2024 Explorer Refresh.

[tbone]

Unless I missed something, I don’t think there is a thread started for the 2024 Explorer refresh.  Aside from expected front and rear changes, here are some interesting notes about the interior.  
 

https://fordauthority.com/2023/02/2024-ford-explorer-interior-spotted-for-first-time/

 

“The most notable change that we can see here, right off the bat, is an updated digital instrument cluster that looks right in line with what’s currently available on upper trim level variants of the Ford F-150.”

 

“Moving to the infotainment screen in the center stack, we get a better look at the new, horizontally-oriented unit that’s running a pretty unique-looking version of what could be an updated Sync 4 interface.“

 

“Judging from what we can see here, the North American Explorer refresh won’t take after its Chinese counterpart – inside the cabin, at least – as the latter model sports different styling and a unique 27-inch coast-to-coast touchscreen.”

 

I do find this last line to be disappointing, assuming Ford Authority is correct.  I feel the newer Chinese interiors have been a step above their American counterparts, and I have a difficult time understanding this strategy.  The 27 inch coast to coast screen would have been a draw for customers that like tech.  It certainly wouldn’t be necessary in the base models but why not make it available in the upper trims.  I believe the Jeep Wagoneer is currently the only vehicle that has something similar?   
 

I've had two of the current Gen STs, and they have overall been good to us, aside from some tech glitches, and despite the known issues with CAP.   As good as they have been, it really wouldn’t take too much in this next refresh to make it awesome. The bones of the vehicle are really good IMO. 

[Corsair kid]

The 27-inch touchscreen would be nice, it wouldn't surprise me if the Limited on up included it (hope so) - good to here the "bones" are good !

[edselford]

Ford does have a way to go to move the 2024 Explorer into the must have category.

Does anyone know if it will have the new 2.3 ecoboost with the 102 mm stroke? Does this new 2.3 have two balance shafts???

Also would like to see a more refined calibration of the ten speed and the 2.3 liter engine.  I have a 2021 MY 4WD and the calibration is not smooth with too many clunks up shifting and coming to a stop.

I do not like the skip shifts, why have the gear if you’re going to skip it in normal driving?

Chassis dynamics is very good but I would like to see the double wishbone front suspension used on the Aviator become the design for the 2024 Explorer.

Trim could be improved .  
Power and acceleration from the 2.3 is great but NVH levels are too high fir this vehicle especially under normal acceleration.

If I had a choice, I would rather have a naturally asperated 3.3 V6 maybe with cylinder deactivation , (the middle two). and avoid the problems I4 engines bigger than 2 liters have.

edselford

[rperez817]

19 hours ago, edselford said:

Ford does have a way to go to move the 2024 Explorer into the must have category.

Does anyone know if it will have the new 2.3 ecoboost with the 102 mm stroke? Does this new 2.3 have two balance shafts???

Also would like to see a more refined calibration of the ten speed and the 2.3 liter engine.  I have a 2021 MY 4WD and the calibration is not smooth with too many clunks up shifting and coming to a stop.

I do not like the skip shifts, why have the gear if you’re going to skip it in normal driving?

Chassis dynamics is very good but I would like to see the double wishbone front suspension used on the Aviator become the design for the 2024 Explorer.

Trim could be improved .  
Power and acceleration from the 2.3 is great but NVH levels are too high fir this vehicle especially under normal acceleration.

If I had a choice, I would rather have a naturally asperated 3.3 V6 maybe with cylinder deactivation , (the middle two). and avoid the problems I4 engines bigger than 2 liters have.

edselford

 

Excellent post edselford. 2.3L 4-cylinder engine NVH, 10-speed automatic transmission shift calibration, and quality of trim/materials are indeed the biggest weaknesses in the current Ford Explorer. Hopefully Ford focuses on making major improvements in those areas for model year 2024 just as you recommended. 

[edselford]

Some further thoughts on 2024 Ford Explorer!

I think the focus should be on “Refinement”.

There will be the CX90 having an inline 6 turbo as standard competing with the Explorer.

Maybe Ford needs to make the 3.0 V6 ecoboost engine an option on the Limited Model? Say the 385 hp version and bump the 3.0 V6 on the ST model to say 425 hp??

I assume ford could handle the 2 mpg reduction in CAFE given all the new electric vehicles they will be producing. 3.0V6 could be an $1100 option? About half of the Limited volume would be the V6 with incremental profit contribution.

I don’t know why there is an ST line with the 2.3?  I would think the XLT sport package would cover most customer wants.

Most people that like the looks of the ST also want the performance!

What do you guys and gal think?

edselford

[AM222]

So it looks like the refreshed North American Explorer will be based on the refreshed 2023 Chinese market Explorer... at least the front end.

-Motor1

-Carscoops

Edited June 9, 2023 by AM222
added info

[akirby]

I like it better than the current one.

[tbone]

The jury is still out for me on the Chinese refresh versions.  I need to see more pics of the various models to give my final thoughts on it, but my initial impression is the grill is too big for the rest of the body of the vehicle, which I find to be very sleek.  With that said, I think the Chinese Timberline is well executed.  They could bring that as is as far as I’m concerned.  
 

 

[edselford]

Studying the transmission specs of the Ford ten speed, I just wonder if anything is actually gained by having the ten speed versus nine other than bragging rights???

The Ford/GM ten speed has an unusual 5 th gear ratio of 1.52 which is only 16% different than fourth gear of1.77 to 1!

It might make. More sense to completely eliminate the -1.52 ratio and slightly adjust fourth gear from 1.77 to a ratio of 1.65 to one.

If this could be done, we have a very nice drive able nine speed without the skip shifts we have now.

This seemed to be Ford’s approach on the 9 versus 8 ATX done with GM where GM uses nine and Ford uses 8 speeds on the same basic design!

Or is ten ten speeds inherent in the basic design?

edselford

[Hyins]

Love the Chinese version and the interior is stunning, Ford should be producing here what your selling in China.

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Hyins

[tbone]

2 hours ago, Hyins said:

Love the Chinese version and the interior is stunning, Ford should be producing here what your selling in China.

 

Was this a friendly reminder of things we won’t be getting here? I’m having difficulty understanding why they will be providing a better version of an American nameplate to Chinese and not the Americans.

[rperez817]

14 minutes ago, tbone said:

I’m having difficulty understanding why they will be providing a better version of an American nameplate to Chinese and not the Americans.

 

Explorer has a much shorter history and less recognition in China compared to the U.S.

 

In China, Ford can't rely on sheeple customers choosing Explorer just based on the nameplate as they do in the U.S. market. Also, as bzcat mentioned on this site in other threads, Chinese new vehicle customers have higher standards. 

[akirby]

44 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

Ford can't rely on sheeple customers choosing Explorer just based on the nameplate as they do in the U.S. market. 

Stop calling Ford buyers sheeple and stop making outlandish claims about BEVs and autonomous vehicles that don’t match reality or you’re getting a long suspension.  Maybe permanent.  Enough is enough.

[rperez817]

18 minutes ago, akirby said:

Stop calling Ford buyers sheeple and stop making outlandish claims about BEVs and autonomous vehicles that don’t match reality or you’re getting a long suspension.  Maybe permanent.  Enough is enough.

 

A so called "moderator" that can't handle reality, and who resorts to suspending members of this site who can.

 

Go ahead and grant me the permanent suspension you dream about, asshole. It would be an honor coming from you!

 

[silvrsvt]

26 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

 

A so called "moderator" that can't handle reality, and who resorts to suspending members of this site who can.

 

Go ahead and grant me the permanent suspension you dream about, asshole. It would be an honor coming from you!

 

 

Goodbye...

[tbone]

On 12/7/2023 at 9:54 AM, rperez817 said:

 

A so called "moderator" that can't handle reality, and who resorts to suspending members of this site who can.

 

Go ahead and grant me the permanent suspension you dream about, asshole. It would be an honor coming from you!

 

 

On 12/7/2023 at 8:50 AM, rperez817 said:

 

Explorer has a much shorter history and less recognition in China compared to the U.S.

 

In China, Ford can't rely on sheeple customers choosing Explorer just based on the nameplate as they do in the U.S. market. Also, as bzcat mentioned on this site in other threads, Chinese new vehicle customers have higher standards. 

Whoa, where did your gentleman's demeanor go, lol. You routinely make statements as if they are fact, so why are you surprised when you get your pee pee slapped?  

[twintornados]

4 hours ago, tbone said:

...Whoa, where did your gentleman's demeanor go, lol. You routinely make statements as if they are fact, so why are you surprised when you get your pee pee slapped?  

 

Always bleating on about BEV's and Ford's "lack of effort" as he saw it. He quickly became the P71_Crown Vic of this era....

[silvrsvt]

On 6/25/2023 at 8:09 AM, edselford said:

Studying the transmission specs of the Ford ten speed, I just wonder if anything is actually gained by having the ten speed versus nine other than bragging rights???

The Ford/GM ten speed has an unusual 5 th gear ratio of 1.52 which is only 16% different than fourth gear of1.77 to 1!

It might make. More sense to completely eliminate the -1.52 ratio and slightly adjust fourth gear from 1.77 to a ratio of 1.65 to one.

If this could be done, we have a very nice drive able nine speed without the skip shifts we have now.

This seemed to be Ford’s approach on the 9 versus 8 ATX done with GM where GM uses nine and Ford uses 8 speeds on the same basic design!

Or is ten ten speeds inherent in the basic design?

edselford

 

You missed the part about the 8/9 Speed being a Transaxle (FWD/AWD) vs 10 being a longitudinal transmission (RWD/AWD) on the Explorer. The current gen Explorer is RWD

[akirby]

39 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

 

You missed the part about the 8/9 Speed being a Transaxle (FWD/AWD) vs 10 being a longitudinal transmission (RWD/AWD) on the Explorer. The current gen Explorer is RWD

He was just saying they eliminated a gear on the FWD tranny so they could potentially do the same thing on the RWD tranny unless that’s more difficult on the 10R.

[silvrsvt]

2 hours ago, akirby said:

He was just saying they eliminated a gear on the FWD tranny so they could potentially do the same thing on the RWD tranny unless that’s more difficult on the 10R.

 

https://fordauthority.com/2018/04/fords-new-8-speed-transmission-is-gms-9-speed-minus-a-gear/

 

According to AN, Ford made the decision not to use the GM-developed nine-speed transverse automatic as-is before GM ever put the transmission in a vehicle. When GM eventually did press the new gearbox into service, there was little to no efficiency gain over GM’s eight-speed. AN points out that the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu gained just 1 mpg on the highway over the previous car with the eight-speed, while the Buick Envision actually lost 1 mpg highway when it traded in its six-speed for the nine for 2019.

 

 

 

 

[akirby]

25 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

 

https://fordauthority.com/2018/04/fords-new-8-speed-transmission-is-gms-9-speed-minus-a-gear/

 

Ford dropped one gear from the joint 9 speed for their 8F35.  The extra gear didn’t help.  The question was whether they should do that with the 10R60 since some of the ratios are very close.

 

They also added 2 gears to the 6F55 for the 8F57 used with the 2.7Leb but that’s a different tranny.

[silvrsvt]

54 minutes ago, akirby said:

They also added 2 gears to the 6F55 for the 8F57 used with the 2.7Leb but that’s a different tranny.

 

Apparently the 9 speed transmission was based on the older 6 speed Joint Transmission, which makes me wonder how much was actually different on it, outside of the additional gears added to it.

 

Some info-

 

https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/8f57-introduction-and-notable-features/

 

https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/the-8f35-a-closer-look/

 

Seems like they are more alike then different from one another, outside of the F57 being beefed up for higher power applications

 

ah more info with photos of all the 8 speed units

 

https://www.transmissiondigest.com/ford-motor-company-and-the-hat-trick/

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by silvrsvt

[akirby]

1 hour ago, silvrsvt said:

 

Apparently the 9 speed transmission was based on the older 6 speed Joint Transmission, which makes me wonder how much was actually different on it, outside of the additional gears added to it.

 

Some info-

 

https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/8f57-introduction-and-notable-features/

 

https://gearsmagazine.com/magazine/the-8f35-a-closer-look/

 

Seems like they are more alike then different from one another, outside of the F57 being beefed up for higher power applications

 

ah more info with photos of all the 8 speed units

 

https://www.transmissiondigest.com/ford-motor-company-and-the-hat-trick/

 

 

Sigh…..

 

The 8F35 started as a 9 speed in the joint ford/GM design but Ford decided to remove a gear before production resulting in the 8F35.  It’s a new design but shares a few things with the old 6f35 which was also a joint ford/GM design.  It’s only used with the 2.0eb.

 

For higher torque they decided to add 2 gears to the old 6F55 resulting in the 8f57.

[edselford]

Very interesting topic. Thank all for the background information.

I should of clarified my prior post and said that 

ATX means front wheel drive automatic transaxle!

Note, it looks like the 2024 model year Traverse and Arcadia and the 2025 Enclave will be utilizing an 8 speed ATX not the current 9 speed.

I assume GM will follow Ford by taking some parts out of the 9 to get to the new 8 speed ATX!

I also wonder if ford turned the 10R80 into a 9R80

if the new 2025 Explorer ST would be any quicker ??

edselford

[akirby]

2 hours ago, edselford said:

 

I also wonder if ford turned the 10R80 into a 9R80

if the new 2025 Explorer ST would be any quicker ??

edselford

I think it skips one or two gears at WOT already so no.