From: hue@island.COM (Pond Scum)
Subject: Re: Opinions: 4runner, Explorer and Pathfinder
Organization: Island Graphics Corp.
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 07:27:09 GMT

hue@island.COM (Pond Scum) writes:
>I am looking at the Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee right now.  So
>far I have only looked at the Ford Explorer thoroughly, and I haven't
>driven the Grand Cherokee yet.

Ok, now I have.

I was hoping I wouldn't notice much difference between the Grand Cherokee
and the Explorer, but I did.  IMHO, the way the Jeep drives is another
level above the Explorer.  The Explorer feels much more truck-like than
the Jeep, while the Jeep felt like a car.  The Jeep handles and rides much
better than the Ford.  I would attribute this to the more sophisticated
suspension on the Jeep, and the fact that the Ford is a body over frame
whereas the Jeep is a unibody.

The Jeep felt like a smaller vehicle than the Explorer when I drove it.
Part of this is because the Jeep is smaller, its about 400lb lighter and
8 inches shorter in length.  But I think the better ride and handling
contributed to this also.

>better handling.  The Ford's brakes got a bad rap, but they are

I think they may have only been anti-lock on the rears last year (the
Jeep salesman said this), this year they are on all four wheels.

Despite the lighter weight and 30 more horsepower, the Jeep didn't feel
like it accelerated any better than the Ford, in fact it felt slower.
It's probably the difference in low-rpm torque, the Ford engine gets max
torque at 2200rpm, where as it's 4000rpm for the Jeep.  Also, most Explorers
around here have the 3.73 rear axle.

>The Ford only has part time 4WD, the Jeep is available with two
>different part time 4WD and one full time 4WD (AWD).  The spare tire

The upgraded part time 4WD (Selec-Trac) can be left on while driving
on dry roads.  There is a nice package available for the Laredo which
has a MSRP of around $4K which includes power everything and Selec-Trac,
along with a lot of other stuff.

The main think I don't like about the Jeep is that it doesn't have
have the space of the Explorer.  You can fold the rear seatback
down and get a 41.9" x 72.9" flat area between the wheelwells.  On
the Jeep it's shorter (don't know how much, the wheelbase is about
6" shorter and it's about 8" shorter in overall length), and you lose
a significant amount of space with a full-size spare tire.  Maybe there
is no room for the spare underneath because it's a unibody.  I also
like the way the rear hatch of the Explorer opens two ways.  Because
it is longer, the rear wheelwells don't intrude on the rear seat
passengers like they do on the Jeep.  The center rear seat in the
Ford is more comfortable than the Jeeps.

With the Explorer, I absolutely had to get the leather seats because
the standard XLT cloth seats were awful, but the standard cloth seats
in the Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo are pretty nice, I think they are
pretty much the same shape as the leather seats, only the covering
is different.

In some 4WD magazine, they said the pluses of the Explorer were it's
roominess and intelligent layout, the minuses were the vague ride and
handling.  They liked the Jeeps suspension, but didn't like the automatic
transmission (didn't say why, but I'd guess reliability).  I do see a
lot more Explorers on the road, and I read somewhere that they were
the best selling sport-utility vehicle.

Right now I'm leaning towards the Jeep, and will probably have to put
all my windsurfing stuff in one of those boxes that goes on the roof
rack.

-Jonathan		hue@island.COM