Ford Explorer Gives Fewer Cylinders, Better Mileage, Higher Price a Try

Ford is exploring, pardon the pun, how much extra people are willing to pay for better gas mileage.

For instance, the all-new 2011 Ford (F) Explorer stands the usual order of things on its head, by making the V-6 version the entry-level model, and the four-cylinder model the upscale model. The guys at The Truth About Cars rightly call this "counterintuitive" pricing.

Usually, customers can safely assume that the more cylinders a model's engine has, the more expensive it is. Four cylinders is typically a brand's most humble engine, although some three-cylinder engines are coming, then six, then eight, then 10, up to 12-cylinder models from the likes of Bentley, Ferrari and Rolls-Royce. That's the pecking order people expect.

The V-6 model of the 2011 Ford Explorer with front-wheel drive starts at $28,995, the company said. The top-of-the-line V-6 model with four-wheel drive starts at $37,190. Pricing hasn't been announced yet for the four-cylinder model, which doesn't go on sale until early 2011. But in a recent press introduction for the new Explorer, Ford stressed that the V-6, not the four-cylinder, is the entry-level car.

It's no ordinary four-cylinder engine, because it has the Ford EcoBoost combination of high-pressure direct injection and turbocharging. The net effect is power comparable to a V-6 with the fuel consumption of a four-cylinder engine. That is, about 30 percent better gas mileage.

Depending on how much of a premium Ford charges for the EcoBoost version, it will take buyers a while to earn that premium back before they start saving money through better gas mileage. Ford marketing will no doubt stress "30 percent better gas mileage" loud and clear. "Costs more for fewer cylinders and comparable horsepower," may be allowed to go in one ear and out the other.