6 month review, 18 Navigator VS 18 Expedition.

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Deadman

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I just wanted to throw out a little review/comparison since I have both of these vehicles. I've now owned the Navigator about 6 months and my Expedition like 2 years.

The vehicles. 2018 Ford Expedition Limited 302A 4x4 Max tow package white. 20,000 miles now.
2018 Lincoln Navigator L Black Label 4x4 white. 18,000 miles now


I just recently took both of these vehicles on a fairly long road trip on the same road, so it was a very good comparison in my opinion. Both vehicles have the same 3.73 gears, both have 22's on identical tires, both are the Max version, both are 4x4, so they are set up VERY similiarly. The ONLY mods to either vehicle are front and rear Hellwig sway bars on my Expedition. Otherwise its just simple stuff like floor mats and such.....

First off I know my Expedition has the sway bars updated, but I will say the Expedition drives, handles, rides 3X better than the Navigator does. The Navigators stock suspension settings (in normal mode) are extremely stiff and it actually wheel hops on cracks in the road because the suspension is so damn stiff. I've deathly afraid to add sway bars to it as it will get stiffer yet and be miserable to ride in.

Ride quality (both in normal modes), the Expedition rides tons better. You don't feel the seams, cracks, etc in the roads whereas the Navigator transfers EVERY one of those cracks thru the car and shakes and bounces etc. The Navigator with its factory sway bars sways all over the highway at higher speeds (just like my Expedition did before swapping the sway bars). I mean it just dances in the wind, you constantly have to play with the steering in the wind to keep it on your lane. My expedition lays on the road 3X as flat and doesn't dance around like the Lincoln does. The Expedition will take the same corner at 80 mph and feel better than the Navigator can at 60 mph. The Lincoln leans in the corners and makes you think you are going too fast where the Expedition lays flat in the corners and "hugs" the road. If there's a bump in a high speed corner, you need to hold onto the Lincoln whereas the Expedition just stays right on track and eats the bump. So honestly they aren't even in the same league in my opinion.... (yes my sway bars the answer, I know).

Power, real simple, the Lincoln SMOKES the expedition. The trans in the Lincoln wants to downshift ALL the time and its annoying. On some hills the Lincoln was down in 8th gear and my Expedition NEVER left 10th gear on these same hills, roads. MPG I'm not even getting into because the Expedition fought 35Mph head winds the entire trip and the Navigator didn't and I honestly couldn't tell you how to reset all the electronic BS on that complicated Lincoln. lol.

Interior wise, the Lincoln is hands down nicer, but everything is delicate and wants to scratch whereas my Expedition has padded arm rests and stuff that is less prone to all the scratching of daily use. The Lincoln has this HUGE center console thing that makes me feel very claustrophobic because it hugs you and is much taller than the Ford. The push buttons on the Lincoln work fine, but I'm not familiar with them so EVERY time I wanted to shift gears I had to stop and look where to push. In my Expedition I keep my hand on the knob and just turn it a click or 2 and I know what gear its in without taking my eyes off of the mirrors and such. The electronic BS on the Lincoln is annoying to say the least. I HATE the gross touch screen thrown on the dash, but luckily I can control most things with buttons yet.

End result, they are both great but the Expedition is just a better performer on the road right now. The seats are so huge in the Navigator that they waste a lot of space in the 2nd row. I'm not kidding you, these seats are HUGE and THICK. They make a huge blindspot when looking for traffic coming from your right side. The seats are so big that it makes it hard getting the kids into their car seats in the 2nd row as theres just no room left and the stupid TV's stick out another 3-5 inches beyond that.

Needless to say the Expedition is our road trip car, the Lincoln can stay as my wifes daily driver.

Hope this helps any of you wondering about the 2 and their differences.
 

byathread

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I'd love to drive an expedition max with the helwigs to feel the difference/gauge if the upgrade is worth it. Would you still do both or just the rear of you had to do it again?
I don't think I drive that hard, but have noticed "motion" in this beast. [emoji23]

Nice write up, @Deadman, thank you...
 
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Deadman

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I'd love to drive an expedition max with the helwigs to feel the difference/gauge if the upgrade is worth it. Would you still do both or just the rear of you had to do it again?
I don't think I drive that hard, but have noticed "motion" in this beast. [emoji23]

Nice write up, @Deadman, thank you...

Honestly, the rear bar mainly helped the sway and bobblehead movement it gave all the passengers. The front bar "glued" this thing to the road and made it handle flat like a performance sedan does. The front bar took the last of the bobblehead motion out as well. If you ONLY did one bar, for sure the rear is the one.

I didn't drive mine hard BEFORE the sway bars because it was so clumsy and tippy/leaning. Now its so sure-footed that it feels so much better doing anything at speed. I've noticed right after th sway bars that the brakes are NOW weak! lol. I never pushed it before because it handled soo horribly that I couldn't notice the brakes. Either way, its just soooo much more confident on the road now.
 

carymccarr

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Wow, I’ve never experienced the highway play that you’re describing nor the transmission/shudder of road “noise” transmitted to the cabin or wheel. I tend to keep mine in conserve mode on the highway and that could be it.

I have a 2020 though...wonder if they made some small tweaks/changes from 18-20.

Glad you like your expy, I just can’t get past the interior but recognize that’s all aesthetic opinion.

Good write up!
 
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Deadman

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Wow, I’ve never experienced the highway play that you’re describing nor the transmission/shudder of road “noise” transmitted to the cabin or wheel. I tend to keep mine in conserve mode on the highway and that could be it.

I have a 2020 though...wonder if they made some small tweaks/changes from 18-20.

Glad you like your expy, I just can’t get past the interior but recognize that’s all aesthetic opinion.

Good write up!

It rides better in Conserve, for sure. I did try that, but then the trans gets extremely sluggish and its very lazy feeling. But it does ride better, but still not as smooth as my Expedition in normal.
 
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Deadman

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To touch more on the power differences. The expedition feels similar in power until you reach like 45, then the expedition kinda lays down and that HO just rips thru the gears. Passing in the HO can literally get me in trouble. I've passed cars on small rural highways with 55mph speed limits and I've seen it over 90 mph if I really get after it just passing a single car, it really moves.....
 

TheDoug

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Thanks for posting this, I was torn between the 2. I ultimately decided on expy platinum because I got a great deal. I love the looks of the navi from front but I could not make myself like what they did at the rear.
 

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