In the Driver's Seat of the Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer 4X4
It's a bit of a climb to get up into the Explorer's cabin--the running boards really do help. Once you're up there, the driver's seat is a nice perch. The Eddie Bauer package includes leather seats with 10-way power for the driver. We took a little road trip to Palm Springs one day, which kept me behind the wheel for a good eight hours with little negative effect. The Explorer's simple gauge package is a model of function. The Eddie Bauer Luxury Group of options ($3,695) adds a very good navigation system with screen mounted at the top of the center stack and redundant controls on the steering wheel.There are some weird cheap material choices on the dash that perplex me. The fake wood trim is really ugly, with a sharp plastic edge at the top of the dash that I was tempted to pick like a knee scab. Ew. The airbag at the center of the steering wheel is covered in a pebbled plastic that is unpleasant to the touch, and of course you have to touch it every time you drive. Yuck.
Instead of conventional levers, the Explorer's door releases are rounded chrome pieces that look like covers for the armrest. I kind of like them, but they perplexed every passenger I carried. You may not get any enjoyment out of confusing your friends--I do.
