As the magazine noted: "Explorer earned its way to the top of the sport-utility field with its ability to double as roomy four-wheel-drive vehicle and upscale family wagon. The 1995 models took home another ribbon - with a few provisos. The Ford Explorer had been a perennial Consumer Guide Best Buy pick. Last but not least, the dashboard was redesigned to incorporate standard dual front airbags, a boon for "passive" safety that belatedly answered some rivals. Standard four-wheel antilock brakes returned with rear discs replacing drum brakes. A dashboard switch allowed locking in a four-wheel Low range for severe off-road situations.
Unlike the two previous setups it replaced, Ford's Control Trac allowed four-wheeling on dry pavement, not just slippery surfaces, and normally drove the rear wheels until they started to slip, in which case power would be redirected to the front wheels. Also new was the available four-wheel-drive system. In addition, the available four-speed automatic had electronic shift controls that allegedly improved its smoothness and efficiency. And horsepower was now 160 regardless of transmission. Others returned with a 4.0-liter V6 claiming an extra five pound-feet of torque, 225 in all. The two-door Eddie Bauer models were dropped. A more telling sign that something new lurked within was that wheelbases were slightly altered to 101.7 inches for the two-door, 111.5 for the four-door. Both the two-door and volume-leading four-door (about 90 percent of Explorer sales) gained smoother styling that added about four inches to the overall length. But Ford knew competitors were gunning for the nation's top-selling SUV, so an updating was needed to keep Explorer No. Some observers were surprised that this came just four years after the model's introduction, rather early by truck design standards. The Ford Explorer greeted model-year 1995 with its first redesign.
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