AZCentral.com's view

With the introduction of its brawny Expedition sport-utility vehicle, Ford has invaded one of General Motors’ most cherished realms: the land of the giants.

The Chevy/GMC Suburban has owned this piece of American frontier for years, recently spawning the shorter Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon twins.

The Suburban is ubiquitous in rural communities, especially in the Southwest, and has become an increasing presence at shopping-mall parking lots across the nation. Ford’s hoping to grab a piece of that action, as well as feed into what it perceives as a burgeoning market for vehicles that are larger than the Explorer.

With the demise of its moribund full-size Bronco, Ford had a hole in its lineup, and the Expedition fills it – in a big way. And the 5,000-pound Expedition, with its cavernous interior and optional seating for nine, is definitely large.

Yet it comes in 15 inches shorter than the Suburban, perhaps sacrificing cargo space but allowing the Expedition to be parked inside a normal garage. In that respect, the Ford is closer in nature to the Tahoe/Yukon, which is 5 inches shorter than the Expedition.

The newcomer is a direct relation to Ford’s F-150 pickup truck, redesigned last year with swooping modern contours and improved chassis engineering. The Expedition shares a variation of the pickup chassis and, from the windshield forward, it’s identical to the pickup, except for the grill. A huge, grinning chrome bumper completes the picture.

The four-door body looks better integrated with the F-150’s sloping nose than does the pickup bed. The rear portion is obviously Explorer-influenced, and from directly behind, it looks exactly like an outsized Explorer. Compared with the Suburban or Tahoe/Yukon, the Expedition appears more modern and stylized, less boxy.

The Expedition we tested was the mighty four-wheel-drive, fully loaded XLT model, nicely finished in a golden tan and jacked-upped aggressively over huge, all-terrain tires mounted on 17-inch cast-aluminum wheels.

Though big, tall and heavy, this Baby Huey was surprisingly nimble, cruising smoothly over pitted roads and cornering as easily as most automobiles. The only things that betrayed its pickup-truck roots were a rubbery vibration over large bumps, accompanied by a shake in the steering wheel, and its tendency to plow ahead when going too fast into turns. The overall ride is surprisingly comfortable, more like a limousine than a truck.

Our test truck was missing two necessary pieces: the optional running boards. It’s jacked up so high, the leather seats had to be climbed up into like those of a tractor-trailer. Pass the stepladder, please.

But this is a go-anywhere vehicle, the kind of brawny critter favored by hunters, farmers and people with things to tow. Even so, it’s also outfitted with a plush and friendly interior to appeal to one of its main target markets, women with kids.

The optional third seat seems like an afterthought. I t’s perched up high over the rear axle, and getting back there requires some agility. It might have been a better idea to go with a rear-facing occasional seat, as in a station wagon.

And luggage space behind that seat is pretty skimpy, something along the lines of a minivan. This is one area in which that extra 15 inches granted the Suburban shows its value, both in third-seat comfort and cargo space. In any case, an owner might want to keep the rear seat out of the truck and in the garage most of the time, except when its need is anticipated.

Two engines are available, Ford’s modular 4.6-liter V-8, which also is used in passenger cars, and the new Triton 5.4-liter V-8, which our Expedition has under its rounded hood. A single-overhead-cam engine, it provided serious pull with a smoothness and sophistication outside the realm of a pushrod engine.

The automatic transmission also performed flawlessly, with appropriate shifts and smooth takeoffs. With this engine/ transmis sion option, the Expedition can carry a ton of passenger payload (1,875 in the 4X4 version) and tow 8,000 pounds.

Equipped as our truck was, with the big engine and an electronically controlled four-wheel-drive system, it’s sure to attract serious off-highway drivers. Naturally, you pay the price in gas mileage, and a significant amount of fuel pours through this big engine, especially around town.

This raises at least one red flag: Another hefty rise in gasoline prices could put a dent in the sport-ute market and deflate Ford’s ambitious marketing goals.

The price range is fairly reasonable, with the base two-wheel-drive models starting at about $27,000, and our loaded-to-the-gills version coming in at just over $36,000. For that, you get a full-size truck that will seat nine in comfort, and provide good handling, power, appearance and utility. And you can still tuck it away in your garage.

In driveability, it outperforms the Suburban and Tahoe/Yukon twins.

Ford already possesses the top-seller of all vehicles in the nation, the F-series pickup truck, and the best-selling sport-utility vehicle, the Explorer. Now, the automaker is poised to bully its way upstream into GM territory. The only question that remains is, what took them so long?

1997 Ford Expedition

Vehicle type: Nine-passenger, four-door sport-utility vehicle, four-wheel-drive. Base price: $29,870. Price as tested: $36,390. Engine: 5.4-liter V8, 230 horsepower at 4,250 rpm, 325 pound-feet of torque at 3,000 rpm. Transmission: Four-speed automatic. Curb weight: 4,900 pounds. Length: 204.6 inches. Wheelbase: 119 inches. Safety features: Dual air bags, anti-lock brakes.