2025 Ford Expedition TREMOR Review

Never once have I said I’m itching to go offroading in a Ford Expedition. But, that all changes now. I just drove the first-of-its-kind Expedition TREMOR on a muddy trail deep in the Indiana woods, and it far exceeded all expectations.

The 2025 Ford Expedition TREMOR is easily the most off-road-capable Expedition to ever roll out of a Ford factory. It also comes along with all the comfort and tech features that all fifth-generation 2025 Expedition models get, which also makes it a much more road-trip-capable vehicle.

I experienced most of the 2025 Expedition model range in and around Louisville, Ky. I covered many miles of city streets, major highways, and winding country roads. The highlight for me, though, was driving the new TREMOR model off-road at the Interlake Off-Road State Recreation Area in Indiana. A factory tour of the massive Ford Kentucky Truck Plant, where the Expedition is made, was also eye-opening.

In short: The fifth-generation Ford Expedition is an impressive people and gear mover, on and off-road. The comfort and tech in this vehicle far exceeded my expectations, as did the off-road prowess of the all-new TREMOR model. However, this large SUV carries with it a large price tag and has an awkward steering wheel.

2025 Ford Expedition TREMOR Review

While I got to drive a King Ranch and Platinum Ultimate during my first drive experience, I’m going to focus this review on the all-new TREMOR model. This is the model for adventurers, as it has loads of off-road goodies and most of the luxury items, all in a sporty package.

But, let’s first touch on a few things that all 2025 Expeditions have on offer. First, this large SUV can move up to eight people and tow up to 9,600 pounds. A new split-rear tailgate is the exterior highlight. It also has new body mounts, new suspension attachment points, and a new rear subframe — these updates improve ride comfort, add stability, and allow for more towing capacity.

Inside, you get a new screen configuration, the “largest cupholders ever,” 24-ounce bottle holders in the doors, and an optional Flex Powered Console. The console slides nearly 8 inches front to back and offers up a secure place in the front to hide purses and other valuables, as well as rear cupholders and a tablet holder in back for second-row passengers. You also get new ambient lighting, which is nicely executed and not over the top, as is found in many new vehicles.

The TREMOR comes standard with a 40/20/40 power-folding second row but can be optioned with power-folding captain’s chairs. The 40/20/40 folding third-row bench seat creates a center aisle most of the vehicle’s length, making it ideal for hauling skis, snowboards, lumber, or whatever long, skinny things you might need to carry.

TREMOR has Electric Spice-colored accents that carry over from the outside to in, with a Black Onyx interior.

Driving Experience

Let’s dive right into what it’s like to drive and ride in the new 2025 Ford Expedition. First, it’s super quiet and offers truly impressive ride quality.

There is a great engine note, which is piped in through the speakers a bit, but it’s not overwhelming or too loud. The ventilated seat fans on the other hand are very loud. Luckily, the audio system offers impressive sound quality, so you can easily cover up the fan noise.

Few vibrations transfer through to the passengers. There is also little head toss/body jostle, even when hitting potholes at speed. The ride comfort is truly world-class, and something you’d expect out of a luxury vehicle with much more advanced suspension, not a body-on-frame Ford SUV.

The new double flat steering wheel is needed in order to see the new driver display and make it easy to get in and out of the vehicle. But, there is hard plastic where you hold it that feels cheap and doesn’t allow for a solid grip because of its broad and wide shape. It also feels too small/narrow for the large vehicle that it’s attached to, even though the steering is direct, smooth, and has just enough play not to be twitchy.

New capacitive touch control pads on the wheel take some getting used to, but work well. The left one is for the ADAS functions and the right controls the adjustments of the pedals, steering column, audio volume, and answering calls.

Split Gate

The new Split Gate on the 2025 Ford Expedition is a super-useful feature. Not only does it offer a truck-like tailgate that can support up to 500 pounds and an SUV/minivan-like lift gate, but is also super configurable. Specifically, the optional Cargo Tailgate Manager is slick. It creates a rear shelf, a tailgate table, or tailgate seating quickly and easily.

“It was designed to not only get customers to where they need to go, but to be the center of the experience once they arrive,” said Jill Dougherty, Ford Expedition exterior designer. “Our goal was to enable customers to linger longer whether they’re at the stadium or the campsite.”

“Linger longer” was a key talking point by the Ford team. Many of the 2025 updates to the vehicle revolve around this theme of getting Expedition users to enjoy their vehicle even when it isn’t in motion.

Also, a new Open-on-Approach feature allows you to have your hands full, your key fob in your pocket, and walk up to the rear of the vehicle, where the Ford Split Gate will automatically open.

Powertrain

Under the hood of the 2025 Ford Expedition Tremor is a 3.5L EcoBoost V6. Specifically, it is the High Output version of the motor, putting out 440 horsepower and 510 pound-feet of torque. Whether on the highway or deep in the mud, you’re never wanting for more power in this vehicle.

This big power really helps this large SUV drive like a much smaller SUV, which makes for a very pleasant and unintimidating driving experience for a wide range of drivers.

This high-output version of the engine gets a high-flow exhaust, which makes great sounds, and a larger radiator, primarily for better cooling when towing.

I drove both the standard engine and high-output versions. The extra 40 horsepower and 30 pound-feet of torque make a surprisingly huge difference in performance, but neither is underpowered.

An SUV of this size, capability, and power does not sip fuel. The best I saw in my relatively short testing, from either engine, was around 15 mpg. Of course, I was not gentle on the throttle in my testing. The 2025 Ford Expedition is EPA rated at 18 mpg combined, 15 city, and 22 highway.

Lighting

All modern vehicles seem to have a big focus on lighting. The new Expedition is no different, with easily identifiable signature lighting shapes. But, it goes even further and offers a range of very useful auxiliary lighting options.

Off-road light bars are integrated right into the grille on the TREMOR model, as are fog lamps in the lower accent pocket on the front bumper.

A pretty unique new feature on the 2025 Expedition is exterior zone lighting. There are four lighting zones around the vehicle, controlled via a screen in the infotainment system, that light up the space. Light emanates from the grille, the bottom of the side mirrors, the back of the roof-rack bars, and under the tailgate.

These lights are great for camping, tailgating, or just loading up the groceries at night in a dark corner of a parking lot. This lighting system is another part of Ford’s “linger longer” theme.

One thing to note is that the headlight and foglight controls don’t have physical switches but are instead controlled in the infotainment screen. However, Ford was smart and provided a button on the screen that is nearly always there in the bottom right for quick access.

TREMOR Off-Road Goodies

“TREMOR is the pinnacle of Expedition adventure-ready capability,” said Adrian Aguirre, Expedition Chief engineer. “Expedition TREMOR delivers off-road capability and hardware shared with F-150 TREMOR combined with Expedition big family and cargo-carrying versatility.”

Besides the new off-road lights in the grille, the 2025 Expedition TREMOR gets a full suite of hardware and software upgrades to make it the most capable Expedition yet. And of course, it gets lots of “Electric Spice” colored highlights and accents.

Off-Road Hardware

Let’s dive into the hardware upgrades first. The TREMOR gets a two-speed 4WD transfer case, 3.73:1 gearing, a rear selectable e-locker, front tow hooks, stout Raptor-style running boards, and front, transmission (optional), and fuel tank skid plates.

TREMOR also gets 18-inch Dark Carbonized Gray-painted aluminum wheels wrapped in 33-inch (P275/70R18) General Grabber all-terrain tires. The yellow/gold accent on the wheel not only looks sporty, but also denotes where the valve stem is located, making it easy to find for airing down or up for the adventure ahead.

While a few of the road-focused, luxury versions of the new Expedition can be optioned with Continuous Control Damping (CCD) suspension, the TREMOR gets a basic retune of the standard gas shocks. This basic setup on the TREMOR provides beyond impressive ride quality, and should be extremely robust, offering long-term durability, as well as easy replacement when needed or upgrading when desired.

Between the suspension and the tires, the TREMOR gets nearly a two-inch lift. TREMOR offers 10.6 inches of ground clearance, where the 2025 Expedition 4WD has 8.7 inches.

Off-Road Software

Not only does the TREMOR come with loads of hardware goodies for off-road capability, but it also has lots of smart electronic features to aid in tackling off-road terrain.

The off-road drive modes, and 2WD/4WD modes, are all accessed by controls near the driver’s left knee. TREMOR gets the addition of Rock Crawl mode to the Terrain Management System.

When any off-road mode is selected, the rear locker is automatically activated. This annoyed me at first, as I had to manually turn it off each time if I wanted a bit more wheel spin than the locker would allow. But, Ford had a great reason for this, which is to create the lowest impact on the trail, reducing wheel spin in all off-road driving modes.

Trail 1-Pedal Drive and Trail Turn Assist also come standard on the Expedition TREMOR. The Trail 1-Pedal Drive system — basically auto-braking — is speed sensitive, extremely impressive, and not intrusive. I generally don’t like these types of technologies that take some of the skill and engagement of driving away.

But this system is so smooth and easy that it allows you to just enjoy the drive to the woods, no matter your off-road driving skill set. Trail Turn Assist drags an inside wheel in order to allow for tighter turns in soft terrain conditions. I did not get a chance to try this feature, but it is a high-impact one on the terrain.

The off-road camera system on the 2025 Expedition TREMOR is also quite impressive. Not only does it give you lots of good views around the vehicle, but it also shows tire lines in a few of them. They are good enough to almost render a trail spotter unnecessary, for most terrain at least. The cameras also come on automatically when an off-road drive mode is selected, which is handy.

In the off-road camera screen, there’s a quick button to turn off the parking sensors when in an off-road drive mode. This is not something you find very often and is greatly appreciated. Parking sensors beeping all the time when traveling off-road can be very distracting and annoying.

Hand-Free Highway Driving

Platinum, King Ranch, TREMOR, and Active 2025 Expedition models are equipped with BlueCruise hardware, making the feature available to more Expedition customers. BlueCruise 1.4 is the latest Ford hands-free driving system, and it is easily one of the most advanced on the market.

The latest BlueCruise offers less side-to-side, or pinball, effect of previous generations and hands-free lane changes, with the use of the turn signal. It also gives you text reasoning on the dash as to why it disengages, when it is trying to. In-Lane Repositioning is also new, which subtly shifts away from vehicles in adjacent lanes.

The Quick Tips app in the infotainment system also has videos that give you a quick way to learn the system. It’s one of the most intuitive hands-free systems out there, though, so you can just hit the button on the steering wheel, wait for the blue lines and hands-free logo to appear on the upper screen, and sit back and enjoy the ride.

This is a subscription feature with various payment models and trial options. If you want to avoid a monthly fee, you can pay $995 at the time of vehicle purchase and get the feature in perpetuity.

Technology

The tech doesn’t stop at hands-free driving. A 24-inch panoramic digital display up high on the dash replaces the traditional gauge cluster you’d view through the steering wheel. This keeps the driver’s eyes on the road. No heads-up display (HUD) is available, as it’s not needed.

A relatively small, but perfectly sized, 13.2-inch infotainment touchscreen is integrated into the center of the dash. It includes Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

But, Ford has prioritized voice commands in the new Expedition. It uses Google Assistant4 — or Alexa Built-in if you prefer — for in-vehicle controls. This voice assistant allows you to control things like the HVAC, navigation, radio, and make calls and texts.

Another subscription-based service is the Ford Connectivity Package. A 1-year complimentary trial comes with the vehicle, or you can opt for a one-time payment at vehicle purchase or an annual subscription. This package allows owners to use the in-vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot, Google Play apps, and embedded Google Maps seamlessly.

The whole system is the new Ford Digital Experience, which has Google Assistant, Maps, and Play Store at its core. The Google Play Store offers a wide range of apps, from games to videos, to the forthcoming Zoom video conferencing app.

Videos can also be watched on both screens when the vehicle is not in motion. For some games, a QR code in the app lets you connect your smartphone and use it as the controller for the on-screen game, which is pretty cool tech.

Yes, It Can Tow

The Expedition has always been a large body-on-frame SUV with many attributes of its truck siblings. This, of course, means that it is specifically designed to tow big loads with ease. The 2025 Expedition ups that towing capacity, and makes it even easier.

You now get Pro Trailer Hitch Assist, which essentially aligns, backs up, and perfectly positions the hitch to hook up to the trailer at the touch of a button. Impressive stuff, and a feature that takes a lot of stress out of towing.

Also, the new SUV has Pro Trailer Backup Assist. This allows you to back up a trailer intuitively using a rotating knob on the center console. The system controls the steering wheel, while you still control the brakes and throttle manually. An integrated trailer brake controller is standard on all 4×4 models.

Towing capacity tops out at 9,600 pounds for the 2025 Expedition. The TREMOR model offers up 9,300 pounds of capacity.

A weight-distribution hitch is now only required for trailers over 7,000 pounds, which is a 1,000-pound increase over the outgoing 2024 model.

Availability & Pricing

The order books opened last October for the 2025 Ford Expedition. Many models are hitting dealers right now, but the TREMOR is coming a bit later in the year.

Pricing for the 2025 Ford Expedition TREMOR starts at $83,025, which includes the $1,995 destination and delivery fee. The vehicle I tested came in at $84,020, which had a $995 Star White Metallic Tri-Coat paint job. For reference, a base Active model 2WD 2025 Expedition starts at $63,995, and a 4WD one starts at $66,995.

There are eight colors to choose from for the 2025 TREMOR. The TREMOR looks great in the Wild Green, as seen in most of these photos, which is a no-cost color for the model.

2025 Ford Expedition TREMOR Review Summary

The 2025 Ford Expedition Platinum Ultimate model gets massage seats. They are very nice, quite strong, and don’t time out — most on other vehicles do. Sadly, the massage feature is not available on the TREMOR model. But, after talking to engineers, it sounds like it could happen in the future.

Overall, though, I have little to complain about with the new Expedition TREMOR. Yes, I want massage seats in my $80k+ SUV, and I’d prefer more premium materials and a more ergonomic shape to the steering wheel. But the 2025 Expedition impressed in nearly every other way.

The vehicle truly far surpassed my expectations and is now one I’d highly recommend to people looking for an adventure rig. It’s extremely off-road capable from the factory, can haul tons of gear and people, is large enough to sleep inside of comfortably, and has loads of tech that makes it a pleasure to drive on road and off.