For Middle East owners with an eye on the great outdoors, the all-new Expedition\u2019s four-wheel-drive and Terrain Management System opens the region\u2019s remote reaches to adventure for the entire family.<\/p>\n
Ford Expedition has always put families first, with class-leading levels of comfort, safety and convenience and now \u2013 with its superior off-road ability plus a dedicated driving mode for sand \u2013 owners can turn any family trip into a real expedition.<\/p>\n
Expedition\u2019s all-new easy-to-use Terrain Management System\u2122 lets customers select from seven special drive modes that help Expedition automatically adapt to different road conditions. This includes Normal for around town driving, Sport for more spirited trips, Tow\/Haul for improved towing and hauling performance, Eco for enhanced fuel economy, Grass\/Gravel\/Snow for loose terrain, Mud\/Rut for uneven surfaces, and Sand mode for driving in soft, deep sandy conditions found throughout the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe off-road modes are designed to help drivers navigate conditions they may not be familiar with \u2013 like sand,\u201d said Todd Hoevener, Expedition chief programme engineer. \u201cGetting stuck is probably the worst thing that can happen to you as a driver when you\u2019re in the desert with your family and friends in the car. Sand mode just makes it enjoyable to drive with vehicle electronics as a safety net there to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
To give the Expedition true go-anywhere capability, Ford fitted four-wheel-drive equipped vehicles with a two-speed transfer case and electronic limited slip differential.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe electronic limited slip diff enables it to react more quickly when you\u2019re seeing slip on one side versus the other which helps when there is rain or ice, but a locking diff out here in the sand is very important to get that low-speed traction to pull you out of the hole,\u201d Hoevener added.<\/p>\n
Sand Mode Secrets<\/p>\n
Expedition\u2019s Terrain Management System (TMS) is an intelligent four-wheel-drive control programme that configures the vehicle for the conditions ahead. It uses a combination of sensors and an onboard gyroscope to work out what the vehicle is doing, and what can be done to assist the driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you switch between the different modes, what you are looking at is traction, how the engine and transmission adapts, and how the chassis dynamics come together,\u201d Ziyad Dallalah, Ford Middle East\u2019s chief resident engineer, explained.<\/p>\n
That usually centres on keeping the vehicle pointing in the right direction by monitoring traction at all four wheels and applying torque, the brakes, traction control \u2013 or a mix of each \u2013 where needed.<\/p>\n
Driving in the desert is a little different. Undulating dunes of soft sand can confuse systems that are designed to work on reasonably level, hard-packed surfaces \u2013 while drivers usually need to switch off traction control systems to stop from bogging down in the sand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Sand mode, it\u2019s about staying in lower gears and disabling as much traction control as possible. The TMS automatically limits the amount of assistance they offer and also manages both engine speed and transmission shifts \u2013 holding lower gears longer so that you can use high rpm and high wheel speed,\u201d Dallalah explained.<\/p>\n
The system uses a gyroscope to build a picture of what\u2019s going on with the vehicle; how much it is sliding (yaw) and rolling (roll). Based on calibrations made during in-market testing in the UAE and other centres around the globe, the TMS then sends torque to the appropriate wheels, allowing them to spin even though the vehicle is moving at very low speeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what you need for low speed sand driving if you do get in the deep and need to crawl out. The cleverness of the software and electronics, paired with all the mechanical advantages of the low-speed transfer case and the electronic locking rear diff really do make the Expedition a very capable large SUV for off-road adventures,\u201d Dallalah concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For Middle East owners with an eye on the great outdoors, the all-new Expedition\u2019s four-wheel-drive and Terrain Management System opens the region\u2019s remote reaches to adventure for the entire family. Ford Expedition has always put families first, with class-leading levels of comfort, safety and convenience and now \u2013 with its superior off-road ability plus a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":9106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_pr_autopilot_social_copy":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph_description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph_image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph_image_id":0,"_yoast_wpseo_twitter_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter_description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter_image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter_image_id":0,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":26,"_extra_hide_author_box":"","_extra_featured_post":"0","_partner_post_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automotive","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n