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