With all my gear, full tank of water, food, gas, generator, propane, etc., etc., my last scale ticket had it a hair over 7800lbs. The trip last night was minus the food and about 200lbs worth of dogs that are usually along for the ride.

The Expy actually held speed better on the smaller hills going down the highway than my Excursion did. It would only drop 1-2mph and then shift and speed right back up... the Ex would typically drop 3-4mph on those same hills but would only speed back up once you'd cleared the hill. The only thing I could honestly tell that the Ex had up on the EL was in an additional 2-3mph at full throttle on the very long, very steep hill I mentioned in my first post. And that seemed to be a tranny gearing issue -- the Expy was running about 3900-4000rpm at full throttle in 3rd gear, but apparently the speed was too fast for it to downshift one more gear out of 3rd. My Ex would be in 2nd gear, screaming at 65mph at full throttle up that same hill and I think thats the only reason it went a little faster than the Expy.

I think that the power-to-weight ratio and better aerodynamics of the much lighter Expy EL more than makes up for the 15hp and 40ft-lbs of torque that the 2-valve V-10 Excursion has up on it.

Dont get me wrong, the Ex is definitely a formidable tow vehicle -- but for those who have 'em and are thinking of moving into an EL, I dont think you'd be disappointed in the capabilities. Obviously I cant speak for the heavier trailers, but I've towed on the same roads/hills enough times to know how my Ex pulled and I'm very happy with the Expy by comparison.