2022 Ford Expedition: Choose Your Adventure

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

The off-road trend is getting either tiresome or exciting, depending on your perspective.

The latest pre-existing truck or SUV to get more rugged? The 2022 Ford Expedition.

Yes — the big SUV best known for hauling lots of people and cargo, as well as towing, is now going to be able to venture further off-pavement, should Ford’s claims hold true.

It starts with the Timberline trim, which increases ground clearance, adds the Bronco’s trail-turn assist feature (brakes one rear wheel to make off-road turns tighter), and borrows the Raptor’s skid plate.

But wait — it’s not all about off-roading when it comes to Expedition news. Should you want to have more fun on-road in an Expedition, you can do so with the Stealth Performance Package, which adds a sport-tuned suspension with continuous damping.

Motivating the Expedition is a 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 making 440 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque.

Expedition also adds available features such as BlueCruise hands-free driving assistant (works on designated roadways) and a 22-speaker Bang & Olufsen Unleashed audio system.

LED headlamps are standard, the taillamp design is freshened, and there are new wheel choices.

Some styling features will be trim-dependent. Platinum models get a twin-mesh grille and fog lamps with chrome accents, while the Timberline gets its own unique grille, along with orange exterior accents.

In addition to the increased ground clearance (and ride height), the Timberline’s track is wider and the approach and departure angles are improved. Timberline gets 33-inch all-terrain tires, and a two-speed transfer case.

The Stealth Performance package is available on Limited and Limited Max trims and also adds gloss-back running boards, grille, mirror caps, roof rails, tailgate appliqué, rear-bumper skid plate, fog-lamp bezels, and headlamp and taillamp housings. Wheels are 22-inch black aluminum and the brake calipers are painted red. The badging is also black.

The instrument panel is redone, and a 12.4-inch digital gauge cluster is available. The screen can display off-road data and turn-by-turn directions from the nav system. Ford’s Sync 4 infotainment system is standard, with Sync 4a being optional, along with a 15.5-inch customizable infotainment screen. A customizable 12-inch screen is standard.

Rear-seat passengers can get Amazon Fire TV entertainment via touchscreens that have 16 GB of storage per display. Over-the-air update capability for the vehicle and its software is standard.

Standard or available driver-assist features include road-edge detection (sounds a warning and uses steering intervention to keep the vehicle on the road), intersection assist (applies the brakes if it thinks the vehicle will be hit in an intersection), reverse-brake assist (applies the brakes to avoid a collision when backing out of a parking space), evasive-steering assist (helps the driver safely swerve around an obstacle), a camera view that shows obstacles when parking, and an air dam that activates at over 40 mph to increase aerodynamics by 4 percent.

A trailer-assist system uses the rearview camera and parking sensors to help drivers line up their trailer. It’s more automated than the previous version. Expedition can tow up to 9,300 pounds.

The Expedition will be assembled in Louisville, Kentucky, and go on sale in the first quarter of 2022.

[Images: Ford, © 2021 Tim Healey/TTAC]

Correction: The original post stated that “rear-seat passengers can get Amazon Fire TV entertainment via touchscreens that have 16 GB of storage.” They actually have 16 GB per display. This post has been updated to correct that fact.

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • FreedMike FreedMike on Sep 21, 2021

    Ford Expedition: when you absolutely, positively can't live with anyone seeing around you in traffic.

    • Ryoku75 Ryoku75 on Sep 21, 2021

      12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American pride! Canyonero! Canyonero! Top of the line in utility sports, Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts! Canyonero! Canyonero! She blinds everybody with her super high beams, She's a squirrel-squashin', deer smackin' drivin' machine, Canyonero!

  • EBFlex EBFlex on Sep 21, 2021

    This glorified minivan really illustrates how directionless Ford is. It's amazing how mismanaged this company really is. People did not like the touch capacitive that Ford was bent on putting in every vehicle 8 years ago or so. They (shockingly) listened to the consumers and made a big production over the return of actual buttons and knobs. Then they come out with this mildly refreshed turd (which is light years behind the GM SUVS and the new Grand Cherokee L) and they took the buttons away and instead duct taped a terribly integrated android tablet to the dash thats running awful infotainment software.

    • Canam23 Canam23 on Sep 22, 2021

      And yet Ford sales are doing very well. Light years behind GM? Now you're just being silly.

  • Amy I owned this exact car from 16 until 19 (1990 to 1993) I miss this car immensely and am on the search to own it again, although it looks like my search may be in vane. It was affectionatly dubbed, " The Dragon Wagon," and hauled many a teenager around the city of Charlotte, NC. For me, it was dependable and trustworthy. I was able to do much of the maintenance myself until I was struck by lightning and a month later the battery exploded. My parents did have the entire electrical system redone and he was back to new. I hope to find one in the near future and make it my every day driver. I'm a dreamer.
  • Jeff Overall I prefer the 59 GM cars to the 58s because of less chrome but I have a new appreciation of the 58 Cadillac Eldorados after reading this series. I use to not like the 58 Eldorados but I now don't mind them. Overall I prefer the 55-57s GMs over most of the 58-60s GMs. For the most part I like the 61 GMs. Chryslers I like the 57 and 58s. Fords I liked the 55 thru 57s but the 58s and 59s not as much with the exception of Mercury which I for the most part like all those. As the 60s progressed the tail fins started to go away and the amount of chrome was reduced. More understated.
  • Theflyersfan Nissan could have the best auto lineup of any carmaker (they don't), but until they improve one major issue, the best cars out there won't matter. That is the dealership experience. Year after year in multiple customer service surveys from groups like JD Power and CR, Nissan frequency scrapes the bottom. Personally, I really like the never seen new Z, but after having several truly awful Nissan dealer experiences, my shadow will never darken a Nissan showroom. I'm painting with broad strokes here, but maybe it is so ingrained in their culture to try to take advantage of people who might not be savvy enough in the buying experience that they by default treat everyone like idiots and saps. All of this has to be frustrating to Nissan HQ as they are improving their lineup but their dealers drag them down.
  • SPPPP I am actually a pretty big Alfa fan ... and that is why I hate this car.
  • SCE to AUX They're spending billions on this venture, so I hope so.Investing during a lull in the EV market seems like a smart move - "buy low, sell high" and all that.Key for Honda will be achieving high efficiency in its EVs, something not everybody can do.
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