2025 Ford Expedition First Drive: Same Great Package, Nifty New Tech

MotorTrend

The latest version of the Ford Expedition traverses rough terrain and the new digital age. See how it drives with Senior Editor

Transcript

00:00I'm Aaron Gold for Motor Trend I am in Louisville Kentucky at Ford's Kentucky

00:14truck plant where they build among other things this the all-new 2025 Ford

00:19Expedition Ford's big three-row family hauling body on frame heavy-duty heavy

00:24towing SUV now this is about the same size as the outgoing Expedition but as

00:29you can see that's much smoother styling and actually is much more geared for

00:33family adventure there's a new emphasis on towing there's a new emphasis on

00:37off-roading we've got a lot to talk about as we drive this beautiful new

00:40Expedition through the beautiful roads of Kentucky darling

00:49driving experience a little strange if I'm honest power is not the problem the

00:54Expedition is powered by a three-and-a-half liter twin turbo v6 400 horsepower in

01:00the standard output version this platinum stealth model that we're driving does

01:05440 horsepower and when you step on the accelerator believe me it goes like the

01:10proverbial clappers

01:13well I don't know what clappers are and I don't know how fast they actually go the

01:18ride is very comfortable and of course it is very quiet what you expect from a

01:22vehicle this expensive although you do get some rattling you can feel some

01:26shaking in the structure over the bumps don't like that much and the steering's

01:29kind of strange Expedition wanders a bit back and forth in its lane and when you

01:33make corrections well nothing happens and then a lot happens you wind up kind of

01:38going down the road like this something very similar with the braking very hard to

01:43modulate they're a bit grabby and they come on come on pretty suddenly it's a

01:47little tough to make smooth stops in the Expedition but in a way you're kind of

01:51not supposed to because the Expedition has the latest version of Ford's blue

01:56cruise system and where it really excels is driving itself

02:03if you're not familiar with blue cruise on a map road it will let you turn on

02:08adaptive cruise and lane centering and take your hands off the wheel if you want

02:12to change lanes little flick of the turn signal it'll check to see if the way is

02:16clear and automatically change lanes now you can't just hop in the backseat start

02:20reading a book there is a camera that is watching you to make sure you are

02:24watching the road if you don't pay attention blue cruise will shut itself

02:28down but as long as you pay attention looking around you it can really relieve

02:31a lot of fatigue and it's one of the features that really makes the

02:34Expedition into an excellent vacation machine great for these long highway roads

02:39this blue cruise system relieves a lot of fatigue oh this looks like a good place

02:43to stop and there's a couple of details that I want to show you styling wise they

02:47have not deviated too much from the Expedition we know and love biggest

02:50spotting feature of the new one from the front is the grille you can see it

02:53angles up here instead of being squared off one of things I really like is that

02:57Ford has blacked out the B C and the D pillars to get this cool look of

03:01wraparound glass and actually the way the new Expedition is proportioned it's really

03:05hard to tell the shorter wheelbase expeditions like this one from the

03:08extended length Expedition max models probably the biggest difference besides

03:12the rear end styling is this split tailgate where the top section goes up

03:17and the bottom section comes down like the tailgate on a pickup truck now an

03:21advantage here is like let's say you have a grocery bag that goes over

03:23normally when you open the tailgate all your apples and pears and peaches go

03:27everywhere and that won't happen with the split tailgate if you leave the bottom

03:31section up now what I don't like about a split tailgate speaking specifically as a

03:34short person is that if something is very far back in the tailgate you have to reach

03:38for it your shirt gets dirty that's not good

03:43for me one of the highlights of the new Expedition is this beautiful interior not

03:48only other materials nice but it's very futuristic look at this big driver

03:52information screen including your moving map display tucked right up against the

03:56windshield so it's right in your line of sight like a head-up display and of

03:59course a nice big media screen in the center a couple weird things the squared

04:03circle or as we like to call it the squircle steering wheel is a little bit

04:07strange some ergonomic weird things drive mode switches now on the left with a

04:10headlight switch used to be headlights are now controlled by the screen and the

04:15trailer backup control one of the things that Ford has well that is hidden away

04:19here in the center console but here's one of the cool things about the center

04:22console tons of space in the middle as you would expect but look at this you can

04:26motor the whole armrest back and open up this nice big hidden storage area so if

04:31you're gonna leave your purse your tablet or something in the car unattended you

04:35can hide it with this now of course one of the big reasons people buy an SUV this

04:38size is not front seat but the back seat you expect plenty of room and you get

04:45it this platinum model has the captain's chairs it's a very big supportive

04:49comfortable seat plenty of legroom but what's really cool is the third row seat

04:53is actually usable for adults at least short ones like me and of course even with

04:59the third seat third row seat deployed there is cargo space behind this seat

05:03and if you need more cargo room than that for a lot more luggage you can buy the

05:07Expedition Max which is the long extended length version now one of things that

05:13Ford is touting is Google integration into the system the whole idea is you

05:17don't necessarily need to plug in your phone for Android Auto or Apple CarPlay so

05:22you can use Google functionality including for car functions so check

05:26this out hey Google change the temperature to 72 degrees I can also say hey Google make

05:39it cooler in here

05:46let's see if I can get it to call my therapist hey Google my wife doesn't really

05:52understand me

05:54we can look for advice online

05:57huh huh how about that now you can also access the Google Play Store I was able

06:02to download Spotify and access my music and this is going through the system of

06:08the car not my phone I do like the integration and I really like the fact

06:11that I can ask for what I want rather than having to go through the menus you've

06:15also got 9600 pounds of towing capacity great if you want to take a boat with you

06:20or take a large camper and there is a new emphasis on off-roading now to explain

06:25that I'm gonna have to show you a different variation of the Expedition

06:28called the tremor so let me put my hands back on the wheel let's go get one

06:33there is another chapter to the expedition story that is the off-road

06:39tremor model but there are way too many bugs out here so let's go inside and I'll

06:44tell you about it while we drive it

06:50Ford's customer research found that there are potential expedition buyers who do

06:55actually want to go on off-road adventures and that is why there is a

06:59tremor model now you might know the tremor from the Ford F series pickups and

07:03this is not just an appearance package it does get meaningful upgrades it's got

07:08about two inches more ground clearance than the standard expedition 33 inch tires

07:12similar to what you'll find on the F series Raptor trucks beefed up suspension

07:17they worked on the springs and the shocks and skid plates to protect the

07:22underbody from rocks and other things that are gonna you know threaten to keep

07:26them still while the car keeps going the tremor also has a couple of extra off-road

07:31drive modes and some neat feature from the tremor pickup trucks one is the trail

07:36turn assist feature which locks the inside rear wheel so you can get the car

07:40around a sharper bend also the Ford's one pedal off-road driving control which

07:46lets you lift up off the accelerator and bring the car to a stop it's like one

07:50pedal driving in an electric vehicle except of course this is not electric so

07:54it's actually very useful and helps you get really precise control when you're

07:58doing some severe off-road obstacles now of course this is just our first drive we

08:03still have to subject the expedition to our full Motor Trend testing regimen but I

08:07have to say my first impression is that I am very impressed I love this modern new

08:12interior really like the Google interface and I like that all the

08:15traditional things that have made the expedition such a great truck all the

08:19room that it has all the cargo space the very presence on the road the really

08:23nice ride and all that power from that twin turbo v6 well those things have not

08:27changed do wish it tracked a little better I wish the braking was a little

08:31easier to modulate and I still think that the Jeep Wagoneer drives a little bit

08:35better than the expedition but overall very much enjoy the car and we'll have to

08:40see how it does when we put it to the test thank you for watching for more

08:44about the 2025 Ford Expedition and all things automotive visit us on the web at

08:48MotorTrend.com gotcha die you puss bucket

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