 2012 Explorer Replica from LEGO Bricks [with Video]

We have seen LEGO bricks used to craft just about anything one can imagine but we never cease to be amazed when somebody goes over the top to construct a freakishly big design.

Case in point, a full-size replica of Ford's 2012 Explorer built almost entirely from LEGO bricks, which was made to mark the beginning of a new long-term alliance between Ford and the LEGOLAND Florida theme park.

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Ford Police Interceptors Reporting For Duty in Michigan

Michigan outlaws beware: State Police is getting ready to add another weapon in its armory, or rather two: the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor Sedan and the Explorer Police Interceptor Utility, which today passed the two-day State Police tests and are ready to enter service.

Although the Taurus Interceptor was tested just as thoroughly, it was the Explorer SUV Utility version that received most of the attention.

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Dodge Takes a Stab on the 2011 Ford Explorer with New Durango Ads

The Chrysler Group continues to aggressively market the newcomers in its vehicle lineup with new advertisements. This time the automaker has released numerous television and online spots to tout the new generation of the Dodge Durango SUV, all of which will begin airing this week.

While you can check out all the ads in the videos after the break, we must say that four commercials captured our attention including one that refers to Ferrari to show off the Durango's leather interior, another one that depicts seven Stig-lookalikes running to get into Dodge's SUV, and two spots featuring the 2011 Ford Explorer.

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And the Most-Frequently Stolen Car in the US is…

Honda may now be caught in war of words with Consumer Reports over the results of its test drive of the 2012 Civic sedan, but the Japanese firm's models continue to be preferred by a…certain type of drivers.

According to the latest findings of The National Insurance Crime Bureau [NCIB], the 1994 MY Accord was the most frequently stolen car in the US in 2010 for the third year in a row. The not-for-profit organization stated that the reasons can be found in the car’s weak security systems and the demand for used parts.

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2012 Ford Explorer with 240HP 2.0-Liter EcoBoost 4-Cylinder Returns up to 28mpg

The new 2012 Explorer SUV will be the first Ford model in North America to be offered with the company's new 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder EcoBoost engine. But you already knew that.

What's new today is the release of the EPA fuel-economy numbers for the 4-cylinder Explorer which is rated at 20 mpg (11.8 lt/100km) in the city and 28 mpg (8.4lt/100km) on the highway. The cheaper -by around a grand- Explorer V6 with its naturally-aspirated 292HP, 3.5-liter engine returns 17mpg/city and 25mpg/highway.

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Ford to Baby Boomers: We Get that You’re Old and Feeble and Can’t Read Small Fonts

*This article has been (patronizingly) posted in a larger-than-normal font for our older readers

From next year, the fonts in Ford’s Edge and Explorer SUV models will be some 40% larger as well as thicker. The reason? Baby Boomers have poor eyesight. No, really, Ford’s done a study and everything. The bigger fonts will extend to interior display screens control and A/C controls, and will gradually be rolled out onto other models in the Ford range in coming years.

In a statement on their website, Ford expressed its desire to make it, “easier for people of all ages, particularly aging Baby Boomers, to read display fonts.” Ah, like the little boy or girl who flat-out tells his grandparents that they’re old and wrinkly, Ford has snagged upon that babying / slow and loud way anyone under the age of 30 speak to anyone over the age of 50:

“YES, MRS. JOHNSON. THE WEATHER IS NICE TODAY. DO YOU THINK YOU’LL GO DOWN TO THE PARK?”

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Ford Releases Videos of Its New Police Interceptors Taking on the Competition

Ford has released a series of six videos with the Taurus and Explorer-based police vehicles undergoing various tests performed by police officers. The performance, handling and durability of the Interceptors were tested in a series of real-world police maneuvers and driving conditions and then compared to those of the competitors. The six videos show Ford's police cars taking on the Chevrolet Tahoe PPV and Dodge Charger Pursuit in a series of tests to find out which are the most capable purpose-built police cars.

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2011 Ford Explorer Receives its First Recall

Ford's freshly launched 2011 Explorer SUV has received its first safety recall for a problem concerning the second row of seats. The recall affects approximately 1,658 Explorers made between July and December of last year.

According to a filling with federal safety regulators, the manual recliner mechanisms of the second row seats may "have components that are out of dimensional specification". The NHTSA said that in the event of a crash, "the seat back may not provide the required strength, increasing the risk of injury."

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VIDEO: Sanitation Workers Wreak Havoc on a Parked Ford Explorer

Even if you know your winter driving ABCs and have properly equipped your car, sometimes there’s no way to avoid getting snowed in. Should that happen in a thriving metropolis, chances are that the sanitation “cavalry” will have your back covered. However, this wasn’t the case in New York, as a Sanitation Department loader got stuck and, in what can only be described as a very poor effort of trying to free it, the on-the-scene personnel seriously damaged a city owned - ah, the irony - Ford Explorer parked nearby.

Check out the video after the jump to see dumb and dumber at work.

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2011 Ford Explorer V6 Rated by EPA at 17mpg city and 25 mpg Highway

The official EPA fuel-economy numbers have been posted for the V6 Ti-VCT version of Ford's chunky 2011 Explorer. The 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine produces 292 hp, or 80 ponies more than the outgoing model’s 4.0-liter V6. Despite the power increase, the new crossover returns an EPA-certified 17 mpg city and 25 mpg highway, which accounts to a 25 percent improvement over the previous V6 model.

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Ford’s Police Interceptor Outpaces Competition at LA Sheriff’s Department Testing

The American police car segment is heating up with equally interesting offers from GM (Chevy Caprice), Chrysler (Dodge Charger) and Ford. In their latest battle, the Dearborn automaker's Taurus-based AWD Police Interceptor achieved the fastest lap time in tests carried out by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department (LASD), signaling that it's a worthy successor for the Crown Victoria.

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Customized 2011 Explorers and other Ford Models Teased Ahead of SEMA Show

FoMoCo is really gearing up for this year's edition of the Las Vegas SEMA Show in the beginning of November where it will display more customized models that we can keep track of. Aside from the Fiesta cars we told you about in a previous article, the Dearborn automaker has also joined forces with several other tuners to create customized versions of the all-new 2011 Explorer, Taurus SHO, Edge and Fusion Sport, as well as the all-new Lincoln MKX. Follow the jump to check out pictures and details on all of Ford's aftermarket-prepped models.

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