So, i am in the market to upgrade my primary vehicle. I have decided on the ford explorer with the 3.5 ecoboost. I want a 2016+ for the styling and sync3, but i don't want to take on a massive payment so i'm capping my cost at 26k. The sport is readily available under 26k, and the platinum can be had with some price negotiations and maybe a little more miles than i was hoping for. However, I am torn between the options and really can't find a best of both worlds solution. let me break it down.
practical me wants the driver assistance features like lane assist, adaptive cruise, brake assist, yada yada. I am a subcontractor and it's not uncommon to drive 3, 4, 5 hours home, often late at night. the fight against fatigue is real and i feel like i could potentially benefit from these added aids at some point. these are standard options on the platinum, but not available on the sport.
driving enthusiast me wants the performance options of the sport. i've already priced out all the oem parts that are different between the sport and platinum as far as brakes and suspension. it's not a staggering cost. it's cheaper than a true performance suspension. now, i already know i can do better than the sport suspension, even if the sport suspension is an improvement over the stock. i would probably change out the stock springs and struts for the aforementioned aftermarket suspension regardless of which trim i end up with, so that factor is moot. the one thing i can't figure out, and it seems like such a big deal to me for some reason.
the sport is the only trim with an always on 50/50 split awd system. the platinum is a FWD with AWD as-needed. i believe the sport might have a trans/awd cooler that the platinum does not offer as well, but i'm sure that can be added. the big question. is this AWD setup on the platinum something that an aftermarket tune to be a can change to an always on 50/50 split without having to swap in parts specific to the sport model? or is this a situation where i have to pick which one is more important to me because i can't have both?
practical me wants the driver assistance features like lane assist, adaptive cruise, brake assist, yada yada. I am a subcontractor and it's not uncommon to drive 3, 4, 5 hours home, often late at night. the fight against fatigue is real and i feel like i could potentially benefit from these added aids at some point. these are standard options on the platinum, but not available on the sport.
driving enthusiast me wants the performance options of the sport. i've already priced out all the oem parts that are different between the sport and platinum as far as brakes and suspension. it's not a staggering cost. it's cheaper than a true performance suspension. now, i already know i can do better than the sport suspension, even if the sport suspension is an improvement over the stock. i would probably change out the stock springs and struts for the aforementioned aftermarket suspension regardless of which trim i end up with, so that factor is moot. the one thing i can't figure out, and it seems like such a big deal to me for some reason.
the sport is the only trim with an always on 50/50 split awd system. the platinum is a FWD with AWD as-needed. i believe the sport might have a trans/awd cooler that the platinum does not offer as well, but i'm sure that can be added. the big question. is this AWD setup on the platinum something that an aftermarket tune to be a can change to an always on 50/50 split without having to swap in parts specific to the sport model? or is this a situation where i have to pick which one is more important to me because i can't have both?