When it comes time to fill up the tank, it's not easy to justify a full-size sport utility. But even as you pour 28 gallons of regular unleaded into the Expedition's gas tank, you can take heart in this sport-utility's ability to make a family vacation not only possible but also practical.

Ford is the first to admit that the sales of full-size, truck-based sport utilities have dropped some 40 percent since 2004 as people turn to smaller, more fuel-efficient, car-based utilities for their daily transportation. But Ford also reminds us that fuel prices have simply chased away the people who really shouldn't have been driving a full-size sport-utility in the first place.

The Expedition is meant for utility, not profiling. It carries people, hauls gear, tows boats, and pulls campers. The Expedition offers towing capacities in the 9000-pound range. When it's equipped with four-wheel drive, the Expedition will also get you there whether the road is dry, wet, snowy, or even when there's hardly any road at all.

Ford reminds us that full-size sport-utilities can still play an important role in our everyday lives. To start with, Ford's research shows that 92 percent of the Expedition owners use their big SUV for vacations. Some 60 percent use it to transport outdoor sports gear, while 40 percent of Expedition owners use the vehicle's towing capacity. Some 84 percent routinely carry more than three passengers behind the front row of seats.

Moreover, Ford notes that the place of the sport-utility in American life isn't going to disappear. Sales of personal watercraft have increased 9.2 percent since 2005, while there will be some 6.3 million households with tow-able recreational campers by 2010. Finally, three-generation families are becoming a substantial part of the vacation picture, so plenty of passenger seats are a necessity, not just a convenience.

With this in mind, the Expedition has been thoroughly revised for 2007 to make it a platform for family-friendly adventures. Every aspect of its utility has been improved: towing capacity, passenger comfort and even driving enjoyment. Meanwhile, a new, extended-wheelbase Expedition EL adds more cargo-carrying capacity, especially noticeable when trying to load groceries or gear behind the third-row seats.

Ford has made the Expedition even more family-friendly by substantially reducing its price. While the reductions have more to do with real-world transaction prices of the past and mirror similar pricing strategies at Chrysler and General Motors, the fact remains that a base model XLT Expedition retails for $29,995, some $5485 less than in '06. Ford tells us that Expedition models across the range have been reduced in price by an average of $4300. Just as important, a new warranty extends bumper-to-bumper protection to three years/36,000 miles, while the powertain is covered for five years/60,000 miles. In addition, the warranty is fully transferable to subsequent owners.