If you havent seen it yet, the new expy finally had been pit through its paces against its competition. Though the tahoe and expy werent the loaded examples, i could just imagine the difference if they couldve used the platinum model. Now its time to see what the navi can do:

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/ford/expedition/2018/ford-expedition-vs-chevrolet-tahoe-vs-dodge-durango-vs-toyota-sequoia-vs-nissan-armada/

 

Not a big surprise, as the old Expy won a comparison test against the Tahoe 2 years ago.

I have no idea why GM sells so many.

The big surprise was how well the Durango performed. 8 year old design and came in a not too distant 2nd place.

Another surprise (for me) was that Motortrend actually picked a winner. I quit subscribing years ago because MT loved kissing its sister.

 

Interesting test. The Durango has way less 3rd row and cargo space, but despite its age, it has the advantage of being built on a Mercedes-designed unibody structure designed for road handling and stiffness, as opposed to the separate body/frame construction of the others. And the R/T version tested is a bit of a ringer because it is lowered a bit and has spent some time running around test tracks.

The body/frame trucks would be better for regular towing and I don't consider the Durango to be really in the same class. Jeep is gonna do a pickup-based Grand Wagoneer in a year or two and that will be more in the large SUV class.

I am guessing the etronic gingerbread on the Durango would be less reliable than most of the others in the long haul, but I like it just fine and feel good about the Grand Cherokee/Durango as they are built in Detroit about 5 miles from my house so I've probably breathed their paint vapors for years.

No doubt the new Expy is a great piece of work and I hope Ford can take some sales from the GM overdogs. But the GM SUV's have some kind of rich-folks "status" appeal that Ford has never been able to match in the past.

George

 

That depends on what kind of weight you are talking about.

My 2014 Grand Cherokee pulled my 4500 lbs. trailer, no sweat. A little wiggle, but that was because the trailer weighed as much as the Jeep. But about 5k lbs. is all that I would have wanted to pull with the Jeep.

My 2017 Expy really does not pull any better than the Jeep did at that weight.

But, 4500 lbs. is not 7500 lbs.

 

The Durango has a longer wheelbase then the G Cherokee, virtually as long as the others in the test, so it would pull well. I have a bud who pulls a car trailer regularly with a Durango R/T (with a B-Body big block Coronet R/T on the trailer) and he's gone over mountains with it.

But I think the separate body/frame construction would be more durable if you were regularly pulling heavy. And part of that is that the frame is allowed to flex under the body, where the unibodies would take any shocks more as a unit.

Of course this may be my own built-in preconception...and unibody full size vans (Fords before '75, GM before '96, and all Dodges--as well as the Sprinter and Transit) did a lot of pulling in their time without breaking apart.