Seems most of the posters to this site would buy another Excursion if they could. And a lot of others might have considered it too had it not been portrayed as something somehow beyond your dime-a-dozen 3/4 ton truck.

So, here's a suggestion, encourage Ford to bring back the Excursion for a limited production run. Say 2010 - 2012. How much could it cost - a cap and some seats on top of a pickup. By doing so, everyone would know in advance that a heavy duty SUV is coming back and they'd also know that they can't expect it to stay in production forever.

Thus, it would be produced for those that need such vehicles for their particular circumstances and so might avoid a lot of negative press spin that the old Excursion received by writers fearful that "too many" would be sold. And for that matter I wouldn't call it an Excursion - just call it a Ford SuperDuty 2/3 ton SUV.

 

If they made a "superduty 3/4 ton suv" id take off the SD emblems and put excursion emblems on it lol. But anyways. Their were two things that killed the ex. 1. The god damn tree huggers attacked it and said it was the worst suv to get the worst MPG. When in fact the H2 gets worse MPG. 2. Ford killed the excursion by not marketin it. ppl do need a big SUV. Ford coulda marketed it and said it was a fuel efficent suv that can get 15 mpg city and 18 mph highway. Come on thats better then alooooot of SUVs on the market at the time. I would love to have ford bring the ex back but if they do, theyll have to market the crap outta it and explain that they revamped the so called por fuel econo.

 

I would love to have Ford produce another Excursion, I would definately buy another one. However the new CAFE standards will bring any possibilities of another Excursion way down. Ford doesn't even know if they want to bring the next generation of rear-wheel drive vehicles from Australia to build the next-gen Mustang on and the replacement for the Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, and Town Car simply because they are unsure if they will be able to meet the 35 MPG CAFE standard. GM just recently dropped plans to continue developing a V8 engine to replace the aging NorthStar for the their sedans, I've also heard that GM is undecided on what to do with Hummer H2, and both Ford and GM seem to agree that the V8 engine is going to be a low volume engine, instead we'll have direct injected, turbocharged V6s and I4s like the Eco Boost technology Ford recently gave details on with the V8s being saved for the trucks, suvs, and high performace cars. I don't know if anybodies seen the Explorer America Concept (the next gen Explorer) but its not going to have a V8, instead it will have an Eco Boost V6 with HP somewhere in the 300s, and its going to be of unibody construction not body-on-frame like the current Explorer, all this in the name of conserving fuel.

The next decade or so in the automotive world is going to be very interesting and I'm very eager to see what course all the future automobiles will take on.

Andre

 

Andre,

Im interested to see how the auto industrys choices will be around out 3/4 and up pickups and suv's? BTW it looks like i am keepin the ex for a long time.

 

There will always be a need for something like it - as technology improves, they could use lighter weight materials, graphite etc. or V8 with twin turbos, hybrids, etc. Just look at all the weight they've removed from travel trailers over the past few years.

Even old technology offers lessons - the little Millar Cycle engine Mazda's Millenia used was amazing. Ironically, a case of American technology trumping Germany's old Otto cycle technology. :-) Or - anyone ever read about the performance of the Stanley Steamer? Incredible!!!

 

I'm back - still laughing a the Stanley Steamer comment? :-) Read this:

"Here is where the steam car really shines.

The steam engine develops maximum torque at minimal revolutions, right from the start, therefore, no clutch or transmission is needed. This torque is not inconsequential either. The simple Stanley 20 HP two cylinder engine develops at maximum, some 640 lbs/ft of torque. The legendary Doble at maximum pressure develops 2200 lbs/ft of torque on the crankshaft. These levels can not be matched by anything in any normal automobile, plus, the engines just loaf along at highway speeds. Their gear ratios between the engine crankshafts and the axle shafts is usually 1-1/2 to one, bringing silent and vibrationless operation, and also delivering extremely long engine life.

This massive torque produces high acceleration rates..."

Source: A FRESH VIEW OF THE STEAM CAR FOR TODAY, By: James D. Crank
http://www.stanleysteamers.com/modern_steam.htm
Note: There's no copywrite on this short excerpt and I've referenced it - so I hope that's sufficient. Also, click on the link - it's quite interesting.

A problem - the water freezes? Yes, a small problem but I'd say - just wrap the engine in Aerogel, let it drain properly and it would be good even in Alaska on its coldest days! Anyway, even diesels sometimes need preheating.

 

Aint gonna happen, as much as I wish it would! The only way is that it would have to have some hybrid or MDS system to get to the cafe standards

 

a 2009 excursion with the new 08 superduty design would be the best looking suv in production. needs to be offered in the 3v v10 and the new twin turbo diesel. mabey even a new 6 or 7 speed trans to help with mpg, i'm sure they can come up with something, chevy came up with a 6 speed, why can't ford.

 

THe CHevy Suburbabn with the gas motors get better mpg's than the Ford Super Duty trucks equipped with the 6.4 diesel. Maybe that explains it better. Like I said earlier why would Ford want another vehicle to pull down there cafe numbers like an Excursion? The only way that Ex would ever come back would be if it was produced to get mpg's like the 7.3 and the 6.0 got. That aint happening anymore because of the EPA. I kind of wonder too if that is another reason the Ex went bye bye, was because of Ford needing to comply with the cafe standards. The excusrsion was not part of the F-series family of trucks, it was in a category of it's own.

 

Boy, that would sure be interesting! I've had the pleasure of operating some steam automobiles. Besides being thermally (fuel) inefficient, the "joy" of stopping every 20 - 30 miles to fill up the water tank keeps things challenging. I remember one Glidden Tour when a guy with a Stanley dropped his siphon hose into the fountain at the entrance of an upscale subdivision and sucked all the water out of it. He ended up burning up the pumps in the fountain and they tracked him down and presented him with a rather large repair bill. And then there's the usual knocking on farmhouse doors and hoping no one catches you "borrowing" 20 gallons of water from their garden hose when no one is home!

And then there's all the fun of burner flashbacks and cleaning all the steam cylinder oil out of your condenser if it's a condensing model.

Yep, with steam you can sure go fast - for a little while!

 

You only got me thinkin!

 

Dude a 7 speed trans with a Diesel would be the best truck/suv ever know to man.

 

Nick, wat if it was a 7 speed torque shift with a 6.8?

 

I am offended by your abusive, antognistic remarks. Steam engines and "hydrogen generators" are the answer to everything from male pattern baldness to bad-tempered muslims.

You people with real world technical knowledge keep coming in here and "bursting the bubble" of the back-yard "mechanics" who know better than automotive engineers and others with real-world scientific knowledge.

I say...bring on the steam engines, the hydrogren generators, and...and...

(FOR SALE - CHEAP - INTERNET SPECIAL HYDROGEN GENERATORS COMPLETE WITH HORNY SQUIRREL, CAGE, AND BICYCLE HEADLAMP GENERATOR....) BUY A DOZEN AND GET A SPECIAL 'DEAL' TO SELL YOUR FRIENDS...

 

The Excursion didn't pull down Ford's CAFE numbers. CAFE only applies to vehicles with a GVWR under 8500 pounds. Excursions were all above 8500 pounds, so they were not rated for fuel economy by the EPA and did not count in the corporate CAFE.

The reason the Excursion went away is that is never sold enough to make it profitable enough. When the decision was made to kill it Ford was selling all the Superdutys they could make. Getting rid of the Excursion allowed them to make more Superdutys, and that saved a bunch of money over having plant space dedicated to making Excursions.