Cars

Ford Explorer continues to evolve as SUV market reinvents itself

With the launch of the third-gen Explorer, America's love affair with the SUV was dwindling.

Manuel Carrillo III

A Porsche 911 S brought Manuel Carrillo III home from the hospital after he was born, so it's no surprise his lifelong trajectory has centered on cars, leading him to a robust career creating rich automotive media for publications prior to joining CNET.

The Southern California native briefly lived in Sydney, and is proud to have developed a barely passable Aussie accent. He also serves on the board of directors of the Motor Press Guild. When not reviewing cars or nerding out on OEM premium audio, you can find manual-labor-averse Manuel doing his best to convince his closest friends to fix the very Porsche that delivered him home.

See full bio

Manuel Carrillo III

Jan. 8, 2019 5:00 a.m. PT

1 of 50 Ford

Continuing the trend of being more family hauling-centric than off-road-ready, the third-gen Ford Explorer was no longer tied to the Ford Ranger. But it was still a body-on-frame SUV.

2 of 50 Ford

Regardless of having truck-like roots, this Explorer was more car-like than ever before.

3 of 50 Ford

A new independent rear suspension not only offered a superior ride, but it also freed up space for the newly available third row of seats, bringing the total occupant count to seven.

4 of 50 Ford

The base engine was carried over from the second-gen Explorer: A 4.0-liter V6 making 210 horsepower and 255 pound-feet of torque, but the third generation brought a more powerful 4.6-liter, single-overhead cam, all-aluminum V8 with 240 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque.

5 of 50 Ford

The extra V8 power paired with body-on-frame construction meant this Explorer could tow as much as 7,300 pounds.

6 of 50 Ford

You could also have the Mazda-sourced five-speed manual transmission with the V6, but that was only offered for the first model year, after which all Explorers were built only with the five-speed automatic.

7 of 50 Ford

The Explorer Sport, still based on the previous-gen model, met its maker in 2003.

8 of 50 Ford

In addition to the Explorer bidding farewell to the manual and a two-door configuration, the SUV also kissed its stellar sales figures goodbye.

9 of 50 Ford

In 2002, the Explorer was still resounding with 433,847 sales for the year, but by 2005, sales were down 45 percent from three years earlier to just 239,788 units as more consumers ditched traditional SUVs for car-based crossovers.