Ford->ke31 has taken great lengths to promote the 2011 Explorer, and it seems that there’s no end in sight as to how far these guys will go just to answer the question of how the Explorer stacks up to its ‘SUV heritage’.

To prove that the Explorer is all that and more, Ford decided to travel halfway around the world to the deserts of Dubai to give the new Explorer a trial run in the one of the world’s hottest locations. So how does Ford’s new SUV handle the atrocious conditions in Dubai, one whose temperature skyrockets to 120-something degrees on a good day and has sands so fine that cars are known to sink just by standing still?

Well, the automaker was kind enough to document the whole experiment with the Explorer’s chief designer, Donald Ufford, outlining the uniqueness of the sands in the Dubai desert – it’s finer than any sand you can find anywhere in the world – and commenting on how it provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity to test the SUV’s Terrain Management System.

We have to admit, after going through a myriad of weird teaser photos of the Explorer, we’re a little relieved to finally see the SUV in action as opposed to looking at bits and pieces of it with all those Ford executives mugging in front of the camera. It's about time, Ford.

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