2012 New York: It’s SHO time for the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport

April 4, 2012 Omar Rana 2012 New York Auto Show, 2013, Crossovers, Explorer, Explorer Sport, Ford Explorer, Ford Explorer SHO, Ford Explorer Sport, Sports Cars, SUVs

When it comes to performance SUVs built in the United States, Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 and Chevrolet’s TrailBlazer SS (until it was killed) were always the two to chose from. Ford’s previous sporty versions of the Explorer were nothing to really go crazy about.

The Dearborn automaker is now taking a crack at getting into the performance SUV niche market with the new 2013 Ford Explorer Sport.

Power for the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport comes from a 3.5 liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 making 350-hp, which is somewhat expected considering Ford’s trends of using the EcoBoost V6 for its performance models – the Taurus SHO being one of them. The EcoBoost V6 is mated to a four-wheel drive system with Ford’s Terrain Management System. Of course however, this new Sport is still no where close to being on the same page as the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8’s 6.4 liter HEMI V8 that pumps out 470-hp and goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds. Though Ford themselves said that this Explorer Sport is aimed more towards the Durango R/T and the standard HEMI-powered Jeep. So will Ford come out with an SVT version to better compete with the the Grand Cherokee SRT-8?

Or more even, we’re just wondering what Chevy has in store for the next-generation TrailBlazer SS.

Check out our original post on the Ford Explorer Sport for more details.