2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Article at Automotive.com

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2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac

Below is an enthusiast article written by the automotive experts at Truckin'. An SUT Lies Low At A Freaky Show

2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Comparison

2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Safety Features

2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Costs of Ownership

2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac Lease Payments

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IntelliChoice Value Rating

The chart above shows the purchase price versus ownership cost for each car from a specific vehicle class. The cars with better than average ownership cost/purchase price correlations are the best values, and these best value cars are represented by the dots below the curve. (i.e. the cars that have a lower ownership cost compared to its purchase price.) Those cars, which are worse than average or poor values, appear above the curve.

One way to view the graph is to draw a vertical line through any purchase price. You may see several dots that fall on this line - each of which is a car with a similar purchase price. However, notice the difference in ownership costs of each car represented by the vertical position of the dot. Two cars with the same purchase price can have thousands of dollars difference in ownership costs. This is what separates "good value" cars from "poor value" cars.

What is a good car value?

A "good car value" is one whose cost to own and operate is less than expected. The lower the cost to own and operate a car compared to what is expected, the better the value of that car.

But how do we know a car's "expected cost"?

For each car in the class, IntelliChoice plots the car's purchase price against the total five-year cost to own and operate it as determined by IntelliChoice research. Each dot on the above chart represents a specific car. Generally, we find that as the purchase price of the car increases, the cost to own and operate that car increases. This is why the dots on the graph tend to rise upward and to the right. This phenomenon also makes intuitive sense - as the purchase price rises, financing costs tend to rise, as do insurance, depreciation, taxes, and most other car ownership costs.

This is an important concept. It's normal for car ownership costs to rise as purchase price rises. Therefore, we can't just establish one "average" ownership cost number for each class, since cars in the class have different purchase prices. (This is why the "Relative" shown on each chart is different for cars in the same car class.)

Using statistical techniques, IntelliChoice "connects the dots" to form a curve that defines, for this car class, the relationship between the car's purchase price and car's ownership costs. This curve is our "expected cost" curve. The curve defines, for any car in the class, the five-year ownership cost that we would expect to see at each possible purchase price. If every car in the class were an average value, then all the dots would fall exactly on the curve. However, it's rare that any dot is exactly on the curve. Some dots are a little higher or lower, and some are a lot higher or lower. The dots that are a little lower are better than average car values, while the dots that are a lot lower are excellent car values (A dot that is a lot lower than the curve has ownership costs much lower than expected for a car of its purchase price). Conversely, a dot a little higher than the curve is a poorer than average car value, while a dot that is much higher than the curve is a poor car value.

Value is a relative term, not an absolute term. It is performing better than the logical expectation.

So is a Mercedes-Benz E320 expensive to own and operate? Certainly in an absolute sense. Most other cars cost less. But, when its cost to own and operate is plotted against cars with comparable invoice prices, the E320 costs less. So the E320 is not expensive to own and operate - it is a good car value. The Mercedes does not have low ownership costs, but it has low ownership costs for its invoice price.

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Article From Truckin' Magazine

2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac - On The Right Trac

An SUT Lies Low At A Freaky Show / Article provided by: Truckin' Magazine

The engineers in Detroit have tried to breed the best traits that pickups and SUVs offer into the sport utility truck concept, but, by doing so, can wield some unusual aesthetic results. While this cross-pollenization has successfully created a great compromise between a pickup's open-bed utility and an SUV's passenger-friendly cavernous interior, the downside can be tall, bulbous bodies punctuated by the incongruous jut of the shortened bed.

While cruising the Freakfest truck run in Bakersfield, California, last year, we spied a Ford Sport Trac that didn't look quite right - that is, if we hadn't almost missed it completely. Not that it wasn't worth a good look, it certainly was, it's just that if someone had said, "Dude, look at that sweet Sport Trac over there," we would have glanced about a foot too high, passing over Dan Sather's unexpectedly lowered SUT. Once we spotted it, it still took us a minute to figure out what it was.

Who knew that the '01 Ford Explorer Sport Trac would be such a good candidate for a mini-truck-style rebuild? Apparently, Dan Sather did. The Orangevale, California, resident bought the vehicle in 2002 and decided that he wanted to do something different with it, which is exactly what happened. And the Sin Wagon was born.

House of Kolor Cobalt Blue dominates the factory silver body pain and interior design. James Cashman, of Cashman Customs in Concord, California, painted skulls, ghosted nautical stars (in gold candy), and created flames that lend an edgy but whimsical quality to this ride. In addition, IPC HID headlights, stock bumpers, taillights - none of these escaped Cashman's brush. Meanwhile, a Trenz plastic, billet-colored insert dresses the grille, while the roof rack was shaved, and the third brake light bubble was widened to accommodate a custom LED. A billet FBI antenna replaces the stock one.

Dan installed a cool audio and video system along with most of the other interior appointments. A Pioneer AVX-P73000VD in-dash DVD and video unit heads up the entertainment system. Powering the two Audiobahn AW1006T 10-inch subwoofers is an Eclipse PA4212 amplifier that is bridged at 1 ohm for 100Wx2 of performance. Audiobahn powers the Alpine SPF171A component speakers in the factory door locations with an A4401Q 100Wx4 amplifier. The subs and Audiobahn amp reside in a sealed, fiberglass enclosure built by Sean Dehart and stashed under the rear seats. Meanwhile, the Eclipse amp is located behind the rear seats. PS2 satisfies itchy trigger fingers during those long hauls, while the subsequent video chaos can be viewed on a Micro MS14.5 141/2-inch flip-down video monitor. Backing up the system is a Yellow Top battery from Optima.

Katzkin leather seats, colored gray with dove gray inserts, match the gray carpet from Central 4 Wheel Drive and gray headliner, all of which goes well with Cashman's cobalt blue undead astral works painted throughout the interior. Dan also added extra touches, such as a Trenz billet mirror, a Nu-Image blue flame instrument panel, billet headlights, and HVAC controls.

This Sport Trac is lowered 11 inches from stock, thanks to a Monster Notch from FBI (Fender Bender International) and some fast Slam Specialties Blitzluft 1/2-inch valves. Dan and buddy Chris Krohn did all the suspension work. They cut down the Monster Notch to fit under the bed, rather than cutting the bed itself. After removing the stock torsion bars, they replaced the torsion bars with torsion bar-style brackets from FBI. They also tweaked the four-link setup with an FBI triangulated four-link with 3/4-inch Heims. DJM shocks damp all four corners, while the Wagon rolls down the road on 22-inch Sinister wheels wrapped in P285/35R22 Nitto Extreme ZR tires.

While this Sport Trac looks high-speed, it is, according to Dan, powered by a "4.slow" V-6, which has a "slow" quarter-mile time, a governed top speed of 105 mph, and "not enough" horsepower. Did we mention that it was slow? While Dan may not be pleased with the performance, it must do better than stock, if nothing else, because the engine and powertrain do sport a few tweaks. Take, for example, K&N air intake (painted by Cashman) and throttle-body spacer, 3-inch Flowmaster exhaust with two-chamber cat, narrower AAA Driveline driveshaft, and Motorcraft distributor, spark coil, and plug wires.

Dan thanks a lot of people for supporting him in this project: his fiance (and probably wife by the time this goes to print) Candice, the crew at FBI (which is where he works and no doubt gets a great discount), Jeff at AVS, Tyson at K&N, Cashman Customs, Steve and Phil, Chris Kohn, Bulletproof Bedliners. Dan built this project because the Chevy S-10s were so common. He wanted something that prods people to ask, "What is it?" A question that the judges ask, too, as they struggle to squeeze the oversized, mini, truck, SUV, utility whatever into the proper category. Don't even try - this Sport Trac is in a class by itself.