Ford’s gigantic gaming app vehicle is a wonderfully solid platform for towing heavy trailers while also being able to haul a fishing truck. It drives pretty well for a heavy truck and is sumptuous and comfortable. For those who need to tow trailers weighing up to 10,000 pounds, the Excursion is a smart choice instead of a pickup truck with a lid.
The Ford Excursion, however, should not be considered an option for an MPV. It’s too hungry and its length and design make it unwieldy and maneuverable compared to mild minivans and SUVs.
The Ford Excursion will be available in two trim levels: XLT and Limited.
The XLTs feature a beautiful cloth interior with comfortable seats that provide comfort for long journeys and top-notch equipment.
The limited trim adds leather and a few extra perks that are optional on the XLT. Additional popular gadgets were added to the 2001 Limited models, adding outside mirrors with built-in turn signals, fog lights built into the front bumpers, and upgraded leather seating surfaces.
There are three engines available: a V8, a V10, and a turbocharged diesel. And, of course, you can choose between two- or four-wheel drive. The entry-level XLT 4×2 costs $34,245. We drove a $37,560 XLT 4×4 with the V10. Diesel adds about $4,000 to the bottom line.
Based on the Ford Super Duty F-Series pickup trucks, the Excursion is more than seven inches longer than the Chevrolet Suburban, the former heavyweight SUV. Inside the Tour there is a comfortable interior. It doesn’t matter if you’re seated in the front row, second or third row, all seats offer generous legroom, headroom and elbow room. The dashboard is attractive and well-designed, and all the controls are easy to locate and use.
The rear shipping doors of the Excursion are divided into 3 shapes. You can rotate the glass hatch upwards for quick access to the equipment. This same glass door provides much greater rear visibility while driving than cars equipped with classic split doors. The rear doors are half-height, like the Dutch doors. Therefore, they can be opened when you have a trailer attached and can be rotated almost 180 degrees to make it less difficult.
Excursion 4×4 styles are popular with Ford’s unique 6. 8-liter Triton V10 overhead camshaft. It makes 310 horsepower and 425 pound-feet of torque. A 5. 4-liter V8 will be available as an option at no cost, but few will be made; It develops 255 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. Also available is a 7. 3-liter turbodiesel engine that produces 250 horsepower (a buildup of 15 horsepower for the 2001 model year) and a whopping 505 pound-feet of torque.
If you drive off-the sidewalk or on snowy roads, you should opt for the $250 limited-slip system, $255 all-terrain tires, and $75 skid plate. The optional $60 trailer mirrors feature small convex mirrors in the rear that eliminate blind spots. Ford says the Class IV hitch receiver, which comes standard, is designed to prevent smaller cars from going under the rear bumper, while a specially designed BlockerBeam is designed to achieve the same goal up front.
The Excursion comes with a superbly designed interior. The seats are comfortable, and unlike the Ford Expedition, the Excursion offers plenty of legroom and headroom, whether you’re sitting in the first, second, or third row. Six adults can travel comfortably with 48 cubic feet of shipping area. For shorter trips, such as going to a restaurant, the Excursion seats up to eight more people, or nine if you ask for the seat in front of the individual seats.
Remove the bench from the third row and the Tour will be able to easily bring in another five people and a lot of equipment. Removing the third-row seat is simple: fold the backrest forward, pull a bar at the foot of the seat, and pull the seat toward the rear of the vehicle; It slides on rollers. The seat weighs 75 pounds, but soon after I removed it and tossed it in the back of another pickup truck on a cold Montana morning.
Equipped as a two-seater, the Excursion can transport a large amount of goods. A sheet of plywood slides smoothly and lies flat on the floor. Another two people can sleep comfortably in the huge, flat shipping area. Believe it or not, we managed to complete an excursion. We were completing a three-day cruise on the Deschutes River in Oregon. As expected, the river advisor guilty of setting up camp had arrived ahead of our cars. He temporarily packed all the base camp materials and enough fishing equipment for 8 other people inside. Once the upholstery was finished, only two seats remained and the rearview mirror was useless. Sure, he may have packed more efficiently, but he was grateful to have such a giant garage container. After reorganizing gear and putting something in another vehicle, six of us joined the tour and made the long vacation back to the Portland area. Sailing with this load, the Excursion demonstrated its virtues of size, stability and power. I was surprised when this cynical fishing organization sang its praises all the way to Portland.
A cruise excursion provides you with a sense of security. It’s comfortable and quiet. The V10 is a lovely engine. It produces 310 horsepower and can propel the Interstate Excursion at top speed. The V10 generates an impressive 425 pound-feet of torque at 3250 rpm. Tell someone you have a V10 and they’ll think you’re driving a rocket. But a 4×4 Excursion weighs about 7,200 pounds, so its top-altitude acceleration functionality doesn’t seem any greater than that of an Explorer or Expedition. Still, he had no trouble passing other vehicles on the two-lane roads outside Yellowstone National Park. It’s forged from rock at 97 mph, where a cruiser helps keep you from going any faster. The EPA doesn’t even rate trucks of this size, however, you deserve to expect fuel economy in the 10 to 12 mpg range; We’ve noticed 14 mpg on the highway, but it’s most likely 10 mpg city.
If you like diesel engines, you’ll love Ford’s 7. 3-liter turbocharged Power Stroke. It doesn’t seem to be affected by the maximum altitude and I was amazed by its ability to overtake slower cars on two-lane roads. The diesel generates 505 pound-feet of torque at just 1600 rpm, which comes in handy for pulling stumps out of your backyard or dragging heavy trailers up steep ramps. Ford has worked hard to reduce diesel engine noise on and off the Excursion; But you still shouldn’t expect to surprise anyone. The diesel tops out at around 16 to 18 mpg, and with a 44-gallon fuel tank, the diesel has a range of over 700 miles.
Some Excursions will be able to be done with 5. 4-liter V8 engines, but I suspect they would struggle if you loaded six passengers and luggage and headed for the mountains. Think of it as an economic driving force for application corporations on the plains.
While the 4×2 is supplied with Twin I-Beam front suspension and Ford coil springs, the 4×4 uses a forged front axle and leaf springs. The differences in ride and handling between the two are strangely subtle. The 4×4 rolls and handles superbly, tackling corners with confidence and offering intelligent grip on dirt roads. It does, however, offer the driving sophistication of the last-generation Suburban and Yukon XL 1500 models. Strong crosswinds in the Madison River Valley and an oncoming 18-wheeler had little effect on the change in speed on the freeway.
Its long wheelbase means the Excursion isn’t a serious off-roader. But the four-wheel-drive formula with temporary grip and 8. 1-inch ground clearance allow it to traverse fairly rugged dirt roads in bad weather. The Excursion doesn’t offer a formula like GM’s Autotrac, which automatically distributes torque from front to back in sleet and inconsistent conditions. But Ford’s clever vacuum-controlled hub locking formula temporarily activates all-wheel drive on the fly at the touch of a button. A low-end gearset is available whenever you have to tackle steep and slippery terrain.
Most importantly, the Tour is designed to tow trailers weighing up to 10,000 pounds (more than enough to pull a giant boat). All Excursions are in towable condition, with a Class IV hitch receiver and a factory-wired seven-pin electrical connector; A four-pin adapter is also included. I like to go overboard when towing long distances in bad weather and the Excursion pulls a 6,000-pound trailer more than an Expedition. Unlike most SUVs, all Excursions are supplied with lightweight truck tires from the D-load line, LT265/75R-16D. You may need the all-terrain treads if you’re riding on muddy trails, but all-season tires are smoother and quieter for towing long distances.
There’s no denying that it’s a large vehicle and its length is evident in Portland, Oregon, and other city centers. However, if you’re used to giant vehicles, find this one oddly maneuverable and simple to park.
The Ford Excursion is the king of giant gaming app vehicles. Extremely stable, it feels on the open road. Whether you have a lot of shipping to haul, an organization of other people to haul, a large trailer to haul, or all of the above, the Excursion is in a position to take on anything you throw at it.
XLT 4×2 ($34,245), XLT 4×4 ($37,560), Limited 4×2 ($37,885), Limited 4×4 ($40,985).
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