Ford
The Ford Explorer ST.
- Ford launched the all-new Explorer SUV the week before the 2019 Detroit auto show.
- Ford has now officially added a hybrid and a high-performance ST version of the iconic SUV.
DETROIT - The all-new Ford Explorer, one of the automaker's most famous and important nameplates, was launched last week.
At the time, Ford hinted that a hybrid version would appear in the redesigned lineup, and that an ST trim would join the Blue Oval's Performance unit.
At the 2019 Detroit auto show on Monday, Ford' revealed the hybrid and the ST.
Ford
The Hybrid Explorer has towing power.
"The all-new Explorer Hybrid is a no-compromise Ford hybrid SUV designed to offer performance and capability in a fuel-efficient package." Ford said in a statement.
"A 3.3-liter, hybrid engine produces 318 horsepower combined and is projected to return an EPA-estimated range of more than 500 miles between gas station fill-ups in the rear-wheel-drive model."
The ST, meanwhile, is a burly beast, sporting a "specially tuned" 3.0-liter turbocharged engine that Ford said will produce 400 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque. Top speed? That could be 143 mph.
Ford
The Explorer ST joins Ford's Performance division.
"We designed it to be an ST from the beginning," Ed Krenz, a Ford Performance engineer, said in a statement.
"There's no mistaking its ST DNA. It has a performance feel with sustained performance capability and wears an unmistakably ST appearance. More than anything, it's just a hell of a lot of fun to drive."
The Explorer ST joins high-performance rides such as the $400,000-plus Ford GT and the just-unveiled, 700-horsepower Mustang Shelby GT500 in the carmaker's go-fast stable.
Ford didn't detail pricing for the new trims, both of which go on sale later in 2019 for the 2020 model year.
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