From Pemberton, Highway 99 takes an insane turn, blending an endless ribbon of winding road that combines eye-watering 13% grades up and down mountains, dangerous 180-degree corners (with poor visibility at times) to make for a white-knuckled but pure and totally immersive driving experience. Best enjoyed in a sports car? Definitely. But the Explorer Platinum continued to impress here, with a very well balanced suspension and competent traction – which was handy as it poured rain all day long. The 2218 kg (4890 lb) behemoth took to curves like a champ, feeling more connected and competent than lighter, pricier SUVs with adaptive suspension. Yet the ride remained supple and comfortable, never allowing bumps or road irregularities to come through to the cabin. Along the way to Lillooet you’ll pass two stunning features – Duffy Lake, where the boat launch (a simple gravel incline into the lake) serves as one of the finest backdrops for automotive photography in western Canada, and the Seton Lake Reservoir, where your view is framed by the mountains sliding directly into the water on either side, and if you’re lucky enough, you’ll see a train snaking its way along the north shore, stuck between the ice cold waters and the mountainside plunging down next to it.

The final stretch, from Lillooet to Kamloops, continues the theme – an endless series of curves, elevation changes and throws in freaky things like single-lane bridges. And it rewards you with an infinite number of vistas over the Fraser River valley, as you traverse the suddenly dry almost desert-like terrain, dotted with sparse forests and sometimes nothing more than scrub brush.

At the end, you’re rewarded by a drop into another massive valley and into Kamloops, one of the hottest, driest places in Canada. Looking back at the route I drove, it is certainly not for the faint of heart nor the weak of stomach, but I enjoyed every mile of it. And the Explorer Platinum kept up with everything this writer explored.

As you can see, I had reason to celebrate the Explorer’s fuel economy after a day of this kind of mountain driving.

The Explorer does have a rotary Terrain Management controller, allowing you to choose between normal, sand, snow or mud modes, as well as a hill-descent mode. While I did go off the beaten path, driving through some shrubbery and a deep ditch on barely muddy roads and gravel doesn’t count for off-roading so I can’t truly say I tested its ruggedness. Need to tow? It’ll lug up to 5000 pounds.

Competitors:
Buick Enclave
Chevrolet Traverse
Dodge Durango
GMC Acadia Denali
Honda Pilot
Hyundai Santa Fe XL
Kia Sorento
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Nissan Pathfinder
Toyota Highlander

The Explorer Platinum is a nicely styled SUV that comes as loaded as possible, boasting the best that Ford offers in the luxury, performance, technology and safety departments. If that’s what you’re after, and you’re willing to pay for it, you’ll end up with a credible, authentic and capable SUV – the best version yet of the one that started it all 25 years ago.

Pricing: 2016 Ford Explorer
Base price (Platinum trim): $58,599
Freight: $1,690

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