It’s a refreshed look for the 2025 Ford Explorer. The midsize SUV’s exterior alterations include new LED headlights and taillights, and a new grille. Interior revisions include more soft-touch surfaces on the center console, door panels and elsewhere as well as a 13.2-inch LCD touchscreen versus the prior 8-inch standard or 10.1-inch optional touchscreen. The new, larger touchscreen serves as the interface point for the Ford Digital Experience infotainment system that integrates Google apps and services. A week-long Ford Explorer ST-Line test drive underscored the vehicle’s confident acceleration, comfortable ride, and modernized cabin.

Powering the tested Explorer ST-Line was a 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged 4-cylinder providing 300 horsepower and 310 torque. Engine mates to a 10-speed automatic transmission. (Explorer is also offered with a twin-turbocharged V6.) The three-row Explorer provides more than 85 cubic feet of cargo space with second and third row seating folded. BlueCruise hands-free driving for certain highway sections is new to the 2025 Explorer. (It’s offered on a subscription basis on ST-Line, ST, and Platinum trim levels.) Tested 119-inch wheelbase Ford Explorer ST-Line with all wheel drive collects estimated MPG of 20 city/27 highway and carries a base MSRP of $45,020.