Getting back to the test drive aspect for a moment, [emoji16] I finally got to drive an Expedition today. It was a base 4x4 XLT Max 201 with 20" wheels added and the sunroof. I barely got to drive it because the couple that was buying it let me take it for a quick spin while they drew up the paperwork. It had just been delivered last night and the couple had just finished their test drive and decided to buy it when I got there at 1pm.
I have never driven an Expedition of any vintage before so I'm not sure that my perspective will be meaningful to you all but here goes.
From the reviews I was expecting a lot of body roll and to feel like I was driving a gun boat, since they always couch their praise like "oh yeah it drives good, for a huge SUV" or something like that. It definitely didn't feel like I was driving a Mini Cooper, but coming from a Grand Cherokee it didn't feel much bigger. Body roll was well-controlled and didn't feel any more than my Jeep does. The suspension was super smooth, soaking up bumps in the road with aplomb. It almost felt a little too disconnected. Or maybe I'm just used to more bumps in my Jeep. I wonder how the CCD will change the road feel, especially when you switch it to sport mode. IIRC the XLT only has fixed shocks, right?
The engine had plenty of power. Turbo lag was about normal. My Grand Cherokee has the V6 ecodiesel so I'm used to driving a heav(ier) turbo SUV. Hitting the gas from a stop you had to wait a second for the turbo to spool, but if you were already driving and then applied more throttle it responded instantly. The transmission might need some break-in time, because it hunted a little for gears after coasting for a while and then applying throttle again.
Dayum that B pillar is huge! I remember one or two reviews that mentioned it but brushed it off. It's farther forward than I'm used to in other cars, like I can just see it in my peripheral vision when facing straight forward. I might have been able to move the pedals further forward and thus move the seat up as well but I doubt it had much room left in it. Anyway, I underestimated how much that little loss of visibility would throw me off. It almost forces you to use your blind spot monitors more, although I'm sure it's just something you can get used to after owning it a while.
In "Normal" terrain mode the truck is in RWD. I wanted to get it in 4Auto since that's how my Jeep is all the time, so I fiddled with the selector dial until I got into sand mode. I couldn't really tell a handling difference on dry asphalt, in the maybe 2000 yards I had it activated. Even though it said 4A on the instrument display, I forgot that sand mode is for loose terrain only as I got binding on a sharp turn into a parking spot. Switched back to 2wd before the salesman knew what was going on lol. I'm sure once you get used to the different modes you'll learn what is what, but if a mode locks the differential, I'd prefer a different visual indicator than just plain "4A".
Parking was a snap. The turn radius is pretty nice, even with the extended wheelbase. It's easy to tell where the edges of the vehicle are. I did have to back up to adjust but that was because the spot at the dealership was pretty narrow.
Overall I was very impressed with how it drove, especially for being pretty much the base configuration.