Ford has been working hard lately, and especially hard when it comes to aluminum-bodied 2018 Expedition sport-ute which is supposed to be a vehicle of choice for families that are on the road most of the time. To make it happen Ford increased the towing capacity to 9,300 pounds and according to the company, it’s the best-in-class for full-size SUVs. But the upgrades didn’t end there, they also threw in a new feature called Pro Trailer Backup Assist which is supposed to help new drivers towing a trailer look like real professionals.
In order to activate the Pro Trailer Backup Assist feature, one must simply turn a knob to set how much the trailer should turn. What happens next is that Explorer then turns the front wheels accordingly to precisely maneuver the trailer into position, and to make sure everything goes well, this SUV has a speed limit when this system is in use. According to Blue Oval, this will help reduce the time needed to back up your trailer as well as add to the “driver confidence.”
Everyone who has tried to back up a trailer can’t say that it is an easy task. It takes a lot of maneuvering, inching forward and back until you manage to park it where you wanted. This feature is great, and it will mostly help new drivers and inexperienced trailer haulers, while the veterans may see this feature as a simple gimmick. But besides the new backup feature, one more thing that everyone will definitely appreciate is the increased towing capacity a mentioned before. The Expedition’s 9.300-pound towing capacity is now enough to pull two F-150 single cab two-wheel drive pickup trucks.
What Ford very cunningly kept for themselves is the info regarding the power the Expedition’s EcoBoost V6 will make in order to successfully trail this increased towing capacity. Not so long ago you probably managed to stumble on a post that claimed that the new Expedition will offer 400 HP and 480 pound-feet of torque, but Ford was not willing to confirm (nor deny) these numbers. It is a 50/50 chance that this will actually be right and if it turns out right than the 2018 Expedition will have more torque than the 6.2 L V8 found in the GMC Yukon. Expect the 2018 Ford Expedition to arrive in dealerships this fall.
