[AuntMary]

Hi, How do you find this generation of Explorer to be in snow? Do you have factory tires or better/ winter tires?
Had to go out today (LI, NY) which fortunately I do not usually have to do, to take sick old cat to vet and made horrible discovery that my 2018 Limited stinks in the snow! Maybe 4-5 inches of nasty slush and our Long Island town doesn't plow much but given size etc I think vehicle should have performed better. Had to put in in the Cactus sand mode to get it out of driveway and onto main road and at no time did I feel confidence in its traction. Roads and conditions wered bad but not That bad. LOTS of other traffic on the road mainly kids in Subarus and pick trucks plus one idiot in a Cayenne! I have factory tires so do you think this is part of the problem? maybe most of the problem? ) . My old Taurus stank in snow too and I had mechanic put Blizzak tires on it and it was much better. Lease is up in June and I have to decide whether or not to get another one, If I do I will have to either order better tires or just have mechanic put better tires on it. or does the car just not deal well with snow and slippery? I have never had to drive it in real snow before! It is great in rain and I otherwise like it a lot but this morning was scary. My old (1996 ) Explorer got going in snow but did not like to turn or stop so I stopped taking it out in snow! Then I drove 2 Subarus which went through snow and anything else but one got old and I hated the new one (2015 Outback), it was painful to ride and sit in and had no visibility. Don't want another Subaru but not sure I want another Explorer now! Also considering F-150 with my own plow or Toyota 4Runner. (any experience with these?)
If any of you also have a 2021-22, how is it in snow? with factory tires or winter/ all weather?? Thanks!

 

[Crates]

The factory tires that Ford put on most of the fifth generation Explorers weren’t known to be real good at much of anything. Are you still riding on those?

If your area receives snow on a regular basis then it’s probably worth investing in a good set of snow tires, as no all-season tire will match their performance.

If you are thinking of sticking with all-season tires I would recommend a set of Michelin Defenders. I have them on my ‘14 Limited and I also put them on my parents ‘18 Limited. I only have a few drives on them in snowy conditions but they seem to perform rather well. I did a fair bit of research on tires before I replaced the original Kuhmo’s (probably spelled wrong) and the Defenders were one of the highest rated tires I found. Whatever you choose I dont recommend putting another set of the original tires on when yours wear out.

Mike.

 

[AuntMary]

The factory tires that Ford put on most of the fifth generation Explorers weren’t known to be real good at much of anything. Are you still riding on those?

If your area receives snow on a regular basis then it’s probably worth investing in a good set of snow tires, as no all-season tire will match their performance.

If you are thinking of sticking with all-season tires I would recommend a set of Michelin Defenders. I have them on my ‘14 Limited and I also put them on my parents ‘18 Limited. I only have a few drives on them in snowy conditions but they seem to perform rather well. I did a fair bit of research on tires before I replaced the original Kuhmo’s (probably spelled wrong) and the Defenders were one of the highest rated tires I found. Whatever you choose I dont recommend putting another set of the original tires on when yours wear out.

 

[AuntMary]

Thank you!! I will do this. We are on Long Island in NY state so we don't get snow every year but when we do it is a lot. My mechanic said same as you did. My lease is up in June, Whatever I get - probably another Explorer as it is otherwise a very functional comfortable car reasonably priced - I will take the factory tires off in late fall and put on winter tires, etc etc, then just put the factory tires back on when I turn it in again.