2001 Ford Excursion vs Chevy Suburban 2500 from 1996? Yea, both trucks represent some of the beefiest people movers of their time.
Tommy wanted a video that pitted the Ford Excursion vs Chevy Suburban 2500 – head to head. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the exact years/generations to battle it out. Still, he makes a great point about pricing and highlights just how good these trucks are.
Sure, the Chevy (and GMC) Suburban 1500 sold like hotcakes, and (while less popular) the Ford Expedition was always a strong seller as well. Still, there was a time when their heavy-duty brother battled. In 2000, Ford introduced the Excursion, which was based on the F250’s Super Duty pickup truck platform. While it only existed for a few years, it truly brought the fight to General Motors.
How do they compare on paper?
2001 Ford Excursion
There were three engine options for the Excursion: a 5.4-liter Triton V8, a 6.8-liter Triton V10, and a Ford/Navistar 7.3-liter PowerStroke V8 turbo-diesel. Our model, which is featured in our new series “No Payment Needed – Go Big,” has the 310 horsepower V10. It makes 425 lbs-feet of torque, and it was a much better match than the anemic (for a 6,000 lbs truck) 255 hp, 5.4-liter V8. Still, everybody wanted the torque-monster PowerStroke as it made 560 lb-ft of torque. It was a beast.
The gas engines were mated to a 4-speed automatic, while the diesel had a 5-speed automatic transmission.
While not as pleasant to drive as the GM offerings with its solid front axle, many swear that the Excursion is more rugged. We can’t verify that with each model, but we have our own conclusions from the aforementioned video series. Not only that, but fans often remind us that the Excursion is bigger than the Suburban – including the newest Suburban.
1996 Chevy Suburban 2500
Starting in 1934 (as a 1935 U.S. model) the Chevrolet Suburban is the longest, continuously used, automobile nameplate in production. It’s even older than TFL Studio’s boss, Roman Mica. Over the years, the Suburban has maintained sales superiority overall… actually, there haven’t been that many competitors. Tommy mentions International (which was a proper challenger), and some might remember other large SUVs from Jeep and Dodge, but those were smaller.
Besides, we’re talking about heavy-duty SUVs; and the Chevrolet/GMC Suburban 2500 was king.
Our model is a 1996 K2500, equipped with the 290 horsepower, 7.4-liter V8 that makes 410 lbs-feet of torque. There was a 5.7-liter V8 base engine that makes 255 horsepower and 330 lb-feet of torque, but that’s not a lot of power for such a big rig. The 7.4 gas (454CID) is legendary and was a popular option. GM’s 190 horsepower, 6.5-liter V8 turbo-diesel made 385 lb-ft of torque. It wasn’t in the same ballpark as Ford’s PowerStroke, on paper.
In this video, Tommy compares the 2001 Ford Excursion vs Chevy Suburban 2500 and comes to an interesting (and possibly controversial) conclusion.
