First Drive Review
Considering a sport-ute? Now you have a choice you didn't have before. You already know about the conventional sport-utility vehicle with its wagon-body rump, where cargo is stowed protected from the elements and sticky fingers. Now comes a new SUV candidate, the 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac. Unlike on a traditional sport-ute, its rump is an open cargo box, which leaves your gear exposed not only to the wiles of Mother Nature but also to those whose careers involve relieving others of their worldly possessions.
On-the-ball readers will note that there's a time-tested name for a vehicle like the Sport Trac. It's called a pickup truck. At first glance (and for the sake of our specifications), we'll call it a pickup, too. The Sport Trac is, after all, a vehicle with a passenger cab and an open cargo box joined by a frame.
Technically, the Sport Trac is closer to the Explorer than it is to the Ford Ranger -- the pickup that the Explorer itself sprang from. Ford considers the Sport Trac, available in rear- or four-wheel drive, to be the third model in the Explorer line, a line that until now consisted of three- and five-door wagon models. Ford's vice-president for trucks, Gurminder Bedi, expects little cross-shopping between the Sport Trac and other four-door pickups, such as the Nissan Frontier crew cab and the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab. Bedi thinks customers will think of those as simply pickups with more interior room. "The Sport Trac is a different kind of vehicle," he insists.
What's different are the Sport Trac's features. It's designed specifically to appeal to adventurous, outdoor-oriented Gen Xers, who have become a late-'90s marketing cliche. Take the cargo box, for example. It's made of sheet molding composite (SMC) plastic, eliminating the need for a bed liner, and it has three cargo tie-downs (each capable of restraining 700 pounds) on the outside of each flank for easy accessibility. The bed is just 51 inches long, but Ford offers an optional set of cargo restraining bars for $195 that flip 180 degrees over the open tailgate, extending the usable length of the bed by 23 inches. That leaves enough room, corner to corner, for a couple of mountain bikes. Sheets of four-by-eight plywood can be stacked over the wheel wells and bars, too.
There's a standard weatherproof 12-volt lighter socket at the rear of the bed that Ford claims has enough amperage to run a power saw, although not the muscular DeWalt in your home shop. There's also a sturdy foldable and lockable SCM plastic cargo cover, for $490, to deflect those sticky fingers. Roof rails are standard on the Sport Trac, onto which can be attached four different sets of crossbars --two for bikes, one for kayaks, and one for skis, all made by aftermarket supplier Yakima.
The ready-for-anything theme continues inside the cab. Ford's surveys said those target customers often play in the mud, so the Sport Trac comes standard with a rubber floor that can be hosed out. To avoid the plumber van look, carpeted floor mats are included for trips to the opera or Sierra Club mixers. Attached to the front console is a removable canvas "sport bag" for bottles of Rogaine and self-tanner.
Beyond new white-faced instruments, the rest of the interior is standard-fare Explorer, more or less. The Sport Trac will carry four to the sweat lodge in comfort, five if the three rear passengers don't mind a little prelodge intimacy. The two outboard passengers back there get headrests comfortable enough for napping, and six-footers will fit with headroom and kneeroom to spare. The rear seats split-fold forward, 60/40, to make a horizontal parcel shelf. The folded seats expose a couple of hidden storage bins.
Outside, the cab borrows the side doors of the five-door Explorer. Aft of the cab is another novel feature --a standard power backlight, raised and lowered with a knob on the dash. With all these body changes, Ford thankfully took the opportunity to clean up the Explorer's fussy styling, and the Sport Trac (and the 2001 Explorer Sport; see page 38, this issue) now presents a look that will spread to all Explorers. It includes clear-lens headlamps, a body-colored grille with larger openings, and more prominent fender flares. The Sport Trac's steel tailgate may look familiar --it's from the F-150 Flareside pickup.
