It has now been more than a month since I took part in the annual 5 Dads Go Wild camping trip. And this year, like last year, Ford Canada provided us with a couple of trucks to get us all safely up to – and back from – Manning Park.
Disclosure – the Ford Expedition we test drove was provided for us for the week leading up to and for the weekend of our camping trip free of charge by Ford Canada.
To start out, I have to admit that the Ford Expedition is an incredible vehicle. When driving it, you sit up high and the sight lines from the drivers seat are exceptional. Well, other than the blind spot over the left shoulder if you’re trying to shoulder check before doing a lane change.
But the Expedition has large mirrors with warning lights in m them to let you know if there is another car beside you before you change lanes.
I was surprised at how quickly adapted to driving the Expedition.
It has a spacious interior and yet it still feels nimble on the road. When I first got into the Expedition, after driving my comparatively tiny Echo, the SUV felt massive. But even within a few minutes I felt comfortable driving it around the city in rush hour traffic.
One thing my kids and I quite liked about the Ford was all the tiny, and yet quite bright interior “convenience” lights.
I liked them because they allowed the kids to do their kid stuff like reading books while I was driving without having an overhead dome light on that distracted (blinded me) me while I was driving. Something that seems minor but it really does make the driving experience that little bit more “convenient” for passengers and the driver.
While I was driving the Ford Expedition around town my average fuel consumption was 15 litres per 100 kilometre – according to the reading on the large and well laid out screen on the dash.
The fact that the V6 engine in the Expedition generates almost 400 horsepower can be tempting to “test” out. Perhaps the fuel consumption would improve even more once I got the lead out of my foot! But driving a vehicle with almost 400 horsepower is pretty exhilarating! The acceleration really is wild.
Once we headed out of town and got out on the highway the fuel consumption of the Ford really did improve.
Driving at a pretty steady freeway speed reduced the fuel consumption to just over 11 litres per 100 kilometre. Considering that the Expedition can seat seven, and tow pretty much anything you want – like a boat or a travel trailer – that’s pretty respectable mileage.
We had all five of us dads plus a ton of camping gear with us in the truck and it was very comfortable.
So the bottom line – the Expedition is an impressive and very well appointed vehicle. Everything in the vehicle is well thought out. Sure it is a big vehicle. But if you’ve got a big family or a crew you are traveling with, this is a vehicle that will do the job.
Now my next question is, which Ford vehicle should I test drive next?