In this episode we are in Detroit for the first test drive of the 2025 Ford Explorer, where we met a couple of the most enthusiastic members of ExplorerForum.com, which has over 600,000 members, who love the legendary American SUV.
Total Car Score
S5E48: The 2025 Ford Explorer and the passion from the Explorer Forum
Hey there, I'm your host and channeler and medium, bringing you over 30 years of experience to Portale Mystico podcast. I've dedicated my life to uncovering and treasure trove of tools and techniques and I can't wait to share them with you. Join me on this incredible journey, where we'll dive deep into spirituality, astrology, channeling fitness, the divine feminine, numerology, and various spiritual modalities and each week you'll receive invaluable insights and interviews that are going to bring you closer to that version of yourself that you want to achieve. Expect captivating interviews with experts, deep dives into metaphysical concepts and practical advice to ignite your creativity and boost your personal growth. I'm your host, Alita Mago, and Portale Mystico podcast. Listen to Portale Mystico on Pandora app, Apple podcast, Spotify, or your favorite platform. Welcome to the Total Car Score podcast, bringing you the world of cars from inside the car. And now your host, Carl Brauer, Lauren Vicks, and Javier Mota. Well, here we are in Detroit for the 2025 Explorer first drive and we're with Russell Darnell and Chris Gilbo. Yeah, you say it better than me. Yeah, it's Chris Gilbo. Gilbo, okay. And we're having dinner and we're talking with the engineers, the plan, decided, the product planners, all the Ford people. And I'm here with Russell hearing him stories about like, explore these explorers that are like, he has explored the explorer to the most smallest detail, right? So tell me why is that? Well, just like any community out there, you have enthusiast for Camaros. You have enthusiast for Jeep Wranglers. You have enthusiast for big old Broncos, right? Yeah. There is an explorer community. I never knew that. Out there for explorers. We have been in existence for many, many years. We're part of exploreform.com. Yeah. It's a website that's been around since the mid 90s. Mr. Rick Horitz created it. Yeah, and he was here yesterday doing the first drive as well. He was actually at this media event. And if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be at this event because exploreform is what brought us here. Exactly. So how big is the community? I think the last register account was like around 600,000 on the website. Really? Yeah. Oh, my God. Wow. This is for people. This is this website came out before Facebook, before Google, before mice, before all that. This is how you got information. Well, just the boards. Yeah, on message boards. Yeah. Exactly. That's exactly what this is. I started my career in, well, not my career, but I started the group that started Univision online, the Spanish online service for the TV network. And like back then, we had forums with like a million people talking about telenovelas and Mexican soccer. So there's a group for him. And you joined in 97? Yeah, I joined in 1997 right after I got my first explore based vehicle, which was in October of 1997. And I've been in love with explorers ever since they came out because my parents bought one brand new in the spring of 1990. So yeah, so they've been in my life ever since their inception. So they've been around in my life. And is that what would the seeding you like about like them or what? So that definitely did play a huge impact in me falling in love with an explorer. I remember the very first time I saw my first explorer, there was, it was a beautiful truck. It was a two tone blue XLT sitting in front of a dealership lot in South Texas. And it is, it was just an amazing experience seeing that as a kid. And it's just translated into my life. And it's interesting because you are saying, Rahul, like, there's cameras and must have like cars that most people would say, okay, I can see what the emphasis is about the car. But like, unless you be a lot of people wouldn't think like that. They wouldn't. And what really started it was just lifting them and off-roading them, going out and taking them to, you know, Moab, Utah, for example, or Candylands National Park, or S'more, or any of those other places, they wanted to take them out and wheel them. And because there wasn't really much support for lifting of the explorers back in the 90s, right? There's a couple of companies out there. Yeah, superlift. And I think Skyjacker made lives for the first generation explorer. So those, those lift kits were readily available. In fact, Rick, the creator of Explorer Forum, he bought a brand new 93 Explorer and immediately had like 50 miles on it, took it and had a five and a half inch lift on it, like right out of brand new. So they were modifying him back then. Just like if you go out and buy a brand new F-150 today, and then you go see him put a four or five inch lift on it, kind of the same deal. And it just kind of turned into a homegrown do-it-yourself family and some of the best friends and family that I have ever met have come through that those message boards. Yeah, and you are based here in Detroit, or where are you based? Austin, Texas. Austin, Texas. We live in Austin. Rick lives in Arizona, but members of the forum are all over the world. Right. Well, I have friends that are on the forum that are all the way up, all the way in the UK. Yeah. Because they did export these explorers as well to other areas of the world. They said in the Middle East, I don't remember, right? They did. Third Gen's, I believe, started going into the Middle East. Right. The O205s. So let's talk about this one, I guess, a little bit about because we're sitting inside this the ST. So what do you like or what do you don't like maybe? Do you want to go first? So we're sitting in a 25 ST that is, I cannot remember the red exterior color, but it is a red exterior, and it has the black interior, and it's just really, really nice as far as the colors go. I love the red stitching in it. It flows really well. It feels very similar to the previous year model, but it's a very nice redesign to make it look a lot better. So I do like the way everything's flowing in this new explorer. Ford has really concentrated on their mid-cycle refresh on technology. Yeah. And you see that with the large 13-inch screens point center in the dash, and of course, this is also going to be showcasing Ford's new digital experience, right? Sync for is gone, digital experience is in, and it seems like Ford wanted to, almost like a living room, build the cabin around the display, and that's why you have, like, up here on the upper dash, this sound bar inspired look and even feel it. Nice looking, yeah. And so Ford has really taking what was good about the current sixth generation, 20 to 24, and improved upon it with technology. You know, things like adaptive blue, the blue cruise, not adaptive, the blue cruise 1.2. That's now pretty much asterisk standard. I think it's available in all models except for the very base active. You get the much better feel and materials inside here, not to mention reconfigurable instrument cluster, which allows you to move your maps over into the cluster, more power points throughout the vehicle. So they've really done a great evolutionary refit of it, nothing groundbreaking, but I think for the next kind of level of customers that they're going for, I think this will be a good seller. They did streamline a lot of the options too, like, for example, the screen is now a standard screen. You don't have two different screen options, you have just one screen option, which makes it a lot more sense, and it's more less configurable on the consumer side, but on the sales side, everyone's getting what they want. Yeah. You were touching the metal part of it, and that's like a really nice touch because it's real metal, and you feel it also on the covers for the speakers, which are awesome. You definitely have a lot of contrasting touch points, and that's not a negative. I like the feel of, again, this B&O sound bar speaker design with the aluminum trim here, down to this kind of almost felt looking applique into the actual simulated leather. So the design points, all the touch points, you know, even when you're down here on the center console, the grab handle, the grab handle here over the door, nice soft materials, you don't, especially here on the knee, where if you're a big tall guy like me and your knee is constantly hitting the axle, you've got something comfortable there. It's not jagged plastic hard, jab it into your kneecap, great job. So it'll be interesting to hear from you what the community were saying about this, what people wanted, and then from that, why did you see the forefoot in it? You know, I saw the community really liking the more streamlined exterior design. It looks a little bit more bolder, you have more creases on the front, with the headline design, the jewel design of the fog lamps, and people that have been putting orders in right now, and I'm not really going to call it a complaint, but right now the biggest kind of uproar is, when do I get it? They are going and they are wanting it. So they are really pleased with the look of it, especially the interior. I think the interior is a much more refined look at the sixth generation explorer. Any things that you have, do you recall from people here? Well, what I've also heard from from the people here for is that they're very happy about putting out this explorer, but also they're taking their time to make sure they're getting it right, and they're putting it out with the quality in mind that the consumers want. And that's what I think people will appreciate. Okay, now taking advantage of the second row with this cabinet and chairs, we have now dusting, a shoulder, shed larsky. It's a tough one. Anyway, so you'll read Ford, tell us your role. Yeah, I'm the chief designer of the interior. Yeah. And how does it feel like, finally, is it in the car that you work for a couple years or maybe more? What do you say about that? I'm biased, but I love it. I'm always going to love it. It came out exactly as I wanted. So that's perfect. So no, I was admiring that detail in the materials, really, because a lot of manufacturers put like quote unquote metal or quote unquote wood. This one doesn't have any wood because it's the performance version of it. But like you feel hearing the covers from the speakers, the handles, all these little tells like, that's like something thoughtful. I like you really pay attention to those materials. Materials is one of the prime things. I mean, the materials and the technology, you know, the big 13 inch center screen were definitely some big focal points. And in the outgoing model, we had a lot of just basic black plastic all over the place. And that was one of the big things like, we literally looked at the interior and said, how much black plastic is there? And if you look around, how much do you see? Not much. Maybe in the glove box, a little bit of copper, but that's it. That's it. There's nothing in the main instrument panel, a little bit around the cluster. But that's really it. So we were able to eliminate 90% of the black plastic in the interior. So that was a major, major part of it. So being creative with the materials we got, the textures you're seeing, there's a lot of different things and making sure it makes things functional. I was saying that there's different textures, materials, tones of gray or black, but they match really well. Yep. So I guess you pay attention to what goes into our customers. Tell us a story about what has got your attention in recent years or months about this model. Yeah, I mean, like I said, we definitely have some of the customers. What do we like? What do we not like? How to make the vehicle more useful, right? Ford is very much on user experience. So styling is important, right? You want things to look good, but it's about the function of it. So even just the, you know, the bright detail into the screen, the way that comes out from there, we call it a finger perch. It's a place to kind of position your ring finger in and touch points for the screen and give you a place to balance, but then we also added the ridges. And that's just another secondary effect that your hand won't slide on that finger perch either. It's a way to put it in there. And it gives a cool technical detail. Yeah, we've got some nice soft forms of the whole instrument panel that integrate the lower phone charger and drop zone right there. So getting that contrast of some nice soft forms, the vinyl wrapping, the stitching, you know, it gives a nice humanistic quality to the space. But having these technical details, that's touch points. And if you notice, any bright work in the interior is a touch point. So there's an harmonization of detail and color that kind of keys you in on touch here, do go here, that we really wanted to focus on. Okay. So Russell, you were talking to me about what you do with a forum. It's not your real. No, no, that's a. Full time. I've been in the automotive industry on the repair side of things for about 12 years now. I started working at a Ford dealership when I moved down here to Austin and stayed with a got for technical training and service advisor training warranty, administrative training. Then I got you know, you know, for I know the dealer side of Ford, right? And some things happen. And I decided that, you know what, this, this kind of work environment, not nothing against Ford, but the work environment of the dealer itself was not for me. So I branched out into the independent side. So now I run an eight bay repair shop. I have four technicians and we repair all makes and models for all folks. And then you work with him? I actually know. I actually, I'm actually an oddball in this situation. Oh, I don't think so. I am. I'm actually a residential kitchen designer. Oh, really? I love that too. That's my day job. But my passion for the explorer has been around since the early 90s. So that's how I've been part of this group. And it's around your chest, too. Yeah. Right. You have it too. Yes. I even got a VIN number tattoo. I love, I love again when I see people with this level of passion, because obviously there were reasons to get involved into this. But to actually do something about it is really great. Yeah. And that's why when I got my first explorer, I'll leave you on this note. When I got my first explorer, it was I was 15, 16, first car, right? The freedom, the independence, right? And there was a hard time in my, in that, in that part of my life, you know, going through acceptance of my family or my family's acceptance of me with, with my my choices and my lifestyle. And that explorer really helped me cope through that, because I could go out and I lived in it for a couple of weeks. Oh, really? When I got kicked out of the house. Yeah. So there was that explorer was always there for me. And so I've been returning the favor ever since. Well, congratulations to both of you. I mean, like you do an amazing job, because when you have that passion for something and you show it, that's great for whatever it is. Well, thank you. And in this case, the explorer, which is great. And congratulations to you too, Dustin. Oh, thank you. The car is going to be a huge success. I'm glad you're all enjoying it right now. Yeah, I mean, it's a fantastic, fantastic time to be here and meet people like you. So, thank you very much for your time. And thank you. We'll share this with every explorer lovers. We'd love to have that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening. For more, check us out online at TotalCarScore.com. Hey there. I'm your host and channeler and medium, bringing you over 30 years of experience to Puerto Rico podcast. I've dedicated my life to uncovering treasure trove of tools and techniques, and I can't wait to share them with you. Join me on this incredible journey, where we'll dive deep into spirituality, astrology, channeling, fitness, the divine feminine, numerology, and various spiritual modalities. And each week, you'll receive invaluable insights and interviews that are going to bring you closer to that version of yourself that you want to achieve. Expect captivating interviews with experts. Deep dives into metaphysical concepts and practical advice to ignite your creativity and boost your personal growth. I'm your host, Alina Mago. I'm Puerto Thalmystico Podcast. Listen to Puerto Thalmystico on Pandora App, Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite platform. [BLANK_AUDIO]