2025 Ford Explorer Review and Test Drive

Ford's top-selling SUV gets fresh styling, an upgraded interior, and new features.

Perry Stern | 

Jul 23, 2024 | 8 min read

Perry Stern

The Ford Explorer has come a long way since it debuted in 1991. That original model, built on a rugged truck platform, replaced the two-door Bronco II. Since then, Ford has sold more examples of the midsize four-door SUV than any other sport utility in U.S. history, and it is currently the automaker's bestselling model after the F-Series.

The 2025 Ford Explorer is a three-row crossover SUV with seating for up to seven people, plenty of cargo space, and competitive towing capability. It gets significant updates this year, including fresh exterior styling, a revamped interior, a new infotainment system, and a long list of standard advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

Ford invited me to Chelsea, Michigan, to spend time with the 2025 Explorer lineup to learn more about the changes and experience them for myself. After spending a day driving the updated SUV, I think it is a better vehicle. That means the refreshed Explorer should hold its own against rivals such as the redesigned Chevrolet Traverse, three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee L, appealing Kia Telluride, and extra-large Toyota Grand Highlander.

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The 2025 Explorer Has a Simplified Lineup

For 2025, Ford simplifies the Explorer lineup, offering the SUV in base Active, sporty ST-Line, upscale Platinum, and performance-tuned ST trim levels. Prices range from the low $40,000s to the mid-$50,000s, and all versions have standard rear-wheel drive with all-wheel drive available as an option.

Engine options carry over from the 2024 model. The Active, ST-Line, and Platinum get a 300-hp turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine, while the ST comes with a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 that puts out 400 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque. The powerful V6 is an option on the Explorer Platinum. Towing capacity is 5,000 pounds, down from the maximum rating of 5,600 in 2024 but still competitive with most rivals.

For this review, I had the opportunity to drive all the 2025 Explorer models, but I spent most of my time in a 2025 Ford Explorer Platinum. My test vehicle had the optional all-wheel-drive system, the turbocharged V6 engine, and the Ultimate package for a total manufacturer's suggested retail price of $59,865, including the $1,595 destination charge to ship it from the Chicago assembly plant to your dealership.

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Fresh Styling Inside and Out

The Ford Explorer is refreshed — not redesigned — so in many ways it's the same SUV as last year but with fresh styling that gives it an updated look.

Up front, a bold new grille with squared-off sides aligns with the stylish LED headlights and makes the Explorer look wider. Ford also integrates an air intake into the new lower fascia design, and LED fog lights set into the edges of the bodywork add to the Explorer's wide stance.

Each trim level gets a different style grille. The Explorer Active features a black mesh design with chrome crossbars, while the more luxurious Platinum has a satin chrome chain-link pattern with a black background. The ST-Line and ST get black mesh grilles, the latter featuring a red ST badge.

The interior changes are more significant, adding an elevated sense of quality and sophistication to the SUV, even on the base-level Active. All 2025 Explorers come with a new 13.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system that better integrates into the dashboard, and a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation display is standard on all models.

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One of my favorite features in the 2025 Explorer is the new storage tray that extends from the dashboard below the infotainment screen. Not only is it stylish, but it is also ideal for storing small items. The wireless phone charger lives in this space when the Explorer has this feature.

Upgraded materials provide a premium vibe, with soft-touch surfaces and stylish stitching on the doors, center console, and dashboard. There's plenty of storage for the driver and front passenger, including a covered storage area at the front of the center console. Unfortunately, its position makes it difficult to open the cover, and the cover itself is flimsy, making it feel like it won't last.

My Explorer Platinum test vehicle featured premium leather trim with an attractive quilted pattern. However, the fabric-trimmed seats in the ST-Line were more comfortable and provided better support. Second-row captain's chairs are standard, and the optional second-row bench seat gives you a seven-passenger configuration.

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Significant Technology Updates for 2025

Ford has used the Sync infotainment system since 2008, but that Microsoft-based technology has reached the end of the road in this SUV. In its place, an all-new Google-based Ford Digital Experience platform debuts in the 2025 Explorer.

Thanks to its Google built-in technology, the new Ford Digital Experience features Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Play apps. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility is standard on every trim level, and the system also offers Alexa Built-in if you prefer to use that technology.

The infotainment system features a new 13.2-inch touchscreen with static onscreen shortcuts to the homepage, vehicle settings, and app library on the left of the display for easy reference and use. A strip of touch-sensing climate system features lives at the bottom of the screen, ready for any necessary adjustments. Thankfully, Ford kept a physical stereo volume control knob, but much of the other switchgear is gone.

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Some entertainment options are available only when the Explorer is parked. For example, install the YouTube or Prime Video apps, and you can stream movies or television shows on the central display screen. A built-in Vivaldi browser lets you surf the web.

There are even games to download and play, including Asphalt Nitro 2, which is exclusive to Ford. I quickly found and downloaded this racing game from the Google Play Store, and in just a few minutes, it was up and running. The graphics and frame rate are impressive, and you can play games via the touchscreen or with a Bluetooth controller.

Not all of the Explorer's technology updates pertain to the infotainment system. Safety features such as adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, lane-centering assist, lane-keeping assist, and blind-spot monitoring with trailer coverage come standard on every Explorer.

In addition, the 2025 Explorer becomes the latest Ford to offer BlueCruise, a hands-free semiautonomous driving system. Available on all but the base Active trim level, BlueCruise is standard and includes a 90-day trial subscription. When the complimentary trial period ends, monthly or annual subscriptions to the service are available.

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I tested this latest version of BlueCruise during a 25-mile drive on Interstate 94. Getting onto the freeway, I set the adaptive cruise control to 70 mph, and the digital instrumentation display indicated when BlueCruise was active. When that handoff occurred, I could take my hands off the wheel.

Each time I ended up behind a slower vehicle, the Explorer dropped its speed to keep a safe distance. With a tap of the left turn signal, the system automatically checked to see if a lane change would be safe, and if so, it steered me into the next lane, smoothly returning the SUV to the originally set speed.

While the system can negotiate most bends in the road, this route had a few curves that proved too tight for BlueCruise. The tech alerted me to take the wheel, and once the road straightened, BlueCruise automatically reactivated.

The most impressive feat I experienced was when traffic stopped due to an accident ahead. BlueCruise slowed the Explorer to a halt, then moved along slowly with traffic. When the traffic cleared, it accelerated back to 70 mph without my input.

It is important to note that BlueCruise requires the driver to pay attention to the road and be ready to take control immediately if needed. A camera-based monitoring system ensures that the driver doesn't get distracted. During my BlueCruise testing, the warning came up when I looked away for just a few seconds.

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Expect the 2025 Explorer to Remain a Top Seller

While it receives some significant updates, the 2025 Ford Explorer retains its spacious interior, versatile seating, practical space, satisfying performance, comfortable ride, and athletic handling. These traits and more contribute to making it as popular a vehicle today as when it first went on sale almost 35 years ago.

There are plenty of competitors in this segment, and midsize three-row SUVs are generally competitive with one another regarding power, features, and more. What can distinguish them are design, comfort, performance, technology, and utility.

With its turbocharged engines, fresh styling, nicer interior, Ford Digital Experience, and available BlueCruise, the Explorer should easily hold its own against alternatives such as the GMC Acadia, Honda Pilot, Hyundai Palisade, Mazda CX-90, Nissan Pathfinder, and Volkswagen Atlas.

Ford provided the vehicle for this 2025 Explorer review and paid for meals during the evaluation period.

Perry Stern

I have loved cars and trucks since childhood, and that fascination with anything that drives is just as strong today. As a teenager, I knew I wanted to become an automotive journalist, and during the past three decades, I have driven, written about, and photographed all manner of automobiles ranging from affordable econocars to exotic supercars. With the idea that there is a perfect car, truck, or SUV for everyone, my goal is to help consumers determine the right one for their wants and needs.