2020 Ford Expedition vs Dodge Durango
Three-row midsize sport utility vehicles were made for hauling people, and that’s just what they’ll do. The Ford Expedition is a class leader with improvements for the 2020 model year, including a new Ranch King trim level, a new suite of standard safety features, and a new black-out appearance package. The Dodge Durango has a few appearance changes for 2020, but little else. How do these two strong contenders in the midsize SUV class compare to each other? We’ll get into it in this comparison guide.
Safety: 2020 Ford Expedition
We said the Ford Expedition and Dodge Durango were built for hauling people. After all, the Expedition seats seven or eight, and the Durango can seat up to seven if you opt to include the third-row seating. So protect the precious cargo sitting in all those seats. The 2020 Expedition earned a five out of five stars in their safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as well as earning five stars in the frontal and side crash tests. In addition to those stellar crash test results, the Expedition is filled with standard safety tech, bundled in its Co-Pilot 360 suite, which includes automatic high-beam headlights, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, and forward automatic emergency braking.
The 2020 Dodge Durango, on the other hand, received only four out of five stars on its NHTSA crash tests and in its frontal crash test. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (which has yet to test the 2020 Expedition) gave the Durango mixed results. And the only standard safety feature in the 2020 Durango is the rearview camera. Everything else is extra.
Steering and Handling: 2020 Ford Expedition
To complicate matters, the Dodge Durango’s steering feels like a chore while the Expedition feels like a smaller vehicle than its actual size. Drivers say that the Expedition handles itself like something much smaller than 17 or 18 feet. Agile while turning, nicely-weighted and responsive steering, smooth over rough surfaces. You might forget you’re driving a larger midsize SUV until you need to parallel park. By comparison, the Durango is a mess. It makes you work for every inch of its nearly 17-foot length. Steering is slow and you can’t feel the road. And the Durango lumbers around turns. This might be our biggest complaint of the Durango, but it sure does paint the Expedition in a positive light by comparison.
Towing: 2020 Ford Expedition
This final category is a contest between great and stellar. The 2020 Ford Expedition has a slated towing capacity of 9,300 pounds when properly equipped. If that sounds like a lot, it is. In fact, that much weight is best in its class. The Dodge Durango puts up a respectable 8,700 pounds with its top trim level offering, but it’s still second place in this comparison guide.