2007 Ford Expedition EL Limited 4X4

2007 Ford Expedition EL Limited 4X4 - If you think the Expedition EL is a big sucker, just wait till the Colonial III slides into showrooms. The book, which bills itself as “the comprehensive, all-color guide to the major spacecraft of the last century,” puts the TTA Colonial III’s cabin volume at 750,000 cubic dekameters, or 26.5 billion cubic feet. Finally, a vehicle you can toss a stroller into unfolded — and with a bit of extra knickknack room for, say, Las Vegas.

Yet the EL is smaller than the Excursion — at the wheelbase by 6.1 inches and bumper to bumper by 5.1 inches, the better to weave around apoplectic environmentalists. The EPA quotes no mileage figures for the EL, owing to its over-8500-pound gross weight rating. Ours ran 14 miles on a gallon.

No one could accuse the iron-block 5.4-liter V-8 and six-speed automatic transmission of getting off easily, what with 6280 pounds to tote in our EL Limited 4x4. The run to 60 mph is 9.0 seconds with all 300 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque working hard. The EL’s 8750-pound towing capacity (9000 with two-wheel drive) is down on a Suburban’s, which maxes at 9700. Still, it’s probably not worth waiting 38 years for the McKinley Ion Drive Model C2 to be invented.

The Expedition’s rear multilink suspension helps soften impacts and keeps the body stable and on course around freeway off-ramps. But even a tangle of control arms can’t lighten the EL’s heavy step or enliven its labored acceleration. The ride is commendably quiet, but parking the EL takes all the finesse of guiding the Colonial III between Saturn and its rings.