Australians adore utes and four-wheel drives, but they don’t seem to like four-wheel drives that are based on utes.
In contrast to their less well-known brothers, the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger utes consistently rank at the top of the monthly sales statistics.
Australia sells a lot of SUVs, with the Toyota LandCruiser, a powerful SUV, and soft-roaders like the Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5 often ranking in the top 10.
Even while ute-based SUVs in between are better at hauling than other SUVs and can easily handle muddy trails and steep inclines – or rough descent – they aren’t exactly flying off the showroom floor.
With the most recent Australian-designed Everest, which shares a platform with the updated Ranger and is the first all-new design since 2011, Ford hopes to reverse that.
The front of the Ford Everest was purposefully designed by Melbourne-based design manager Nick Eterovic to resemble the Australian-built Ranger truck on which it is based.
While the $69,090 Sport variant features a dramatic black grille, black door handles, and black alloy wheels, the range-topping $77,690 Platinum model aspires for a more upscale appearance with a “satin” finish rather than a chrome finish on the grille.
However, despite the Everest’s similarity to the ute—which includes having C-shaped headlights—the Ranger, with its more aggressvly carved front, seems more rugged.
One of the Everest’s issues is that it gradually lacks the rugged, adventurous appearance that makes its better-looking ute sister much more alluring.
For Australian drivers, the second generation Everest, which starts at $52,990, is the first new form since 2015. It was created in Australia.
Similar to the Ranger, it is constructed on the third-generation T6 chassis, has a towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes, and is excellent off-road, as shown by a Daily Mail Australia test drive in Brisbane.
But because customers must wait up to nine months for a brand-new Ranger, which can do the same task with a tray and also serve as a tradie special, the Everest, unlike its 4×4 ute sister, will probably have a difficult time ascending the sales mountain.
With the Australian launch of the Everest in October 2015, Ford had a ute-based four-wheel drive in its lineup for another twenty years.
Before Ford discontinued producing the Falcon-based Territory in Australia in 2016, ending its 12-year run as a wholly Australian-designed and manufactured SUV, the previous model Everest entered markets.
The outgoing Everest, however, didn’t really appeal to previous Territory purchasers who preferred having 195 kilowatts of six-cylinder power since it had four and five cylinder diesel engines.
With 184kW of power from a 3.0 litre turbo V6 diesel in the higher-spec Sport and Platinum variants, the new Everest at least solves that issue.
Ford has also discontinued the 3.2 litre five-cylinder diesel engine, replacing it with a 2.0 litre bi-turbo four that produces 154 kW, or about the same as a six-cylinder Ford Falcon from the mid-1990s, in the base Ambiente and Trend versions.
The top-of-the-line Platinum is $77,690, which is roughly $8,000 less costly than the $85,490 Ford Ranger Raptor, which has 292kW of power, outperforming the most expensive Everest’s 184kW.
With seven leather seats, including an electric, push-button-operated back row with a phone-charging connection and a side pocket for an iPad, the Platinum makes up for what the Raptor lacks in power.
The driver’s seat in the Platinum may also be electrically modified.
Like other Rangers, the Everest can tow 3.5 tonnes, which is much more than the sportier Raptor’s 2.5 tonnes.
The Everest Platinum includes a 360-degree camera, similar to the Raptor, to view the hazards in front of it on a dirt track.
The Platinum, with all the fruit, has a camera to watch incoming traffic at night and can read speed signs. As a result, the high beam will automatically decrease to prevent irking the other driver.
At the Mount Sirromet vineyard in Brisbane, Daily Mail Australia conducted tests on the Everest in the Ambiente, Trend, Sport, and Platinum variants as well as the Ranger Raptor.
The Mud and Ruts mode on the 4×4 versions, together with the 4L, or four low, option, showed excellent off-road capability when navigating some deep puddles on the circuit.
They also include a wonderful cruise-control function called a hill descent feature that allows a driver to descend a steep slope at a strolling pace of 5 km/h even if they have no prior expertise with four-wheel driving.
With just steering required and no need to accelerate, driving up steep slopes is also a breeze.
Like the Ranger, the Everest sports a large touch screen in the middle.
The Platinum variant, like the highest-spec Ranger utes, has a 12-inch screen.
This was useful for using Apple CarPlay or Google Maps, but unless your phone is placed on a charging station, it would nearly completely drain in a few hours of driving, as the journeys from Hamilton in the centre of Brisbane to Mount Cotton through Mount Nebo demonstrated.
Despite its ute foundation, the Everest nonetheless drives well on the road.
The V6 turbo Everest may make the case that it is somewhat the Territory’s spiritual heir thanks to its more powerful engines.
However, since the Everest is built on a ladder frame chassis, similar to the Ranger ute, passengers sit higher up and have less legroom than in an SUV that is more resemblant of a car.
The soft-roader is a more pleasant alternative for daily driving even if it could be superior for off-roading and towing.
The Ranger is preferred over the Everest because those who are ready to sacrifice up interior room prefer a ute with a one-ton payload, which explains why.
It’s doubtful that will change.
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