I had the opportunity to drive an Expedition XLT for a week in Denver, and got to try it out in a minor snowstorm and really checked out the 4WD and general handling. Considering that I was also toting anywhere from 3-5 adults plus baggage and a few skis around the city and suburbs the automobile was definitely put through its paces.
The Market
It is hard to believe that the Expedition was first released seven years ago in 1997, especially as I have always regarded it as the big brother of the Explorer – and really big brother of the Ford Escape. Ford actually designed this car based upon the revised F-series pickup platform, aiming at the seven to nine passengers, big cargo SUV market. It scored a solid, but not necessarily spectacular hit.
The Engine
The engine, as with most Ford’s, comes in two sizes. Firstly there is the standard 4.6 litre, 232HP V8 offering 291 pound-feet of torque. Or you can step-up to the more powerful 5.4 litre, 260HP V8 (350 pound-feet torque). Four speed automatic transmission is provided on all models and trims, with either two or four wheel drive. Although it may seem strange to offer 2WD on this model I’ve had it explained to me that there are people (i.e southern US) who just want to cart around a lot of other people in relative comfort and space without the need for the 4WD. However, having just experienced a massive snowstorm in Atlanta (all of ¼ inch) that shut down the city I’d question that assertion. Anyway, I digress ..
One nice feature of the Expedition is its haul-a$$ towing capacity. It maxes out at a class valedictorian high of 8625 pounds.
The engines are one of the options that get a lot of complaints in both Epinions and trade press. I personally found the 4.6L V8 to be responsive, provide pretty impressive acceleration and certainly had enough “oomph” to send us zooming around the city with no problems. My definition of “oomph” is that when you put your foot down the car responds immediately with enough power to get you out of whatever situation you’re in such as a high-speed merge, light turning red and so on. When the time came to engage 4WD as the snow hit our Expedition SUV had a tighter grip on the road than a Scotsman on his wallet. On one occasion I was forced to mount the curb to make a u-turn, and then drive up a bank to escape from a blocked-in parking lot and the Expedition handled it with ease.
Regular driving around the city and interstates wasn’t a problem. There is a lot of construction and rough roads around Denver, even on the interstates, and the Expedition took all the raised edges, potholes and unfinished construction in its stride with nary a bump. For such a large vehicle, at least for me, its maneuverability was quite impressive and I had no problems getting into and out of parking spaces and navigating past badly-parked cars and FedEx trucks downtown. Its turning circle is rated at 38.7 feet, which is meaningless to me, so I figured it out to be 2 ¼ times its length. Regardless, it was enough to enable me to pull a u-turn on the several occasions by sub-assistant navigators got me lost. (Note: in the premium trims there is an option of a navigational system).
Official mileage is rated at 15/19 city/highway. With a huge 28 gallon fuel tank this translates into 450 miles or so range. With a roof rack and two pairs of skis on top for a while I figured I got around the low end of those numbers. Although I did have the 4WD set to “on” instead of “auto” for an evening which does tend to drive down fuel efficiency.
Body Trim
I borrowed this straight from marketing materials as I only had experience with the XLT.
Four trim levels are available. The base model, the XLS is a no-frills workhorse that comes with a front bench seat, CD player, air conditioning, a third-row seat and power-adjustable pedals. XLT is a midlevel trim that offers most features buyers are looking for including power accessories, foglights, a rear air conditioner and other comfort features. To add even more features, choose the Eddie Bauer model with leather upholstery (optional on XLT models), automatic climate control, a reverse sensing system and an in-dash six-disc CD changer. The NBX model replaces last year's FX4 Off-road and includes skid plates, off-road shocks and tubular step bars. Other optional goodies include a load-leveling air suspension, second-row captain's chairs, a CD-based navigation system, a rear DVD entertainment system, a power folding third-row seat, heated-and-cooled front seats and tire-pressure monitors.
The Interior
The biggest problem with the larger model SUV’s is that no-one ever wants to sit right in the back and those are usually the most uncomfortable and smallest seats. Not so with the Expedition – the rear, third-row, seats are roomy and comfortable and don’t have to be the sole property of the kids. They are also a snap to fold-down – very nice ergonomics on all the seat folds, slides and removals in this vehicle.
The base Expedition fits anywhere from seven to nine people depending upon the seat configuration and styles you choose. The decision between captains chairs and benches dictate the load. Our vehicle had the bench seating – which is splittable (is that a word) 40-20-40 if you need to shove larger objects in the back. I never sat anywhere but the drivers seat (which was very comfortable), but anecdotal experience from adult passengers, who ranged from 5-2” 140 pounds up to 6-2” and north of 260 pounds was that they had room enough back in the second row even dressed in hat, scarf, gloves and ski jackets.
From a passenger point of view, the seatbelts were easily accessible – instead of the usual reach three yards behind you and then spend five minutes pulling the buckle receptacle out from under the seat. Plenty of coffee cup/soda can holders, heating vents and lighting. No moans from the back.
From a driver’s point of view the controls were laid out in that usual Ford standard mode – nothing special, if you’ve driven one, you’ve driven them all. The big round air-vents in the dash gave me pause, I kept thinking they should be racing tachos or something. Only problem I had was twice popping the hood instead of releasing the emergency brake – oh well!!
Safety
The Ford Expedition received double 5-star ratings from the NTSHA. It has not yet been tested for the offset crash tests. Every make and model is equipped with four-wheel antilock disk brakes assisted by Ford’s EBA/BD (Electronic Brake Assist – Brakeforce Distribution). At one point some idiot in a BMW pulled out in front of me from a side road and I had to jam on the anchors. We stopped cleanly without even the slightest trace of skid. This just goes to prove that the most dangerous part of any car is the nut holding the wheel.
Other optional safety systems (not on the vehicle I drove) are a tire-pressure monitoring system , AdvanceTrac stability control and a side and head-impact protection system for both first and second row passengers named the Safety Canopy System.
Competition
The three other vehicles you should be looking at in this class are probably the
Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Toyota Sequoia. They’re all about the same price, and all feature a 3 years/36k warranty, although the Toyota has a 5/60k on the drivetrain. The Sequoia and Expedition win the crash-test wars hands down. A couple of other unique Expedition features are four-wheel independent suspension and the over-5L engine.
Facts and Figures
Dimensions : 205.8”L by 78.7”W by 77.6” H . That’s about 17 feet by 6½ by 6 ½ .
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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