2018 Ford Expedition Two Sizes Three Rows All Families REVIEW
Channel: Premium Cars
Date: 10/01/2018

The first Ford Expeditions rolled off the Michigan Truck Plant assembly line in 1997. Ravenous SUV customers snapped up more than 214,000 of them that first year. That’s a staggering number in today’s much smaller full-size SUV market. The Expedition was progressive both in terms of its design and its efficient modular Triton V8 powertrains -- a leap forward compared to the old Bronco. And those advances helped the Expedition outsell the Chevrolet Tahoe that year by almost 100,000 trucks.

Fast forward 20 years later and the sales leadership now belongs to Chevrolet. Of the seven full-size body-on-frame vehicles that make up this non-luxury class of roughly 340,000 vehicles, only Chevy moved more than 100,000 of them last year. The outgoing Expedition, of which Ford sold fewer than 60,000 last year, has been very slow to evolve. The company’s largest SUV was clearly ready for a remake, and a new one is finally here.

The handsome new Expedition follows the trend set by the Ford F-150. The greasy bits beneath are hidden by aluminum bodywork. Ford says the move saves around 300 pounds over steel. However, much of that weight loss has been baked back into the truck in the form of noise and vibration silencers like structural adhesives, foams and pads. The 2018 Expedition has something like 10 times the sealant that’s found in the old one. So it promises to be far quieter on the road.

Beneath the metal is an upgraded version of the fully boxed frame used in the F-150. How improved is the chassis rigidity? Engineer Alex Long says their modeling showed that in order to match the stiffness of the new Expedition, you’d have to bolt in a giant roll-cage-like X brace across the cargo opening of the old one. So that makes the new one a lot stiffer.

Peek underneath the front of the truck and you’ll find the F-150’s independent front suspension. And in the rear, the team used an independent suspension similar in design to the outgoing model. Like before, the half-shafts pass through holes in the frame rails to keep the system compact. In a class where most trucks still use a solid rear axle, this design allows for a lower floor.

There are two sizes of Expedition to choose from. The shorter one rides on a 122.5-inch wheelbase and the Expedition Max sits on a chassis with a 131.6-inch wheelbase. Both are longer than the outgoing models, which contributes to 104.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the first row of Expedition and an enormous 121.4 cubic feet behind the front seats of the Expedition Max. The extra few inches of added wheelbase in both models means legroom is more than 40 inches in all three rows. That’s impressive.

Under the hood of the Expedition XLT and Limited is a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 now rated at 375 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque, and it’s paired to a 10-speed automatic. The top Platinum trim receives even more -- a 400-hp and 480-lb-ft of torque version of this engine. That’s 45 more hp and a whopping 97 lb-ft more torque than the Tahoe. It’s not only more potent, but it delivers better fuel economy, too, with four-wheel-drive Expeditions hitting 17 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway, according to the EPA. That’s an improvement of 2 mpg in the city and 3 mpg on the highway, no easy task for a nearly three-ton SUV.

The Expedition is available in two-wheel drive, all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive with a low range-equipped transfer case. That last one comes bundled in the $1,570 heavy-duty tow package which includes additional coolers as well as Ford’s Pro Trailer Backup Assist system. Speaking of towing, four-wheel-drive Expeditions can handle a 9,200-pound trailer, which is more than any in the segment.

Lincoln faces an uphill battle against the luxury car competition. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Lexus have set the benchmarks, and they’ve earned a reputation for performance and ...

For the first time, Ford now offers an FX4 off-road package in the XLT-trim Expedition. For $1,650, you get specifically tuned dampers from Hitachi, skid plates, a heavy-duty radiator, 18-inch all-terrain tires and an electronic limited-slip rear differential with 3.73:1 gears and a fully-locking function. The Expedition comes with a terrain management system that, in the FX4, has seven modes (normal, sport, tow/haul, eco, grass/gravel/snow, sand and mud/ruts). Ford offers selectable adaptive dampers that are tied into this terrain management system as an option on Limited models and standard on the Platinum trim.

The level of technology available on the new Expedition rivals that of its cousin, the Lincoln Navigator. The top Platinum models can be outfitted with heated and cooled multi-contour leather seats, Sync 3, inductive phone charging, adaptive cruise control, pre-collision assist with pedestrian detection, lane-keeping assist and, for the kiddos, there’s a dual headrest mounted entertainment system with 8-inch screens.