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Ford Excursion vs Chevy Suburban/GMC Yukon XL - The battle of the titans
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We recently purchased an 03 Suburban 1500 V-8 4WD LT.
In between we did have a Chrysler mini-van.
For a long highway trip the Excursion is something we miss. The seats are great, you pack whatever you want and go. The step in height is what killed our joy with the vehicle. Trying to load our two daughters was an exercise on a daily basis. Heck, at 6'2" I had to step on the running board to get in!
The V-10 was a strong runner, even in the mtns of Colo I had no problem keeping up with traffic (read above the speed limit). But the gas mileage penalty was excessive as we of often would get 10mpg. Best day we could coax 13-14 on highway but not usually.
The mini-van we tried but there was just not enough room for the stroller and groceries.
We needed a vehicle that could get our family of 4 to the airport, pick up 2 adults and luggage and still be comfortable.
The Suburban has a great step in height, only slightly higher than the mini-van and overall gas mileage is better (13.5 - 14.5) My wife and I find the around town ride and handling better.
Still think the Excursion is a great vehicle, just was not working for us.
tale and the consumer can decide what is best
for them. I consider both of these vehicles totally different.
Suburban - 2000 pounds lighter, 5.3L V8 runs well,
comfortable ride, no fear of driving fast on the
freeway during rush hour ~70-90 mph, but too much
bad press on the internet about the engines.
Excursion PSD - Heavy beast, feels like a giant
box with wheels, rough ride, fear of driving
fast on the freeway during rush hour >70 mph,
feels clumsy on turns, but it has diesel!
Both vehicles lack modern internal design and
utility. Both require removed of 3rd row seats
to haul sheets of plywood.
Both GM and Ford need to moderize the interiors,
perhaps they can learn from the new Nissan
Pathfinder Armada, this new vehicle is interesting. It's only a 1/2 ton SUV, but it's
optimzed for people comfort. Second row leg room
is better than GM or Ford offerings, the powertrain is best in class, it's suspension is
excellent, no removal of seats to haul a sheet of
plywood and it's shorter in length by a large
margin. It's optimized!, but it's ugly - hehehe
Suburban would be my large family vehicle for
long trips, heavy tow capability and lots of
cargo.
Excursion w/PSD would be my large family vehicle
for short trips, heavier tow capability and lots
of cargo.
Armada would be my family vehicle for long trips,
medium tow capability (even though they claim
9100 lbs towing), 4x8 plywood hauler, and small
cargo, funnest to drive and best 2nd row leg room
of all SUV's.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Also, there have been rumors of the new Duramax diesel being available in the Suburban 2500. Any news on that front?
From what I have read on the topic, the Duramax engines have not proved to be worthy over the past few years.
While I generally prefer GM vehicles over other brands, I would say that Ford offers the better choice if you are looking for the diesel engine. They use the Navistar (International) 7.3L which is a proven motor.
I see that Ford has switched to a 6.0L diesel in the Excursion as well as in the HD pickups this year. Big increase in power from last year - from 250 HP up to 325 HP.
One thing if people are shopping Armada if you have kids is easily overlooked if they are not with you when purchasing. Our 5 and 8 yr olds cannot reach the outside door handles! Almost made a major FOO PAA!
I'm trading a 99 sub. slt loaded, pewter, in ex. to good shape with 42, yes, 42000 mls. E$Edmunds says wholesale at 15980, dealers offering 12000 and 13000 at 500 to 1000 over invoice, and THEY keep the rebate. Sounds awful. Any imput out there?
Neighbor has the Excursion ltd. with v10 gas. You feel every tar line in the road, no turning radius and guzzles at 7 mls.per gal COMBINED!
By the way. New Durango other neighbor bought last month with HEMI gets 8 on the highway!!!
Personally, I think they already made the faux pas for you! ;-)
Steve, Host
Well, anyway, I love my Suburban. It's a 1992 GMC Suburban with over 338,000 miles on it, WITH IT'S ORIGNAL ENGINE! Jeez, I finally had to replace the original starter about a year ago. Anyone have any luck getting that kind of mileage out of a Ford engine?
Steve, Host
tidester, host
Cya later, Andrew
But anyways, I think in another five years it won't be a battle between the Suburban and the Excursion. Once the Japanese completely sink their teeth into this gold mine of a market, it'll be a battle of (the real) Titan and the Sequoia.
If heavy towing is not a concern, then you might be better served with a 1500 Surburban with the 5.3 and 3.42 rear.
The Ex is based on the SD truck line and rides like the 3/4 ton truck it is. With the PSD or V-10 it makes a great towing vehicle. With the 5.4, it is underpowered.
The Sub come in 1500 1/2 ton or 2500 3/4 ton. Both have a "softer" ride than the Ex. 2500 come with either the 6.0 or 8.1 engines. The 2500 is in the same class towing wise as the Ex.
1500 Subs can be found with either a part time shift on the fly 4x4 system or an auto 4x4 system. 2500 Subs and the Ex are both part time systems. Neither vehicle will do well off road, due to their length and weight. The Ex is quite heavy, especially with the PSD
Drive both the 1500 and 2500 Subs and drive both the gas and PSD Ex. Buy the one you like.
WARNING!! Buying a big, powerful truck can lead to excessive purchasing of toys (boats, campers, etc). Use with caution ; )
Consumers' Most Wanted Vehicles for 2005
Steve, Host
The Suburban on the other hand is a good truck but the only bad thing is, is that because it's a big truck (not bigger than the Excursion) and is a gasoline (v8) it'll struggle more with lot's of cargo than the Excursion and it'll use up more fuel for less work, this is why I would stick with the Excursion best. It's more of getting a V10 gas powered truck I mean it's very strong and fast but disposes of too too much fuel do to the amount of work that it does. Just stick with your Excursion diesel your better of and you'll save more money on fuel. It would be nice if they actually had a Suburban powered by diesel (6.6L 8cyl Duramax Diesel) but I guess they don't have any of those in diesel. It's still good though I like the Suburban but It's not as economic and powerful as your Excursion.
This one of course does a lot more work, and it's more economici and better.
Think about this
Randy
On a side note...Why havent any of the manufactures come out with a dually suv desil?
Dual rear wheels are used to increase payload capacity. You can't put enough weight inside the back of an SUV (probably) or use a 5th wheel trailer hitch to warrant the dually wheels. If there is some rare occasion that you put something that extraordinarily heavy in the back of your suburban or excursion, it is not common enough to make up enough market demand to profitably produce a dually SUV.
I just bought a 2004 Eddie Bauer X PSD with 45,500 miles on it. We love it except for one problem. When driving down the road with the drivers window open we smell diesel exhaust inside the vehilce.
Also with the defroster on at a stop light we smell diesel exhaust in the vehicle.
Have you ever experienced this with yours.
TIA
Lee
I was very disappointed to hear that Ford was ending production of the Excursion this year because by wife and I had already discussed buying a new one in '07 or '08. I have owned Chevy Suburbans, and Ford Broncos and found that the Excursion is the superior vehicle by far. My X-Box has about 120,000 miles on it and the only work (non-maintenance) that I have done was replace the door lock actuators (warranty), replace an o-ring on an oil cooler line and replace a cam position sensor; pretty good track record considering my last Suburban needed a new motor at 101,000.
I hear complaints that the Excursion "rides too much like a truck". My response is always, "I hope so, it is a truck." It's a lot more truck than my F-150. It’s funny because I bought the F-150 (with the Triton V-8) for the farm, but the Excursion kicks the 150’s tail in every aspect except hauling dirty or bulky materials. I guess that I’ll end up replacing the Excursion with a Superduty crew cab in 2-3 years, but I will definitely miss that 3rd row seating and the interior cargo space. I hope Ford finds a way to fill the Excursion’s niche, possibly some 3rd party customizer will build a stretched out F-350 with 3rd row seating in the future.
That’s my two cents; I’ll never go back to a Suburban
I have heard that the replacement for the Excursion will be out next year. It is basically going to be a long wheelbase Expedition, i.e., light duty versus medium duty frame. It supposed to carry the "super duty" stying features though. It will probably be more comfortable but less capable, like the Suburban. Although they do make a medium-duty Suburban 2500. If they would put a diesel in there, you would have your next vehicle.
I drove a 1983 Chevy K5 Blazer with a 6.2 liter diesel engine for 15 years. I replace the stock fuel tank with a 37-gallon replacement tank and two 10-gallon auxilary tanks for 57 gallons total. It gives me great range and it was a huge help on long trips when diesel is sometimes hard to find. I put bigger springs on the front of the truck, and kept the stock double shock setup up front and stock rear shocks, which I found, gave the best ride. With 32 inch all terrain tires, and all that weight of diesel engine in front and fuel tanks in the back, my truck would outperform anything in the snow. I could safely drive in conditions where other four-wheel drive trucks needed chains on all four tires.
At 265,000 miles, while the body and paint were perfect, the seats were shot, and the front axles probably needed to be replaced, and the second engine was tired and using coolant. Rather than put a pair of ¾ Suburban axles on it I decided to sell it and buy a new truck.
I removed the rear seat most of the time I owned it. Instead I kept a futon in the back and would sleep in it when traveling.
I waited and waited for Chevrolet to come out with a good diesel motor--they did! And I’m still waiting to see a modern Duramax Suburban. Finally I bought a 1-ton Chevy Silverado K3500 Dually, brand new in 2001. It is an extended cab and has the Duramax engine with Allison transmission—which I feel is a fabulous power train. I will probably get a camper back for it at some point. It is a little big for the use I put it to. It has a 53 gallon replacement tank that gives me over 750 miles to a tank. I lose a little fuel economy to the dually tires and heavier drive train, but feel more comfortable driving it on the highway--especially out west where freeway speeds are much faster.
I like beefy one-ton suspension. That means bigger brakes, heavier duty springs, axles, etc. If you are a guy like me who drives trucks into the ground, then you can appreciate this sort of vehicle. I’ll sacrifice ride for longevity, but I do wish for better fuel economy.
Here is what would I really like to see on the marketplace--a diesel Tahoe and a diesel Suburban. In either case I’d want a ¾ ton or 1-ton driveline with a Duramax/Allison or else a Duramax/6-speed-manual.
Come on Chevrolet, you idiots deserve to lose market share because you are lost in space—everyone wants one of these—BUILD IT!
Size is fabulous, but fuel economy is more important. A diesel Tahoe with a ¾ ton suspension would make a good daily driver and also a capable plow, tow vehicle, or RV, and get good fuel economy.
Put a Duramax in a Tahoe and see 20 mpg! Put a 6 speed manual transmission on the back of it and get 22 mpg if you are easy on the throttle. In stop-and-go traffic my fuel economy does not suffer at all. I get 15 mpg, and nearly 17 on the freeway at 70 mph-—the Duramax makes any truck into a great commuter car. Towing you will lose fuel economy, because fuel economy is a function of weight, but it will not lose much compared with a gas-guzzler burning 7 miles to the gallon.
I like to travel and I like to drive until I can’t drive any more when driving cross-country. I appreciate passing fueling stops—driving range needs to be great because diesel is not always easy to find. I’d put the biggest fuel tank I could fit on it. With 50 gallons you’d have a range of 1000 miles. I’d want 75 gallons for a 1500-mile range. Imagine driving off road—you could sustain yourself for a long time. Imagine driving down the Baja Peninsula where fuel is sometimes hard to find and being able to drive right by their sleazy looking service stations.
I appreciate size. I sometimes pull a 5000-pound trailer. Mostly, I like interior space that I use for living space when traveling. I’d fold down the rear seats and leave them down. I'd make a midget RV out of it. I don’t care about the third row seat, or even the second row. My choice would be to keep the second row folded down and toss the third row seat right out. I’d consider putting an Espar diesel heater in it also now that I live in a colder climate again.
When I drive cross-country I like to sleep in the back and carry a DC powered icebox full of food. A nimble vehicle like a Tahoe or Suburban can handle logging roads, deep snow.
A diesel Suburban or Tahoe is a versatile vehicle. Who is screwing up at GM? I'd like to know?
Now if you put a gas engine in a Suburban, you have the biggest gas hog around, that suddenly becomes impractical for high mileage use. SUV stands for Suddenly Useless Vehicle.
Wake up Chevrolet and do something, or else I’ll have to build one myself!
Please email me at:
doubleecho@optonline.net
I can't seem to pull up your email address off the forum.
This doesn't even address the design cost probs GM would incur. The Allison tranny will not fit in the tunnel space in a burb. GM would have to use the HD series truck frame to make room.
Don't get your hopes up on seeing DMax Burb's with the 07 redesign. I am sure GM will bank on offering up a hybrid version by 08 or 09. That coupled with DOD should yield very respectable MPG numbers and performance.
Steve, Host
Thanks,
Chintan Talati
Corporate Communications
Edmunds.com
Any suggestions? what should I buy
Yukon XL 2500
Suburban 2500
oe Excursion Diesel?
Steve, Host