2020 Ford Expedition

Usually in preparation for a road trip, there is mental math to be done. Can all the bags be Tetrised in? Will there be enough room left over for food and gear? Can the dogs take up the whole back seat, or will stuff need to go back there, too? For this road trip with the 2020 Ford Expedition King Ranch, it totally didn't matter. Pack all the bags, bring the cooler, throw in the sofa if you'd like. Swap out the 20-pound dogs for a pair of St. Bernards, whatever. Oh, and should we suddenly acquire a boat or something, hitch that sucker up. Immediately, it's easy to see why the Expedition makes for compelling family transport. There's less preparation to be done. You're prepared for more eventualities. That extends to the people you're bringing along, too. While a jumbo crossover like the Hyundai Palisade provides "adult-friendly" space in all three rows, the Expedition can comfortably accommodate the starting lineup of an NBA team. And the coach. And that's not hyperbole, there really is that much more space and the seats really are that much more comfortable. Now, many will certainly say that a minivan is equally capable of being prepared for all space-based eventualities. In fact, they even offer more cargo room behind their third rows than the Expedition can manage (although the extended-length Expedition Max evens the scales). However, it takes a lot of guts to haul around an NBA team, the coach, the point guard's boat and a roof carrier with their luggage. The Pacifica isn't getting that done. Instead, the Expedition has a 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 good for 375 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque. Read that again. That's a massive amount of power for something that's ostensibly a family vehicle. This brilliant engine is also tremendously smooth and quiet, except when you really gun it, in which case it has a nice, deep snarl. There's no uncouth truckish roar here. Whether blasting off the line or passing on the highway, it actually surprises you how quick it can be. Ford absolutely could've put a smaller base engine in the Expedition and no one would've complained. Instead, it offers an even more powerful version good for 400 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque on the Platinum trim. Good grief. Of course, with great power comes a great big fuel bill, right? Well, the EPA rates a 4x4 Expedition like this one at 19 mpg combined with a 22-mpg highway estimate. I managed 19.2 mpg during my 540-mile all-highway road trip. That isn't bad, especially when you consider my tester had the optional towing package and its 3.73 axle ratio. For comparison sake, a Hyundai Palisade gets 21 mpg combined and 24 mpg highway. That's not that different given their size and power difference, and in the course of a year, the EPA says you'll only spend an extra $200 filling the Ford. What about other truck-based full-sizers? Well, the Toyota Sequoia gets 14 mpg combined …
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