With a high-pressure fuel pump and E85 fuel, Ford’s most potent version of the Explorer is faster than a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS.
Do you know when tuners started thinking about how they were going to get more power and speed out of the 2020 Ford Explorer ST? We do. It was the exact second that Ford announced it was going to make it.
That’s just how it is in the aftermarket world. Every vehicle can stand to have higher amounts of horsepower and torque and lower times. The first-ever Ford Explorer ST has a potent 3.0-liter EcoBoost V6 with 400 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque under its hood, but the word “enough” doesn’t mean anything in tuning shops. In those, “more” is the magic word. And this Explorer ST from Palm Beach Dyno (PBD) in Boynton Beach, Florida has it.
PBD has come up with a variety of ways to enhance the Explorer ST’s performance. According to its research, in totally stock form, the all-wheel-drive ST sends 309 horsepower and 369 lb-ft to its wheels. With one of PBD’s custom tunes and 93 octane, those numbers go up to 352 and 419, respectively. They can go as high as 398 and 474 on what PBD calls an “octane boost” tune.
The Explorer ST you see in this video is definitely running high-octane fuel. PDB equipped it with a high-pressure fuel pump that enables the EcoBoost V6 to burn E85.
PBD’s Explorer ST puts all of that extra oomph to good use. It rockets away from a dead stop to 60 mph in 3.98 seconds. At the drag strip, it drops its rear end, then charges through the quarter mile in 12.27 seconds going 111.57 mph.
If those sound like good times for an SUV with a stock curb weight of 4,345 pounds, they are. But they’re better than that. PBD has made the Explorer ST sports-car quick. Actually, quicker – as in quicker than the 2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS with the 10-speed automatic. According to Motor Trend‘s testing, Chevy’s 455-horsepower, V8-powered pony car needs 4.1 seconds to get to 60 mph and can do the quarter mile dash in 12.4 seconds at 115.8 mph.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
