Ultimate Utility Vehicle: Ford Does It Again!
Written: Oct 08 '00
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Pros: This is a fantastic blend of a truck; it has lots of interesting features; Is is a truck or an SUV? find out
Cons: A bit too pricey in comparison with other pickups in category
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| charles's Full Review: 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac |
What do you do when you are in town for the holidays or some festivities? Do you just hang around and take a few drinks or just hang out with the family members to catch up on some very important news? As for me, my wife, kids, we do see family members, but we want to hit the road and get things done Some of the activities may not be much. Others may take a long time to carry out. Being in town for the Big Fresno Fair, my wife and children appeared to receive all the attention because they were recently involved in a side way accident that totaled the car. So, one of her friends who had just bought a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac decided to let us use it for a few days to see whether or not she would like it.
For sure, going to the fair has to be postponed to a later date. We came up with a few plans. One of them would include leaving the kids with her parents so we could go to a movie. Just the two of us! My wife had parked hear lease at her friend's house. We were ready to hit the roads of this Central Valley city. One of our trips would take us to quaint little town that could be seen as an Americana...
Exterior and Interior of the Sport Trac is appealing
The paint color is of a light burgundy type, but it seems to change as you get closer to it. It appears to change to what...
Well, the first things I did were to check the tires. Are they Firestone tires? I would not risk my wife's and kids' lives on any vehicle with these recalled tires. The answer is no. Her husband who is a car dealer has already bought new Michelin tires for the truck. So we were ready to go. We tied down our son's car seat in the rear seats while my daughter was teasing him and refused to give hand a ball over to him. My wife told her to return it to him. She then proceeded to get on the truck. I was amazed to see how much room this truck/SUV has. The car seat is very big. Yet, there was space for two more kids to sit in the rear seats. My wife took her seat and quickly exclaimed, "I truly like the dashboard, the instrumentations. Look at how bright the gauges are."
Off we went! we were heading south on Freeway 99. The truck's engine does not make any noise at all. It is as silent as you can be early in the morning or after a heavy rain. We took the new 180 junction to hit freeway 99. All the while, my son started pointing objects out. He does the same thing when he is in my truck. It is like suddenly he can see things that he could never see in a car. Speaking of noise, well, there was loud noise coming from the speakers. My wife had put in a Barney tape for my son. He started singing and making all the moves! Ah! this Barney guy! Any way, I will drive this Sport Trac all the way to Hanford, CA. You see my wife grew up on the borders of Kern and Fresno Counties. And her best friend lived kind of right on the city limits. Why do we have to go to Handford? First, we had some personal or family errands to run there. More importantly, we wanted to eat ice cream at Imperial Superior Ice Cream
Did Ford deliver with this Sport Trac?
Depending on your needs, you have to look at what's best for your family. This truck gives you a lot of for your money. There's no question about this. Powered by a 205 horsepower V6 engine, this Sport Trac comes equipped with the 5 speed automatic transmission. It is said that the 5 speed manual transmission will be available soon. It comes with the 4-wheel anti-lock braking system, brake shift interlock, frond disc, and rear drum brakes. It handles just like a car. You can imagine how my wife wants to test-drive it now. The agreement was that I would drive to Hanford. She would drive on our way back.
What else does the Sport Trac come with?
Driving in the Central Valley during the Fall season is awesome. We drove with our windows down, but when a bug flew in from the nearby fruit farms, my wife and daughter quickly asked that the windows be up. No big deal! The bug went out one of the windows. But no one had to work hard to put these windows up. The Sport Trac comes equipped with power windows. We were truly traveling in great comfort.
What are your options?
You can pick a truck with leather seats if that's your choice. You can choose to have a rubber mat if you are an outdoors thriller. You don't have to worry about dirtying your carpet with mud.
My impressions of the vehicle
In my opinion, the Sport Trac is easy to handle. I did not observe any stiffness. My wife also came to the same conclusion. Ford has managed to blend an SUV and a pick up truck to give us a cool, super cool hybrid.
Once again, depending on what you are on the market for, you may decide to take this one home. It can be a good Christmas present or Valentine present for a spouse. As for me, I will have to wait and see what my wife will say.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 23, 000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2001
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Epinions.com ID:
charles
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Location: CA, USA
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