12-27-2005, 04:01 PM
My truck is in the shop for some maintanance, so I took the opprotunity to put about 400 miles on a 2005 Excursion. So, here are some thoughts. It's not going to be as well written as many reviews on here, but I have other work to do ;-). A slight departure from the typical Sports or Eco car review, but what the heck:
First, the basic specs:
2005 Ford Excursion 4x4 V10.
137" Wheelbase, 8 passanger
6.8L V10 (310hp, 425 lb-ft)
4 Spd Auto
44 Gal Fuel Tank
26k miles
Full list of specs from the window sticker here: http://www.85xr.com/MMForumPics/Truck.jpg
This truck would be awesome for a family of 4 that had a lot of toys (race cars, boats, bikes, boards, etc). It is unbelievable the interior room (with all the rear seats folded flat, 200 cubic feet!) Even with all of the seats up, including the 3rd row, there's as much storage behind the 3rd row as an Explorer.
The V10 is decent, but not unbelievable. 14mpg is pretty rough. But, I could accellerate to 70mph from 30mph while going up the mountains on 33 between H'burgh and Brandywine which is more than I can do with my 4.6 F150. It has a lot of low end torqe and a very flat power band. The power comes on around 2500 RPM and the accelleration is constant all the way up to 5500rpm. I can see that it'd be a good tow vehicle.
The ride is like that of an F250. You feel most of the bumps in the road. I like a solid ride though and would drive this any day over an Expedition. It handles quite well for such a huge vehicle, easly taking a 45 mph turn at 60.
The brakes don't pop your eyes out, and don't feel as strong as those in my F150. It's a lot of truck to stop, but I think that Ford could have made them a bit stronger. However, they didn't fade while driving it hard down the other side of the 33 mountain on dry roads, whereas my F150 regularly fades. The nose doesn't dive much at all under hard braking (thanks to the Superduty's springs.) Body roll is also minimal. Turn in is a little strange though. I'm not sure if it was an alignment issue or what, but it seemed to dart around a little.
The interior isn't pimpin. Ford definatly stuck to the "truck" roots of the vehicle. This particular model has leater, 8 way power driver and passanger seats, 6 disc CD changer, DVD player in the back, and wireless headphones. And it has an on board computer showing you how quickly you're loosing your money, I mean, it's average MPG (and outside temp, direction, and miles to empty).
I was pleased that 40 miles of my trip were on completely snow covered roads. I don't know that I've ever driven as sure footed of a vehicle in the snow! It would drift, but it was a slow reaction and easy to control. I once had it pretty sideways and it was very easy to bring back in line. It has A/T tires that are less agressive than my truck's but they did well. The weight was definately an advantage in these conditions. It could steer, accellerate, and brake with only slight sliding.
It also looks badass. It was fun to look down on H2's as I passed them on the snow covered roads.
I wouldn't own one, at least at this point in my life. Too big for my taste. Give me a "nimble" F-150 any day. But, it is fun while it lasts!
First, the basic specs:
2005 Ford Excursion 4x4 V10.
137" Wheelbase, 8 passanger
6.8L V10 (310hp, 425 lb-ft)
4 Spd Auto
44 Gal Fuel Tank
26k miles
Full list of specs from the window sticker here: http://www.85xr.com/MMForumPics/Truck.jpg
This truck would be awesome for a family of 4 that had a lot of toys (race cars, boats, bikes, boards, etc). It is unbelievable the interior room (with all the rear seats folded flat, 200 cubic feet!) Even with all of the seats up, including the 3rd row, there's as much storage behind the 3rd row as an Explorer.
The V10 is decent, but not unbelievable. 14mpg is pretty rough. But, I could accellerate to 70mph from 30mph while going up the mountains on 33 between H'burgh and Brandywine which is more than I can do with my 4.6 F150. It has a lot of low end torqe and a very flat power band. The power comes on around 2500 RPM and the accelleration is constant all the way up to 5500rpm. I can see that it'd be a good tow vehicle.
The ride is like that of an F250. You feel most of the bumps in the road. I like a solid ride though and would drive this any day over an Expedition. It handles quite well for such a huge vehicle, easly taking a 45 mph turn at 60.
The brakes don't pop your eyes out, and don't feel as strong as those in my F150. It's a lot of truck to stop, but I think that Ford could have made them a bit stronger. However, they didn't fade while driving it hard down the other side of the 33 mountain on dry roads, whereas my F150 regularly fades. The nose doesn't dive much at all under hard braking (thanks to the Superduty's springs.) Body roll is also minimal. Turn in is a little strange though. I'm not sure if it was an alignment issue or what, but it seemed to dart around a little.
The interior isn't pimpin. Ford definatly stuck to the "truck" roots of the vehicle. This particular model has leater, 8 way power driver and passanger seats, 6 disc CD changer, DVD player in the back, and wireless headphones. And it has an on board computer showing you how quickly you're loosing your money, I mean, it's average MPG (and outside temp, direction, and miles to empty).
I was pleased that 40 miles of my trip were on completely snow covered roads. I don't know that I've ever driven as sure footed of a vehicle in the snow! It would drift, but it was a slow reaction and easy to control. I once had it pretty sideways and it was very easy to bring back in line. It has A/T tires that are less agressive than my truck's but they did well. The weight was definately an advantage in these conditions. It could steer, accellerate, and brake with only slight sliding.
It also looks badass. It was fun to look down on H2's as I passed them on the snow covered roads.
I wouldn't own one, at least at this point in my life. Too big for my taste. Give me a "nimble" F-150 any day. But, it is fun while it lasts!
http://www.85xr.com
1985 Merkur XR4Ti Track Car
2013 Ford F-150 FX4 Ecoboost
E46 BMW 330Ci Sport 5spd
1973 Honda CL125S
1985 Honda CX500
2013 Arctic Cat 700 ATV
2017 Onewheel +
1985 Merkur XR4Ti Track Car
2013 Ford F-150 FX4 Ecoboost
E46 BMW 330Ci Sport 5spd
1973 Honda CL125S
1985 Honda CX500
2013 Arctic Cat 700 ATV
2017 Onewheel +
