Natural Love

Last year we were introduced to the Ford Flex ( read more here ) a set of wheels that made a huge impact on our family. The kids still point out every Ford Flex we pass on the road and they still talk about how much they loved it. I know what your thinking how can a vehicle make s huge impact on you? As a daughter of a mechanic I have always been around grease and wheels. I was in the body shop with my dad painting cars during my summer’s and learning how to change a tire’s before I could tie my shoes. As a teenager I spent endless nights huddled in the garage with my boyfriend (now husband) watching him fix the damage we did from our off-road adventure the night before. It is only natural that I have a love of vehicles. Although you won’t find me changing oil or fixing a tire ( I leave that to my man) you will find me taking it all in when the boys start to huddle and talk cars.

Slim Options

As a young family of six we have challenges when it comes to buying our ride. Not to mention the long list of needs and wants that we have linger over our heads. Currently we drive a 2004 Ford Lincoln which is getting old and it will be only a matter of time that our gas guzzling beast (who we love) will start to cost money. In brain storming our next buy, with slim options ( back to the 7 seater & long list) we had our eyes on a Ford Explorer. We love the Ford Flex but with more of a car feel we weren’t sure it would be suitable for us. I asked my friends over at Ford if we could get to know the Ford Explorer a little more to help ease our lingering questions. They agreed and we got to get to know it over 2 long weeks.

Fully Loaded Explorer

We had 2 fun-filled adventures planned for the Ford Explorer and our family first was a camping trip. We picked up 1 extra child for our road trip and fully maxed the seats. It was a tough squeeze to fit 3 booster seats across the middle row but with a bit of wiggles and shuffles we did it.

Although we did fit those 3 boosters across the middle row, it was very tight, the trunk and the kids leg room was stuffed with luggage. Although I felt the Ford Explorer was way to small for our family for such a big adventure, she got us from point A – B and we had a lot of fun in between.

We were very surprised how gracefully she pulled our Travel Trailer, about 3000lbs behind her she never once hesitated. Not to mention the saving’s we noticed on our gas gauge.

Favorite Feature

Even well pulling a trailer Dada loved to use the Gap Feature. It kept a safe distance between the traffic and us all along the highway. The Ford Explorer has some great features that assist in keeping your family safe on the road and the Gap Feature is by far our favorite. The neat part is you can set the car distance, one, two or even three car lengths. So depending on how busy the highway is you can customize your space and rise your safety.

On that long list of wants and needs on our search for the new set of wheels Fuel Economy is high up on that list. Nothing hurts more than throwing money out the window each week at the gas companies, so many better places I can think of to spend our hard earn dollars. When we heard the Ford Explorer would help us with just that it was another selling feature that had our attention. The Ford Explorer Sport has the Eco Boost which we came to know during our time with the Ford Flex and we used her well both times. I am not sure how much money we really saved because having 365 horsepower under the hood was hard to keep at a gas saving speed. However, on her return down the 401 Dada captured this picture of the Fuel Economy sitting at 9.6 L/ 100L which means when you drive her carefully she will save you money.

Sport Mode

On our travels we came across a little side road where we got to put the sport mode to the test. Although mud and a little more rough terrain was the road we were hoping to find this rutty one had to do.

The boys at @FordCanada loved the tweet and we loved the back road road trip after our fun weekend at camp.

Summery

Although we loved our time with Ford Explorer and her features were fascinating and her looks were stunning. Our family of six felt very tight loading in. Moving boosters and shifting kids was far too much each time we got in and out. We like captain seats in the middle row with an open path for the kids to climb into the 3rd row without moving seats around. I must mention the navigation system and I did have a fair bit of conflict. The screen really needs a firm touch and I don’t like that when I am in the passenger seat we still need to pull over to add a new destination (could of been operator error ) but I wish the system read my weight in the passenger side and accounted for that on it’s safety feature. Overall our experience was a fun adventure and we are forever grateful for the opportunity to get to know the Ford Explorer Sport a little more. Ford how did you know red was my favorite color? Isn’t she a beauty?

How did your family choose the right wheels for your needs?

Thanks for reading In R Dream!

( We were provided a media fleet ride for a couple weeks. As always the opinions here are my own.)