2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
Expert Review

As its name implies, the four-door, five-person Ford Explorer Sport Trac is part Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle. But with a 4-foot-long pickup bed behind the passenger compartment, the Sport Trac also is part pickup truck.

And for 2007, both parts of the Sport Trac were updated.

The midsize Sport Trac now is 5 inches longer and 2 inches wider than before, with updated styling that makes it look more substantial.

Inside, the Sport Trac has an interior that's virtually lifted from the Explorer SUV. It's also quieter than ever.

Underneath, the Sport Trac uses a new, more solid frame and now has the independent rear suspension of the '06 Explorer.

Last but not least, for the first time, the body-on-frame Sport Trac is offered with a V8. The 292-horsepower 4.6-liter V8 boosts towing capacity to 6,800 pounds.

Competitive pricing
Starting manufacturer's suggested retail price at introduction of the new-generation, 2007 Sport Trac was just over $24,000. This was for base XLT two-wheel-drive model with V6.

The lowest-priced Sport Trac with four-wheel drive, which was also an XLT with V6, started at nearly $27,000.

This is somewhat at the top end of the segment. For example, the starting price is less than that for the Honda Ridegline, which starts at nearly $28,000 for a base model with V6 and standard four-wheel-drive. But the Sport Trac is quite a bit more than the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, which starts at less than $22,000 for a two-wheel-drive model with V6 and manual transmission.

Revamped for first time
This is just the second-generation Sport Trac.

When Ford introduced the Sport Trac in 2000, the Explorer was the best-selling SUV in the U.S., and company officials sought to emphasize the Sport Trac's Explorer-like styling and SUV-like utility. (Note that this was despite the fact the Sport Trac rode on a platform from the Ford Ranger compact pickup truck.)

But in recent years, competitors have jumped into the segment with four-door pickups and have emphasized truck attributes to attract buyers.

Indeed, even after the 2007 Sport Trac redesign, major competitors have longer pickup beds.

For example, the Ridgeline's bed is 5 feet long, the bed at the back of the Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab is 5.1 inches long, and the bed of the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab is 5.4 feet long.

This, plus the fact the Explorer no longer is the top-selling SUV in America, leaves the inclusion of the word "Explorer" in the Sport Trac name perhaps more of a throwback and less of a marketing advantage.

Safety improved
To be sure, though, the new Sport Trac, whatever it's name, is noteworthy for its top, five-out-of-five-stars rating in federal government frontal and side crash testing.

This was for a 2007 Sport Trac that had optional curtain airbags. These bags are an additional charge, even on the top-of-the-line Limited models.

Safety features that are standard on every Sport Trac include anti-lock brakes and stability control. But Ford's AdvanceTrac with Advance Roll Control, as the stability control system is called, doesn't just try to correct skids. It includes a gyroscopic roll-rate sensor that monitors the vehicle for rollover and works to try to avoid that situation, too.

The second-generation Sport Trac also comes standard with a tire pressure monitoring system.

Too bad, though, that the middle person riding in the middle of the back seat of the Sport Trac still doesn't get a usable head restraint.

Better ride
Now with an independent rear suspension subbing for the rear solid axle, the Sport Trac rides better than ever with a sturdier feel both on-road and off.

The test model—a Limited 4X4—still exhibited some truckish bounce, even on pavement, and seemed a bit stiffly sprung. At times, I also noticed sensations of heavy, jarring weight—known as "unsprung weight"—at the corners where motions of the 18-inch tires and wheels weren't quite fully managed.

But the quiet interior and tall seating positions in the new Sport Trac were greatly appreciated. In fact, on the road, I looked down on the roof of a Pontiac Grand Prix in front of me.

Two powerplants now
The base engine remains a 210-horsepower 4.0-liter, single overhead cam V6 mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission. Engine improvements provide smoother idling and better emissions control.

But the engine power is less than several competitors' engines, including the 247-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 in the Honda Ridgeline and the 242-horsepower 3.5-liter 5-cylinder engine in the Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab.

Neither the Ridgeline nor the Colorado offers a V8, though. So Ford's addition of an uplevel, single overhead cam V8 that can generate 300 lb-ft of torque at 3950 rpm is a good idea. The only transmission with this engine is a new, 6-speed automatic, and shifts and engine ramp-up were smooth in the test truck.

But I gathered that Ford officials installed the V8 in the Sport Trac so they could claim top towing rights, not necessarily to make the Sport Trac feel brawnier and sportier.

While the horsepower felt strong on highway runs, the Sport Trac V8 tester didn't have impressive low-end torque for quick maneuvers. And I have heard far sportier engine notes on Nissans with V6s than I heard in the Sport Trac with V8.

Fuel economy isn't the greatest in these kinds of vehicles, especially with V8s.

The test Sport Trac, for example, was rated at 14 miles a gallon in city driving—which I actually got during my test drive—and 20 mpg on the highway.

Odds and ends
Even after all these years on the market, the Sport Trac looks a bit awkward to me on the outside. My eyes are still drawn to the rather large gap between the back of the cab and the pickup bed. I don't find this same styling issue in some other four-door pickups.

Inside, the Sport Trac's overly tall gearshift lever in the center console is garishly overdone for my tastes, and I was frustrated by the hard-to-find door release levers and door pull handles inside the test Sport Trac. (These interior door handles are being revised, thank goodness.)

There was no carpeting on the floor of the test Sport Trac, despite the fact its total price came to more than $34,000. And the dashboard and door trim were made up of a lot of pieces, nearly all of them black in color.

The grain and look of the plastic on top of the Sport Trac dashboard isn't rich-looking, but the center stack housing the controls for audio and ventilation systems is clean and orderly.

I liked that the center console storage area between front passengers has a padded lid so front-seat riders can rest elbows there comfortably.

Three adults sit closely in the back seat, and rear doors don't open as wide as they do in some other vehicles. It was a bit of a step up for me, at 5 feet 4, to get inside.

But rear legroom of 36.9 inches is better than expected and is a tad better than the 36.4 inches in the Ridgeline and Dakota Quad Cab.

Rear-seat riders in the Sport Trac do rest on short rear seat cushions, though, and all the seats feel like simple foam to sit on.

The pickup bed is made of a rust-proof, dent-proof composite that's lighter than a comparably sized steel bed.