When nothing less than three adult-scale rows of seats will do, Ford’s Expedition delivers. Just make sure you have a big enough garage and budget.
Forget the small family haulers. Leave the keys to your midsize SUV at home. Got one of those puny crossovers? Punt it towards the goal posts. In Expedition town, there’s no room for small fries. The Ford Expedition is one of the biggest SUVs money can buy, with three adult-sized rows of seating, impressive cargo space, and hauling capabilities that rival full-size pickup trucks. And it’s no wonder it’s so capable: it shares a lot of its underpinnings with Ford’s popular full-size truck, the F-150.
The Expedition has been redesigned for 2025 but it still has all the same capability that’s kept it neck and neck with class rivals like the Chevy Tahoe, Jeep Wagoneer, Toyota Sequoia, and Nissan Armada. The big Ford also has the latest interior tech, with massive screens, modern driver aids, and a properly powerful stereo. At the top of its trim-level hierarchy, the newest Ford Expedition King Ranch is packed with features and ready to transport your family around in comfort.Just the V6, but that’s more than enough
The Expedition is available with just one powertrain, sort of. Technically, every Expedition is powered by a turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 that’s paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission. It puts out some healthy numbers too: 400 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque on base trims. It does get more power, though, if you pick a higher trim level. The High-Output version of the V6 makes 440 hp and 510 lb-ft with the upper trim levels.
Lots of other SUVs in the class have gone the one-turbocharged-V6 route, but the Expedition’s main rival, the recently-updated Chevy Tahoe, flanks it on all sides with three different powertrain choices: a 3.0-liter turbodiesel, a 5.3-liter V8, and a 6.2-liter V8. Even if the Ford’s engine bay feels like it could fit a big bulking V8, it isn’t intimidated by the Chevy’s wider selection.
The EcoBoost powering the Expedition feels strong for the class, pulling hard towards the horizon with the 10-speed automatic making quick shifts along the way. Making passes on the highway is easy and joining the speed of traffic on short on-ramps is no trouble at all. The V6 isn’t exactly evocative, but it does provide a bit of growl and grunt if you bury your foot in the throttle.Respectable pulling power and MPGs
The Expedition’s maximum towing capacity of 9,600 lbs is excellent. You’ll have to do some payload and GVWR math if you plan on hauling a trailer that big and bringing your family along, but most average-sized boats and car trailers won’t come close to brushing up against that number. The Toyota Sequoia nearly keeps up with Expedition, offering a maximum towing capacity of 9,250 lbs, while the Chevy Tahoe maxes out at 8,400 lbs. The Jeep Wagoneer takes the lead with 10,000 pounds of towing capacity.
Fuel economy is, naturally, pretty underwhelming on big SUVs like the Expedition, so it’s important to put that in context too. The Expedition gets an EPA estimate of 19 mpg combined (16 city/24 highway) on rear-wheel-drive models. Four-wheel drive drops the combined estimate by 1 mpg. That’s not great, but it’s better than every V8-powered version of the Chevy Tahoe or Suburban (only their diesel powertrain does better).
The Sequoia tops them both, however, with rear-wheel drive models offering 22 mpg combined and four-wheel drive models dropping to 20 mpg combined. I couldn’t quite match the EPA numbers during my test, but the Expedition still returned mileage in the high-teens, close to the promised mark. Captaining the ship
The engine is up to the task of moving the Expedition, but there’s no getting around its sheer size. It’s big and it drives that way. It takes a bit of planning, moving head position to see over the hood, and relying on faith to navigate tight spaces, as it’s difficult to sense where the SUV’s corners are. The handling capabilities are adequate for something with pickup-truck underpinnings and such a generous footprint, but the steering wheel really puts a damper on that part of the experience. Taking the Expedition around corners in the mountains is a bit of a tough task mostly because of its utterly strange oblong steering wheel.
