I've seen how they are set up, and while I don't like the transverse design, they are very solidly built. It is a very robust design. Sure it will be a lot harder to lift, but it actually has great ground clearance as is. It has tons of power, a lot more than the old V8 ever had even with the base 3.5L V6.

You can get stuck up on your old school opinions, but run a stock '11 or newer Explorer against a stock older Explorer, it will out corner, out pull, out run, out off road the old one, plus it looks better and gets better gas mileage too.