Certified Benz & Beemer Compares 2005 Ford Excursion VS 2005 Chevrolet Suburban Near Scottsdale, AZ

To maximize occupant safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Ford Excursion have pretensioners to eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Chevrolet Suburban doesn’t offer pretensioners.

For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Ford Excursion are height adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Chevrolet Suburban doesn’t offer height adjustable seat belts.

The Excursion (except XLS) offers an optional Reverse Sensing System to help warn drivers about vehicles, pedestrians or other obstacles behind their vehicle. This collision warning system uses radar to detect obstacles behind the rear bumper. The Suburban doesn’t offer a rear collision sensor.

Both the Excursion and the Suburban have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, four wheel antilock brakes and available four wheel drive.

The Ford Excursion weighs 884 to 2823 pounds more than the Chevrolet Suburban. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

The Excursion’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Suburban’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

In the Ford Excursion, the optional 6.0 turbo V8 diesel has a gear driven camshaft to prevent engine damage from a broken camshaft belt or chain. Gears don’t exert side forces against the camshaft that can wear the cam bearings. The engines in the Chevrolet all use chain driven camshafts.

The Excursion 4x4 has a solid front axle with a floating power axle for durability that the Suburban 4x4’s independent front suspension and exposed front driveshafts don’t offer.

The Excursion has more powerful engines than the Suburban:

The Excursion’s 6.0 turbo V8 diesel produces 30 more horsepower (325 vs. 295) and 240 lbs.-ft. more torque (570 vs. 330) than the Suburban’s standard 5.3 V8. The Excursion’s 6.0 turbo V8 diesel produces 5 more horsepower (325 vs. 320) and 130 lbs.-ft. more torque (570 vs. 440) than the Suburban 2500’s optional 8.1 V8. The Excursion’s 6.0 turbo V8 diesel produces 205 lbs.-ft. more torque (570 vs. 365) than the Suburban 2500’s standard 6.0 V8.

As tested in Car and Driver the Ford Excursion V10 is faster than the Suburban 2500 6.0 V8:

For more instantaneous acceleration and better engine flexibility in any gear, the Excursion’s engines produce their peak torque at lower RPM’s than the Suburban:

The Excursion has 13 gallons more fuel capacity than the Suburban 1500 (44 vs. 31 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Excursion has 6.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Suburban 2500 (44 vs. 37.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

For better stopping power the Excursion’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Suburban:

The Excursion’s brakes have 17% more swept area (the area covered by the brake pads) than the Suburban with its standard brakes (509.29 vs. 437.08 square inches), so the Excursion has more braking power available. The Excursion’s brakes have 9% more swept area (the area covered by the brake pads) than the Suburban 2500 (509.29 vs. 469 square inches).

For better traction, the Excursion has larger tires than the Suburban (265/75R16 vs. 245/75R16).

The Ford Excursion’s wheels have 8 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Chevrolet Suburban 1500 only has 6 wheel lugs per wheel.

The front suspension of the Excursion 4x2 uses coil springs for better ride, handling and control than the Suburban, which uses torsion bars in front. Coil springs compress more progressively and offer more suspension travel for a smoother ride with less bottoming out.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Excursion’s wheelbase is 7.1 inches longer than on the Suburban (137.1 vs. 130 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Excursion is 3.4 inches wider in the front and 2.1 inches wider in the rear than on the Suburban.

For greater off-road capability the Excursion has a 1.4 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Suburban 2500 (8.5 vs. 7.1 inches), allowing the Excursion to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Excursion’s minimum ground clearance is .1 inch higher than on the Suburban 1500 (8.5 vs. 8.4 inches).

The Excursion has .3 inches more front headroom, 6 inches more front hip room, 2.8 inches more front shoulder room, 2.1 inches more rear headroom, 1.7 inches more rear legroom, 5.3 inches more rear hip room, 1.9 inches more rear shoulder room, 2.9 inches more third row legroom, 3.3 inches more third row hip room and .1 inches more third row shoulder room than the Suburban.

The Excursion’s cargo area provides more volume than the Suburban.

The Excursion Limited’s standard speed sensitive intermittent wipers speed up as the car does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Suburban’s intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Excursion offers available cornering lights to illuminate around corners. The Suburban doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Excursion’s standard steering wheel mounted cruise control is close at hand. The Suburban’s cruise control is on an over-crowded turn signal stalk.

The Excursion is less expensive to operate than the Suburban because it costs $25 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the Excursion than the Suburban, including $12 less for a water pump, $34 less for an alternator, $64 less for front brake pads, $135 less for a starter, $257 less for a fuel pump, $22 less for front struts and $126 less for a power steering pump.