2002 Ford Excursion

Safety hasn't been neglected. The Excursion has the requisite front airbag combination, plenty of reinforcing beams under the skin, and a blocker beam under the front bumper (it's that high!) that prevents smaller cars from going underneath in the event of a crash. Limited Excursions also have standard front-bumper foglamps (very handy if you're a coastal dweller). Sorry, no side airbags in this model yet.


Now for the tradeoffs: Despite that handsome body laden with familiar FoMoCo styling cues, under its skin, the Excursion never lets you forget its bone structure came from Ford's hefty Super Duty F-250/F-350 truck series. Putting it mildly, it's no sports car, but you soon get used to its size, you plan ahead a bit for stops, and you revel in the mini-Kenworth feeling. Standard running boards make entry and egress easy.

Not only does the 7.3-liter Power Stroke turbo-diesel give the Excursion an 11,000-pound towing capacity, it reportedly offers 30 percent better fuel economy than the 5.4-liter Triton gas V-8.

You'll like the way the heavy-duty four-speed automatic's nifty tow-haul feature subtly adjusts the transmission's shift pattern to compensate for hills, load variations and altitude changes. The base 5.4-liter V-8 comes only with rear-drive; you have to opt to the bigger 6.8-liter V-10 or the 7.3-liter turbo-diesel to get four-wheel-traction and the full 5.5-ton towing capacity. The brakes—big discs in each corner—are very reassuring, as is the included ABS anti-lock braking system.


The basic Excursion's standard sound system is quite acceptable; serious audiophiles ordering XLTs can opt for an AM/FM/CD stereo with 6-disc in-dash changer ($255) or go all-out for a $1,525 VHS-equipped rear-seat entertainment system with a fold-down screen. Be sure to pop for the heated seats ($290; they're included in the Ultimate) if you go for any of the other models.