Ford Terrain Management System: Conquer Every Terrain
There’s a lot that goes into your vehicle being able to handle a wide variety of road, and offroad, conditions. Things like properly maintained tires and brakes are of course important, but your vehicle will have a huge advantage if it’s set up to operate in the specific conditions you’re dealing with. That’s where the Ford Terrain Management System comes in, to give your vehicle an extra layer of preparedness for whatever you care to throw at it.
What Does The Terrain Management System Do?
The specifics of what the Terrain Management System does will vary a bit depending on which vehicle you have, but generally speaking, the Terrain Management System will make adjustments to the throttle response, brake force, transmission shift points, and sometimes suspension in order to be able to best handle whatever the conditions might be. The Terrain Management Systems comes with quite a few settings, depending on the model, but sometimes similar settings will come with different names for different vehicles. In order to better explain, we’re going to have to get into the details.
Basic Terrain Management System Modes
There are a few modes that get so much everyday use that they’re included on every vehicle with the Terrain Management System. No matter how you use your vehicle, you will probably be using one or more of these modes on a daily basis. These are as follows:
- Normal - Default mode, for everyday driving.
- Eco - Changes the settings to maximize fuel economy, most noticeable in the earlier upshifts.
- Sport - quickens throttle response and holds lower gear for longer to deliver improved performance for spirited driving.
Additional Terrain Management System Modes
There are a lot of Terrain Management System modes that go beyond the basic set. A lot of these are specific to the Bronco, where they’re referred to as “G.O.A.T.” (Goes Over Any Terrain) modes. These get pretty specific about terrain and usage, since offroading is the Bronco’s intended purpose, but they work on the same principle as the modes on the other vehicles. Vehicles like the Explorer and Excursion will have fewer specifically offroad modes, but will have towing modes, since they are far more likely to used for towing than the Bronco is. No one vehicle has all of these modes, but here is the full list:
- Mud/Ruts - An offroad mode for terrain that is both uneven and slippery. Engages four-wheel drive lock where applicable.
- Slippery - Obviously this one is also also for slippery conditions, but here it’s meant more for on-road driving, where there are things like snow or ice over a hard surface.
- Sand/Snow - This one is for slippery conditions where there is a soft surface underneath, can be useful on the road as well, when the snow is especially deep.
- Rock Crawl - Specific to the Bronco, this is for low-speed driving over seriously uneven terrain. Intended for rocks, but things like fallen trees would be best tackled with this as well.
- Baja - Also specific to the Bronco, this is something of a combination of Sand/Snow and Sport, for going fast on loose terrain.
- Tow/Haul - Optimizes power delivery for low-end power to accommodate the extra weight.
- Trail - A generalized offroad mode for vehicles that aren’t the Bronco.
- Deep Snow/Sand - A mode for Intelligent 4WD-equipped non-Bronco vehicles for tackling the worst of conditions.
- Snow/Wet - A mode for everyday less-than-ideal on-road conditions.
- Grass/Gravel/Snow - For light offroading or situations where there is ice under the snow on the road.
- Sand - Also for light offroading, specifically on sand, in non-Bronco vehicles.
Using The Terrain Management System Modes
For vehicles equipped with the Terrain Management System, changing modes is as simple as locating the selector knob and rotating it. The selected mode will appear on the dash display. Whatever mode you use, your vehicle will revert back to Normal when you shut it off and then start it back up again, so keep that in mind when you stop for gas on a snowy day, or something else along those lines.
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