"Expedition," they kept saying. "When ya gonna get an Expedition?"

    Faithful readers may remember that the same question was asked about Chevrolet's Tahoe not too long ago. It's a measure of the current SUV mania that we don't hear these questions about Audis and Jaguars much anymore; it's the latest (and largest) lorries that seem to catch the public eye.

    A couple of years back, when the clamor was for smaller SUVs, we compared Chevrolet's new Blazer to Ford's all-conquering Explorer, and found them worthy vehicles headed in different directions. The tables are turned in this super-sized version of that test; it's Ford who's chosen to bring in an all-new vehicle to take on a market leader.

    Based on the new F-150 pickup, the Expedition is Ford's first full-size four door 4x4, which is hard both to say and to believe. Chevy's Suburban owned the market for years, but when the slightly shorter Tahoe appeared, the response was overwhelming -- overwhelming enough to finally get Ford into the pool. We've reviewed the Tahoe before, although it was updated in significant ways for the 1997 season. Fighters, to your corners!

Ford Expedition: The Last Shall Be First

    The first snow of the season greeted the new Expedition as we drove out of Ford's garage. You could almost hear the big SUV grin. A little adversity lets SUVs show that they really are different from station wagons, and to display their true character.

    Character is one thing the big Ford has in spades. But it's not the character you might expect. Big? Yes. Tough? Seems so. But the Expedition's indefatigability is just the surface. That vast, broad-shouldered exterior hides a secret.

    The secret: This is a truck that you can put your mother-in-law in without shame or awkwardness. (We know, we did it for a week.) More to the point, this is a truck that your mother-in-law can drive.

    Ford folks will tell you that the Expedition and F-150 were designed with female drivers in mind. If that's what it takes to get a smooth-driving, easy-handling vehicle with switches and buttons big enough to operate, hooray for females! While it's not small in any respect, we were both struck by how easy it is to drive.

    The Splendid Co-Driver, who greatly enjoyed our brief 1995 foray with the Tahoe, was immediately taken by the newcomer. "My first impression on getting into the driver's seat of the Ford Expedition is that I feel right at home, right away. Plunk! I'm there. It welcomes me to the command position. It gives me a high perch, from which I can see everything -- lots of view -- and it seems to have a very high center of gravity, which I suppose, is the price of having a high perch." Indeed, one is immediately aware of sitting incredibly high in the Ford. Should you want a better, more commanding view of the road than the Expedition offers, get a Peterbilt.

    Inside, Ford's stylists have clearly been working late. The instrument panel is low, aiding the view out front, featuring what the SC-D found to be "pleasant curves." The instruments therein display car speed, engine speed, water and oil temperature, battery charge and fuel level in Ford's usual day white/night blue with orange needles. "The cockpit is compact; things are close together; things are close at hand -- it is a very comfortable driving environment. I feel like I fit right in," quoth she.

    The rear defroster switch is one exception; tucked low and to the left of the steering wheel, it's somewhat hard to see or find. Because the left side of the dash, where it and the headlight controls live, curves around to meet you, I regularly struck the edge of the dash with my knee while getting in. Found it better just to slide my behind across. (Am I allowed to say behind in a car review?)

    The Expedition is so big that it actually has two reminders as to which side the fuel door is on--in the tachometer are the words "fuel door," with a little arrow. The fuel gauge sports a picture of a gas pump. You won't need a picture to recognize them; thanks in part to the 3.73 final drive on our sample, the Expedition averaged 13.1 miles per gallon in mostly-local driving.

    Switchgear is typical Ford, which is to say the most consistently good in the Big Three. Both ends of the truck feature variable speed wipers. We approve of this greatly.

    For convenience, two cupholders pull out of the center console, with mug handle cutouts, and two small soft-cup cupholders pop out of the dashboard. The rear seat passengers have their own. Seat belt anchors adjust for height. There's a trip computer and aircraft-style dual visors. And the SC-D-in-law likes the door handles because they're black against tan so she can find them easily. Overall, three Golden Cupholders.

    The Expedition's rear seat folds down very easily-in fact, it pulls down and slides forward to give you a long, flat floor.

    Opening the hood revealed that the 5.4 liter V-8 is easy to service. One standout feature: the windshield washer reservoir, both because of its wide-mouth opening and the unusual ability to accept an entire bottle of fluid.

    The Expedition's athletic exterior looks more like an Explorer on steroids than like any competitor. On design, the SC-D commented thus: "Approaching from behind, the upper half of the back has nice curvature, nice glass, and it looked attractive even from the back end which is more than I can say about most people I know. Inside, the cabin strikes me as the most spacious of this class of vehicle that we have driven. There appears to be lots of passenger leg room in the back. Nice in-door speakers with an attractive honeycomb motif in the speaker grill, not that this matters a whole bunch. Overall, the molding of the interior fixtures is interesting; they have lots of curviness built into the design, and the overall effect is very pleasing to the eye. There's a whole lot of inset ovals and a lot of use of that elongated curvature. It's very pleasant to look at." For my part, I don't care for the underslung jaw the Expedition shares with the F-150, but the overall exterior is handsome, with an aggressive stance.

    We both applaud the huge side mirrors. Big mirrors on a big vehicle are a big help. They include a keen innovation: The outer third of each mirror hides an LED turn signal, invisible to the driver but very obvious to following traffic. This lets drivers alongside -- or those whose view of the taillights may be blocked by a trailer behind the Expedition -- know when the Ford is coming over. It works well.

    We carried three passengers in the back seat (the middle seat for those who opt for the available third-row bench, which is wide enough for three but lacks head and leg room for many adults.) Those folks reported that three adults can indeed fit into the rear seat area "without being smushed." They enjoyed their own climate controls, cupholders, power plug, and grab handles.

    Why a larger SUV? We tried the same load with an Explorer, but found three across a tight fit (not to mention the lack of a third seat of any description.) We carried three people across the back seat of the Expedition for a week, quite happily. How big is your brood?

ON THE ROAD

    How to Scare a Parking Attendant: Take the Expedition into a 6' 6' garage. The radio antenna didn't make it, but the rest of the truck did.

    The SC-D notes that you have to be careful when getting in and out because it's possible to put the edge of the door right through the window of a normal-sized car next to you. (MEMO TO FORD: WE DIDN'T DO THAT. THIS IS MERELY THEORETICAL.)

    The Expedition's height also makes the optional lighted running boards A Good Idea. At 5'11", even I found them useful. The SC-D considered them essential.

    The 5.4 liter does not lack for torque, especially at the bottom end. Although our Expedition weighed more than two 1/2 tons, it stepped out smartly.

    That power is put to the ground by Ford's new Control-Trac system, which presents the driver with a simple dial on the dash. 4WD auto is the magic setting; normally 2WD, the center differential locks automatically when it detects a need for traction at the front. A twist of the wrist invokes full-time 4WD high; 4WD low requires shifting into neutral before twisting.

    Part of what makes the Expedition easy to drive is its surprising ride. This is one well-controlled truck, absorbing even bad roads with aplomb while communicating clearly what's going on at ground level. There's just a touch of that high-centered feel you get with tall vehicles. Contact is managed by Goodyear Wrangler RT-Ss, 265/70x17.

    We even had to do a minor league avoidance maneuver (oh, what we won't do for our Faithful Readers!) and the Expedition felt stable, even on a wet street. Unlike many SUVs, it didn't keep swaying after the maneuver was done, just zip, zap, and back in line. The handling so impressed a longtime Chevy K-Blazer owner we shanghaied into a ride that he made heavy tracks to his local dealer the same day.
 
    Brakes, too, are better than the norm. They are firm, don't have BMW-like feel, but for a vehicle of this class, they are quite good, and obviously engineered to cope with the weight of the vehicle.

    The Expedition drove quietly, and was tight and rattle-free. Build quality was good overall, with a few plastic bits that had larger gaps than they might've.

    As Ford no doubt intended, when you ride in the Expedition, you can look down on a Suburban. Most of the interest comes from other people driving sport utilities -- and, boy, do they look at the big Ford!

    As for how it stacked up against the competition, we'll leave you hanging for a bit.

Chevy Tahoe: Taking the Rugged Track

    Chevy's popular Tahoe is different immediately from the Ford Expedition. Not nearly as tall, it is noticeably easier to get into (although the SC-D still missed a running board.) A number of truck-aware folks told us they like the simple, stand-up styling of the Tahoe better than the Expedition. The Tahoe is less of a dandy; its vertical pillars give a boxy impression that seems perhaps more rugged. It is nonetheless pleasing, particularly from the side view.

    That simple theme continues inside. The plasticky and very vertical GM dash (from the K-series pickups), while less stylish than the Expedition's F-series dash, sports clear, high-contrast instruments. Tachometer, speedometer, fuel level, battery charge, water and oil temperature, all white on black with orange needles, convey information with a minimum of flash.

    A broad bench seat welcomes you, seeming to stretch forever. It has something like a 60/40 split, with a big broad armrest that folds down if you don't feel like going three across.

    JJ: The Tahoe's seats are covered in a heavy velour or heavy cloth -- almost like a corduroy, because it's got a lot of -- I don't know what it's --

    SC-D: Wales.

    JJ: Wales! Many wales. So many, this truck could be the Prince of Wales.

    She allowed as how there would be a better resemblance if the side mirrors stuck out farther.

    On the right is one big difference from previous Tahoes -- a passenger-side air bag, new for 97.

    Sitting in the Tahoe, you're conscious of a lot more hood out front. This is in part because the hood isn't as severely sloped as the Ford's, partly because you're lower relative to the hood. The SC-D was less at ease in the Tahoe: "I don't know, it seems -- for all its roominess -- less welcoming, more sprawly inside to me as a small driving person. As well, it feels the seat is further down, so while I step up into the vehicle, I think 'Where did all that height go?' I just feel like I'm hunkered down to a certain extent behind the dash. The Expedition put that height to good use, and I had full use of all of it for visibility."

    As frequently the case with GM vehicles, I found the steering wheel could be set either so low as to block the instruments or so high as to be uncomfortable.

    Looking around from the driver's seat, you notice two auxiliary power ports, one to either side of the cigarette lighter; a remote release for the rear hatch; and two cupholders that pop out from the dash. The center armrest includes storage for cassettes and a cellular phone, and a built-in clipboard so you can write while you're driving (or, presumably, vice-versa.) The power mirror control is on the driver's door panel, just ahead of the power window switches, and it's low and far away from you. The driver's window has automatic down.

    The SC-D didn't like the GM-standard control for the windshield washers, finding it inconveniently located. While I don't care for GM's multifunction stalk, the washer paddle seems just fine to me. I was less happy with the rear wiper, which clears an arc in the center of the rear window, but leaves about a third of the glass untouched.

    In the back, the SC-D was delighted to find a tissue dispenser in the Tahoe's pull-down armrest. Rear passengers get two cupholders, padded on the bottom and with rubber fingers to keep smaller cups steady. Another plus: Like the front, the rear seat belt anchors are height-adjustable. Three Golden Cupholders overall.

    And the room! She Who Must Be Accommodated was impressed. "Once in, there is a lot of interior room -- lots of headroom, lots of left/right room, the windows are square and large and there appears to be boatloads of cargo room. And I really like the large number of well-positioned grab handles, in all the places that I look for them when I am a passenger." She found the rear seat to have "reasonable amounts of legroom, certainly for shortish people. You could fit three people easily across the Tahoe, with lots of headroom, lots of window room, and all in all a pleasant ride."

    Cargo rides happily, too. We took the Tahoe furniture shopping and it just laughed at us and asked for seconds.

ON THE ROAD

    While we should be used to GM brakes by now, our log has four entries in as many pages bemoaning the Tahoe's long pedal. "You have to go a long way before anything happens with these brakes at all. I hesitate on this icy morning to see exactly what's there when I need it, because I don't want to be wrong," commented the SC-D. "Not nearly enough brake response, especially on initial application," I added. GM knows how to make good brakes, as the new Malibu and the Saturns prove. That knowledge just isn't in evidence here. On the other hand, the Tahoe has a very eager ABS; it doesn't take much of a rough road for the system to kick in.

    The Tahoe is a blue-collar truck, and it lets you know it's working. When you stand on the gas you can hear and feel the engine and driveline to a much greater degree than the Expedition. There's no lack of muscle, as 5.7 liters of American V-8 provide 255 horsepower, thanks in part to cylinder heads using the Vortec swirl technology developed on GM's 4.3-liter six-cylinder.

    4WD in the Tahoe engages with a large lever on the floor as opposed to a small dial on the Expedition's panel. It's blue-collar again; you can actually feel the lever doing real mechanical work. That lever is surrounded by a diagram showing which wheels are being driven, all of which is (distractingly) lit at night. Just illuminating the little picture of the drivetrain would be plenty.

    The fuel indicator on the Tahoe is somewhat oversensitive. When you stop even normally it sloshes back and forth, up and down. Particularly when you get down toward the bottom, it's very sensitive to the pitch of the vehicle, and the amount of fuel you have can veer worrisomely into the read area and back out again according to where the road is going.

    The Tahoe's steering is positive, although the 245/75R16 BF Goodrich Radial Long Trail T/As don't communicate what's going on at the ground as well as the Expedition's Goodyears. Perhaps because it's a lower vehicle, the Tahoe seems steadier in corners than does the big Ford. And Chevy has reduced the Tahoe's turning radius this year, an improvement evident and welcome in our local driving tests.

    Overall, the Tahoe seems solid and strong, if a bit unexciting. The SC-D didn't find it as much fun to drive or as comfortable as the Expedition.

    In driving similar to the Expedition's, the Tahoe returned 14.5 mpg.

SUMMING UP

    These are both vast vehicles, able to swallow people and cargo with aplomb. Whether one is comfortable driving anything this size is another question.

    Can we talk about value with these trucks pushing $35,000? It's easy, now that competitors are at or near $50,000. Either of these trucks offers more room for less money than the Toyota Land Cruiser or the other high line 4x4s now being badged with the Japanese luxury car names. And that's without skimping in the amenity department.

    Perhaps more worrisome for Ford's product planners is that it doesn't take much loading for even a base Explorer or Mercury Mountaineer to exceed the base price of the Expedition. While the gap between the Blazer and Tahoe is a bit bigger, the same principle applies (particularly with Oldsmobile's Bravada.) Backing that up is the reaction a set of parked Expeditions got from morning commuters in Washington; while interest in the big Fords was strong, the most riveted were, without exception, current Explorer owners.

    Clearly, though, Ford has benefitted from going second. When you get in the Expedition, you expect it to cost more than the Tahoe, which, similarly equipped, it doesn't. The Expedition feels more developed and better engineered. Styling is subjective, of course. And it would be an error to choose the Expedition solely on the strength of its optional third seat, unless you expect your passengers to stay small forever. The Tahoe's big brother, the Suburban, offers a real third seat for those who need it.

    The choice comes down to this: Do you want a truck or an SUV? The Tahoe will appeal to those who like their trucks simple and strong. The Expedition calls to a less traditional buyer who values handling and refinement without giving up toughness. Are you ready for the big time?
 

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