Test Drive Ford Expedition since 2007 SUV

Iceberg on wheels

Mystery:
- Big, white, cool?
- Iceberg?
- Did not guessed - Ford Expedition.
- Why is cool?
- So he has two air conditioners.

In the summer of 1996, a new model - Expedition came to replace the long-liver. To date, it is produced with a five-door body and drive only to the rear or on all wheels. Equipped with an automatic transmission and two types of engines - V-shaped eights with a working volume of 4.6 or 5.4 liters.
Until the beginning of the 90s, large American sacrifice was very simple: they took a pickup of the right size, the rear wall of the cab was removed, the body was closed the roof, they were finished, and the second row of seats were installed inside. For example, a three-door Ford Bronko turned out from a Picap F-150 (SM, 1997, No. 5). Analogs were also among other members of the big triple: Chevrolet Blazer-V at General Motors and Dodge Ramcherger from Chrysler. However, the active lifestyle has become fashionable to presented to its attribute - a soldier car - new requirements. Migration from the settlers to the asphalt did not pass without a trace. It turns out that it is important not only here, and not even so much reliability, how much comfort and prestige. And what kind of comfort can we talk about, if you have to sleep to the rear seats to be squeezed.
The first on the demands of the market was reacted by Ji Em. Her Allpource Limousine Chevrolet Tahoe (GMC-Yukon) in a short time became popular not only in North America and is familiar, by the way, motorists of Russia. Long-beaded Saburban was too cumbersome for Europe and officially not comes here. But last year Ford Expedition from the current autumn in the version adapted for Russia will be presented in our market. Anticipating this event, we introduce our readers with a big sortier.
If you do not consider special army techniques such as Hammer, today Expedition has one of the biggest oscidence in the world. The only named Saburban named above is superior to the only length. The usual full-size Chevrolet Tahoe (GMC-Yukon) and the newest Dodge Durango lose the sacrifice of Ford in all the Garabit and weight indicators.
So, we test for Ford Expedition 5.4-4WD in the richest configuration Eddie Baer.
Exterior. From afar, especially from the back, the expedition is not difficult to confuse with the explorer and, just going closer, feel the true sizes. Next to him, not a small landelizer looks like Doberman near the wolfhound. The overseas origin of the car issues a massive chrome bumper - quite rare today. At the same time, the appearance of the expeditions is quite harmonious and modern, so leave aside ahi and ohh, and it is better to look at the photo presented here.
Interior. The climbing into the salon awakens the feeling of confidence in the future: open the door with a garage tap, and even with a triple seal, you take care of the monumental handle and, stepping on a prudently illuminated wide step, rising into the salon the size of more than our small-sized apartment. Its interior to become the size - light gray skin furniture with the logo Eddie Baer on the backs of the chairs. The latter, as already mentioned, means the richest package. On three rows of seats can comfortably accommodate five basketball players and two rods. For the latter - the third row, just the normal dimensions of which may seem modest except in comparison with two front. The width of the cabin at the shoulder level here is just for a pair of weightlifters - 160 cm! It is possible to get back, folding - one of the four (!) Methods - the right chair of the middle row.
In terms of comfort, all passengers are equalized in rights. In addition to the door windows, the electric drive opens the rear side windows, so you can arrange a draft of any direction and strength in the cabin. If you are not it is satisfied with the natural temperature, turn on the air conditioners - there are two of them here, and they are cooled separately and rear parts of the cabin, and controlled from three (!) Consoles. In the ceiling above the head of each passenger - a separate deflector. What else is needed not to feel in vain? Beer and music? No problem. For the first - eight holders (according to the number of crew members plus one spare). For the second - Ford Magnetola with six speakers and a sixdisc CD-changer in a bulk box between the front seats. You can control the entire orchestra from the second row, for this, the second console is installed here.
Well, how did you relax? Pulled down? And this is not a problem. Back There are backs of not only front chairs, but also of the middle row. Those who decide to relax more radically, can quickly remove the rear sofa, fold the middle - and at your disposal a rookery area of \u200b\u200babout four square meters! Active nature can download windsurfer, boat or, at worst, three-chamber refrigerator. For smaller boards, eight different pockets and gloves are designed, including glasses boxes on the ceiling.
From the means of passive safety - belts, four of which are adjustable to the top point of the attachment, and two airbags. Chadobilic drivers will delight children's locking rear doors and central blocking of electric windows. By the way, the rear windows are lowered by incompleteness, although with this size of the doors it would be possible to try to shove them there entirely.
Driver's seat. It is convenient to get a four electrical adjustment of the chair (longitudinal, height and tilt relative to the front and back edges of the seat) and the two mechanical (tilt of the back and lumbar backpage) on it. The chair itself is American architecture with a pretty flat back and with almost European rigidity. This leads to the fact that only Uh can be fixed in it ... The fillet part of the fifty-eighth and above. But the usual conjunction of a citizen, if desired, will be in his pleasure. The steering wheel with the cruise control buttons is also adjustable in height. Three dials are visible on the dashboard on the dashboard: a voltmeter, coolant temperature pointers, oil and fuel levels, as well as a speedometer and tachometer. Under them The line of the signpost of the automatic four-stage gearbox range: P, R, N, D, 2, 1. If the four gears in mode D are a lot, and two in mode 2, you can only leave three, turning off Overdrive with the button in the end of the range switch . The latter is located in American - to the right on the steering column.
Its usual to any jejer of the beam levers on the tunnel floor is not here. But this is just a concern for the driver, and by no means the scarce of the possibilities of the transmission. The modes of its operation are selected using a four-position switch located next to the radio: 2N - rear-wheel drive, A4WD - four-wheel drive, 4N - full with blocking of differentials, 4L - full with blocking plus reduced transmission in a handout box. Over the head in the middle - the screen of the side computer, which calculates the fuel consumption and the possible mileage on its residue in the tank.
The pedals are only two, not counting another small left - the parking brake. It is possible to stretch the left foot to the left leg, although the bore will certainly say that they need a special platform for her.
Iron. The body is placed on a powerful steel frame with rubber pillows. The suspension is like on the Niva, only ahead instead of springs - longitudinal torsion. The engine compartment below is covered with a cross frame and a steel sheet. The engine is very unusual for the American car of this class: at the V-shaped eight - the upper camshafts. But even on the modern sports corvette Yankees, they manage to put the lower engine with the pushers rods - as in victory. A relatively short hood made partially stick a rather large engine under the front glass. The benzobac below is protected by a pallet. A spare wheel with a winch is attracted from behind under the body.
The key to the start. His apotheosis is a sense of confidence in tomorrow reaches when you go on an expedition. Somewhere far below, Kiszat Zhiguli and Mercedes. A little higher, but still downstairs - Cherokee and Pajero. It is absolutely no you want to shrust in the stream on such a monster - no one. And when with the morning roar, like an express, he goes ahead from the traffic light - it will tell you, an even the sight! Well, yes, it is emotions, what do the facts say?
Due to the high center of gravity, the Expedition has a common goat's effect for the saznodnikov, although a large base makes it very moderate. The valve in turns is also not too annoying - thanks to two transverse stability stabilizers. Powerful hydraulicel leaves on the steering wheel just such an effort so that he is not accused of non-informativeness. By the way, despite the impressive dimensions, the expedition has enough maneuver. With the visibility of problems, there is no problem: a sloping hood, a low glass line, huge external mirrors with electrical adjustment and competently integrated front racks allow you to easily control the situation outside. True, when moving with reverse move, it was necessary to fold the back of the third row of seats, and even more so that the passengers sitting on it can prevent the review through the rear window.
Off-road qualities we checked in an abandoned sandy career. With rear-wheel drive, Ford was confidently moving at a flat place, but on a small rise, the rear wheels were buried along the hub - everything is logical. Included A4WD mode - paving a deep rut, the car crawled up the slope. Further exercises have shown: just a full drive with more than enough for everything that can oppose the sand quarry. A huge torque of the engine in combination with a hydrotransformer of an automatic box excluded the need to transition to reduced transmission. Its inclusion only forced the engine to work on a little higher revolutions. The activation of the locks of the inter-axes and rear inter-track differentials allows you to row on the vegans even more confident.
Operation, service. Gray dealers offer customs cleared by expeditions in the configuration of Eddie Baer for 58 thousand dollars, however, without a guarantee and service base. The cost of the adapted car from official dealers will, allegedly, 63 thousand for the basic configuration with a motor of 4.5 liters and 70 thousand for an option with a more powerful engine. In this case, the car is given an annual warranty without limiting the mileage. It can be done on one of more than twenty Fords, the cost of the norm-hour of operation on which is $ 45. In the United States, where the basic version, by the way, costs 23 thousand dollars, depending on the operating conditions, cars are serviced after 5 or 8 thousand km. For Russia, the mileage between that was increased to 10 thousand km - probably adaptation will affect not only lighting, but also the engine, and some transmission elements.

SUMMARY: I want to say that Ford Expedition is a powerful and reliable working machine for the farmer living in the wilderness, but in Russia the price and determination is the biggest, most likely, will be synonymous with the phrase of the coolest, and the expedition of the new Fords soldier will not be carried on a country residence His owner.

In the city stream, the expeditions looks like a three-chamber refrigerator among vacuum cleaners.

When opening the doors, the footboard is illuminated by special lanterns.

For a passage to the rear sofa, the right seat in the middle row can be folded in four ways.

Front of the cabin. The top is the second air conditioning control panel.

With such luggage compartment dimensions ...

If the rear axle sat down in the rear-wheel version, not trouble. Connect the front ...

Technical characteristics of the Ford escape car 5.4-4WD
General data: Number of places - 7; Curb mass - 2360 kg; Full weight - 3200 kg; Maximum speed - 180 km / h; overclocking time up to 100 km / h - 10.0 s; fuel consumption according to the conditional European country and urban cycles - 13.1; 18.1 l / 100 km; Fuel supply - 114 l; Fuel - non-ethydrated gasoline with octane number 92. Dimensions, mm: length - 5200, width - 2000; Height - 1900; base - 3020; Pitch in front / rear - 1660/1660; clearance - 200; Radag volume - 425/1336/3350 l; Radius of rotation - 6.3 m. Engine: with distributed electronic injection, 8-cylinder V-shaped, with two upper camshafts and two valves on the cylinder, is located in front of the longitudinal; Working volume - 5403 cm; cylinder diameter and piston stroke - 90.2x105.7 mm; The degree of compression is 9.0; Power - 171 kW / 232 liters. with. at 4250 rpm; Maximum torque - 441 NM at 3000 rpm. Transmission: Drive - Disabled (Front) Full; gearbox - 4-speed, automatic; gear ratios; I - 2.71; II - 1.54; III - 1.00; IV - 0.71; s. NS. - 2,18; Main transmission - 3.00; Disposal box: I - 1.00; II - 2.69. Suspension: with transverse stability stabilizers, front - independent torsion on double transverse levers, rear - dependent spring on longitudinal and transverse levers. Brakes - hydraulic, with vacuum amplifier, disc, front - ventilated. Steering - Rush with a hydrauliculator. Tire size: 216/70R17.

+ Traffic engine, spacious salon, excellent visibility, ample transmission capabilities.
- High gasoline consumption.

A source: Journal "Behind the wheel"