 Hey guys, welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I'm Gold Pony. I do new car truck SEV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the new 2020 Ford Explorer ST. Courtesy of Bob Ruth Ford in Dillsburg PA for more information on their inventory. Please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so I'm quite excited to be in this one. And if you guys, you guys may already know I've already reviewed the 2020 Explorer. I have not though already reviewed the 2020 Explorer ST. And this is the fun one. Hence the reason I wanted to get inside this one today. So what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so to start, MSRP for the 2020 Explorer ST will start at $54,740. But like I was saying, it's the power plant that truly makes this one enjoyable. Powering the Beast is going to be a three liter twin turbo V6, putting out 400 horsepower at 5,500 RPM, 415 pound feet of torque available at 3,500 RPM. Power sent to all four wheels through Ford's intelligent four wheel drive system. That power sent to the ground through a 10 speed automatic with paddle shifters, which you guys know we will be testing out in a little bit here. Top speed, 143 miles per hour that's kind of overkill in an SUV, but I love it. Zero to 60 time, 5.3 seconds. That is wonderful. We'll give that a shot a little bit later in the video. But, MPG numbers coming in at 18 in the city, 24 on the highway, premium fuel is recommended on this one. So before we do that paddle shifter test, did what I mentioned, there are some driving modes that do come standard on the Explorer ST and that circular dial is located kind of just behind the circular dial for the gear selector. So what those driving modes include is normal, trail, snow and sand, slippery, sport, tow and haul and eco mode. So quite a few different driving modes available for this one, really allowing you to tailor the car to your own particular experience that you wanted. So that's pretty cool, but they will adjust things like the shift points, throttle response, steering sensitivity and traction control settings overall. But now, having said that, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find a straightaway and let's do a quick little paddle shifter test and see how quickly they react to us here. Well, yes. Yes, love that they are quick. I was actually kind of hesitant. I was kind of hoping they would be and dang, they are quick. Let me tell you guys, a lot of times SUVs, the majority of time in SUVs, those paddle shifters, if they got them react slow and you're kind of disappointed because if you got them, they might as well be fine and quick reacting and they are, they definitely are in the Explorer ST and it's fitting because this is a very fun SUV to drive. I could already tell, so love that. But by the way, I did want to also mention there is an M right in the middle of that circular dial. That is your manual shifting mode. So right now, the Explorer ST is not shifting for me. I have full control over the shifting to take it back out. Just press it again. You give control back to the Explorer ST once again. So having said that, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and do a quick little acceleration test here and let's see how quickly we can get the new 2020 Explorer ST up speed. Here she is, you guys in three, two, one. Take off. Oh my gosh. Wow. You really get up to speed before you even know it. This is a ridiculous acceleration for an SUV. No issues with merging onto the highway. Dang, that thing was quick. That was fun. But so anyways, to go along with that acceleration as always, braking is equally important. And so of course, you will find high performance for wheel disc brakes on the Explorer ST and there actually is even an upgrade to that. There is a high performance package because for $1,595, that does give you larger front rotors as well and red brake couplers to go along with that. But that's even going to give you a better braking setup than the already excellent braking setup that already belongs to the Explorer ST. So love that. And by the way, if you were looking for a number to substantiate that braking setup, 60 to zero stopping distance comes in at 114 feet for comparison sake. Most other three-year-old SUVs come in at around 12530 feet. For example, my three-row Hyundai Santa Fe comes in at 125 feet. So 114 is quite substantially quicker than just about all of the other three-row SUVs out there on the road right now. So wonderful, wonderful brakes on the Explorer ST and really an excellent braking feel as well. There's no brake pedal delay or anything like that. So love that. Anyways, touching on suspension and handling a little bit. Up front, you will get a McPherson strut front suspension with a 32 millimeter front stabilizer bar. In the back, multi-link independent rear suspension 22 millimeter rear stabilizer bar, gas pressure eyes, shock absorbers, and this suspension actually is uniquely tuned for the Explorer ST specifically. So again, a little more performance oriented when it comes to the suspension of this one. But having said that, steering feels absolutely wonderful especially in that sport driving mode that I've left it in the majority of this drive here today. Ride quality is surprisingly very good as well. A lot of times when you consider a sport-tuned suspension a lot of times that kind of sacrifices ride quality but I gotta be honest, it really isn't all that bad. I'm actually digging the ride quality in the Explorer ST. So that is very much so a good thing as well. When it comes to cabin noise, that is one of the big benefits I noticed the second I started driving this one. That's partly due because there are acoustic laminated front windows. So that is gonna drastically reduce any exterior noises coming into the cabin as it has so far in my test drive today. So that is absolutely wonderful there. Touching on visibility, I can see perfectly fine right now and reason being, this is the part that I love about this particular three-row SUV. A lot of three-row SUVs, you can't tuck that third-row headrest down to kind of eliminate that blind spot but with the Explorer, specifically the Explorer ST, there's third-row headrest do tuck down. So if that third-row was not in use, visibility is absolutely wonderful. And even with the third-row in use, honestly because of the boxier shape you really are not gonna have any issues with visibility. It's just about as good as it can get when it comes to three-row SUVs at least. So no issues there. Rain-sensing windshield wipers though, also coming standard, essentially what that is, is when the Explorer detects any kind of mist or rainfall it is gonna automatically turn on those windshield wipers for you. One less thing you have to worry about so you can better focus more of your attention on actually enjoying the drive in the Explorer ST which is always a wonderful thing. But that about rounds it the performance segment of this review you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of this brand new 2020 Ford Explorer ST. All right, here she is, you guys. The 2020 Ford Explorer ST. Parked out here in the wilderness because the name is the Explorer and we're going exploring so I thought that was funny. But anyways, Rapid Red Metallic is the exterior color name on this one in case anybody was interested. And again, the Explorer has been completely redesigned for 2020 and definitely in a good way. It looks absolutely amazing up here. Plenty of gloss black accents because we have the ST. So let's go ahead and get started upfront here. ST specific front grille with that ST badging found in the lower corner there. LED headlights to the side and they do come with the automatic feature, meaning when it starts to get dark at night they will turn on automatically for you there. LED signature lining as well and just below LED fog lights. So LEDs all the way around up front there. And of course you have the Explorer lettering spelled out horizontally finished in gloss black found on the hood there as well. But definitely a very aggressive, very menacing look to the front of this one. So then making our way to the side of the Explorer gloss black roof rails coming standard along with rear privacy glass in the back there. Gloss black power adjustable sign mirrors also stand. They actually are heated as well. And they do come with LED integrated turret signals and they do have ST projection lamps projecting onto the ground at night. So I'm not gonna be able to show that to you guys right now, but that's pretty darn cool if you ask me. Driver side auto dimming sign mirror as well. That's usually a feature you find in BMW or Mercedes. Quite happy to see it on the Explorer here today. That's pretty darn cool too. Also you have some gloss black accents found on the side skirts just below that Explorer lettering spelled out once again. Let's take a look at the wheel setup. They are 20 inch machined aluminum alloy wheels. However, with that performance package I was mentioning to you guys that actually does bump it up to 21 inch wheels. So they're gonna be there for you too if you wanted to. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the back on this one. It's a shark fin antenna found up top rear spoiler with an integrated brake light. Rear window wiper just below that. Once again, Explorer lettering spelled out horizontally found on the rear left gate there. Of course you have some ST badging found at the lower corner of that left gate as well. But just below it all, you do have a tow hook as well. I did wanna mention that. You can actually tow up to 5,600 pounds with the Explorer ST specifically. So a little bit more than the other explorers out there. So I did wanna specifically mention that. But anyways, to the sides, dual exhaust outlets with quad chrome tips. Do believe you guys know what we have to do next as always here is that exhaust clip. And so but now since we are around back when it comes to opening that rear lift gate, it is a power lift gate. There's a button on the key fob itself but that's not the fun way to actually open up. It is a power hands free lift gate. So essentially what you can do is simply walk up behind that rear lift gate, kick your foot underneath the rear bumper and it is gonna open up for you that way. You can also kick your foot underneath the rear bumper once it's already opened. Then it'll close for you as well. So definitely a very convenient rear lift gate back there. So love that. Once opened up though behind that third row cargo capacity comes in at 18.2 cubic feet. If that was not enough space there actually are buttons in the cargo area to fold that down which puts us at 47.9 cubic feet behind that second row. And of course with all rows folded that comes in at 87.8 cubic feet which I gotta admit is a good bit for a three row SUV more than the normal I will say. And also back there you can find cargo hooks. There is a 12 volt power outlet as well. There's a little bit of in-floor storage back there as well then. And make our way to the rear leg room when it comes to that third row that comes in at 32.2 inches which actually isn't that bad for a third row. I will say that and you can of course slide the second row up a little bit to make a little more space too if you wanted but for reference I mean even six feet tall this is how much space I have back there. Do what I also mentioned though there is rear ventilation for all three rows that's gonna be found on the ceiling of the Explorer ST so all three rows will be comfortable if anybody was worried about that. And so but in addition to that that third row it is seating for two so there's not seating for three but there is seating for two in that third row. But make your way up then to the second row that comes in at 39 inches even for reference I mean even six feet tall this is how much space I have back there. Did want to mention captain's chairs that we're looking at right now actually is the standard setup for the Explorer ST. However if you wanted bench seating for three people in that second row you can get that it is a $495 option though. So that's gonna be available though if you wanted it back there tri-zone climate control comes standard on the Explorer ST meaning those second row passengers actually can set their own temperatures as well if they wanted to so that's pretty cool. There actually are rear window sunshades as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see them I love them in three row SUVs so when you have a toddler or newborn in that second row you can pull up the sunshades and that'll block the sun from absolutely blinding them. So that's always nice. Also when you go with the captain's chairs configuration you do have a couple cup holders in the middle there and some more storage in the middle as well. Not to mention you also have some nice hookups just in front of them. There's a hookup for 110 volt power outlet so girls can straighten their hair back there or guys can charge the tools back there. Also is a phone charging port USB charging port back there as well so that's all very convenient and I like the thick armrest that the second row passengers got there too but now let's go ahead and make our way to the front seats. Power adjustable perforated leather seating does come standard. They are heated and ventilated seats. I love that because it's super hot today. Multi-contoured massaging seats goes for $995 if you wanted that. ST embossing near the top as well but perhaps the first thing I noticed when I first got in the Explorer ST was the seating but unfortunately it wasn't in a good way. If I'm being honest and I always like to be I always have to be in these reviews. These are probably the most uncomfortable seats in the last 500 cars I've reviewed and the reason I say that is because of this awkward pressure point just below the stitching just below the ST badging because of that there is an awkward pressure point right there in the upper portion of your back which doesn't feel too comfortable. So typically to eliminate this issue you either get rid of that point or you come up with vertical seams like Lexus often does to eliminate any awkward pressure points so that is how you come up with a comfortable seat. This however is not it unfortunately so I wanted to be honest with you guys. You guys will be able to tell when you first get in the Explorer ST if you wanted to drive it yourself but I did want to mention that. I feel like I have to I just wanted to be honest with you guys. But so now making our way to the steering wheel one of the best parts about the Explorer ST 10 and two grips are insanely thick just like BMW I absolutely love that. Definitely gives the driver a better feeling of being in control of the vehicle so that's why I like it but it is power adjustable tilt and telescoping and it is leather wrapped. You do have the ST logo at the bottom of it and it is heated actually as well. And that button's going to be found just around the climate control settings in the middle there. But now let's go ahead and make our way to this startup. Let me start by showing you guys the key here. I do have actually ST badging on the one side of the key and when you flip it around, knock, unlock the button to pop the rear hatch and the times two button that is going to be a remote start. So that is one way to go ahead and start the Explorer ST up the other way. There is a push button start just to the left of the infotainment screen. So all I'm going to do simply put my front of the brake and press that engine start button there. And so, but that once started up yet another amazing feature about the Explorer ST 12.3 inch digital gauge cluster coming standard. It's absolutely wonderful. Love this gauge setup. And it actually changes quite substantially dependent upon the driving mode that you put it in as well. But not only that, you can adjust what is on that digital gauge setup by using steering wheel mounted controls on the right side. So you got that as well. But again, the drive modes are what really make that gauge setup amazing. Completely changes the look and that's the beauty of digital gauges in itself. So love the gauges on this thing. When it comes to overall interior quality there is a twin panel moonroof available for $1,695. Love that we have that today. Overhead sunglass holder also comes standard universal garage door opener for up to three different garage doors that can be found on the driver's side sun visor. That's always nice. Ambient lighting comes standard as well. You can adjust that using the infotainment screen up front there. Wireless phone charger can be found directly behind the cup holder. So a little different placement there but I love that that is there as well. Overall interior quality is very sporty looking. I will say that. Love the texturized carbon fiber look just on top of the passenger side glove box of right around the engine start button. Love the leather touches on the doors as well with the contrast stitching and the speaker covers and I'll get more into that in a little bit here. But also just in front of the cup holders you do have a decent amount of storage there. USB charging port, phone charging port, 12-volt power outlet. Again, your cup holder is just behind that and a very deep storage area within the center armrest and there's a 12-volt power outlet in there as well. And again, the phone charger is just in front of that. So overall, interior quality is actually quite nice on the Explorer ST. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the tech display on this one. Eight-inch colored touch screen display AKA Sync 3 comes standard. However, there is a technology package that goes for $995 that we do in detail for you today and that gives you a 10.1-inch tablet style vertical display, which is currently what you are looking at. So I love that. Bluetooth and audio streaming come standard either way. Android Auto Apple CarPlay also come standard either way. Factory navigation system coming standard yet again. Climate control settings you can check out up there as well as your ambient lighting and your radio settings. And so when it comes to the sound system yet another amazing part of the Explorer ST, 14 speakers Bang and Olsen sound system with 980 watts. That's a ridiculous amount of wattage. So needless to say, I haven't turned it on yet since I've driven it and I'm quite excited to test this one out though. So what do you say? Let's go ahead and turn on the radio see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one. You could almost feel it in your chest that bass is ridiculous. Clarity is 100% on point, sanely loud sound system. Really more than enough of a sound system for the Explorer ST. That one went above and beyond. That was beautiful. Last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on that tech display though is when you do put the Explorer ST in reverse, you of course will find a rear view camera coming standard letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us into safety. Let's say to start front side, side curtain airbags do come standard in addition to that driver and passenger side knee airbags as well. In the back you have latch aka lower anchors to tethers your children for the rear car seats. Tire pressure monitoring system also comes standard in addition to that forward co-pilot 360. Also coming standard, this is the fun safety package basically. Adaptive cruise control with stop and go comes with that evasive steering assist, blind spot monitoring system, lane keep assist, automatic emergency braking and automatic high beams as well. It's overall when it comes to my final thoughts of the Explorer ST, it's a very crazy acceleration for an SUV. Great braking, ambient lighting choices is great constructive criticism on this one. First thing I got to say it's not an IIHS top safety picks, there's that. And the other thing is of course the seat comfort itself is not to my liking of course. And there's science behind that as well. It's not just my personal opinion, it's this awkward pressure point. It just comes out a little bit too much on the top portion of the seat for me at least. But on the plus side, the redesign is absolutely wonderful. I love the rear window sunshades. Whenever a company has kids in mind in the back, I absolutely love that as well. So overall an extremely fun SUV with a lot of tech, this 10.1 inch infotainment, the digital gauges, very fun drive, I will say that. So let me know what you guys think of this one in the comments section below. But that about rounds out this review you guys. Thank you so much for watching. If you're free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen there, if you like, be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button. If you're into new car reviews that is what we do here on this channel after all. Do you appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay Gold. Yeah. America.