Ford Everest tackles family life with class

Looking for a car is usually a process of compromise management. Unless you need a car for a pure outcome (such as a sports car) in the playoff in your needs hierarchy, it is unlikely that the perfect car exists.

Can anyone recommend a sub-R1m seven-seater that is truly fuel-efficient, cheap to buy, nice to drive quickly, corners well, is wieldy in town, has the power to tow a heavy trailer and a full load, and cope with rough gravel roads and 4x4 trails?

So, you see the problem. The laws of physics tell us this car does not exist. It cannot.

And so to the relentless hunt for that sweet spot. For nearly 20 years now, many middle-class South Africans have settled on SUVs based on bakkies as their do-it-all cars, with the Toyota Fortuner as the top-selling model in the class, but with honourable mentions from the Everest and the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.

They ferry kids to school day in, day out, they get in the shopping and they tow the caravan or the luggage trailer on the long family road trips, and they soak up the roughest roads SA can throw at them. Because they have to do it all, they do not generally excel at any one particular competence except one — ruggedness. The underpinnings of these vehicles as commercial vehicles means they are comparatively affordable to build, and tough inside and out — and while that makes for compromises elsewhere, it does mean that they can withstand the abuses of family life.

When launching the current Everest, Ford seems to have thought hard about these trade-offs. In developing the model, the American company will have looked at the established competition — the Fortuner chief among them but by no means alone — and will have targeted certain areas where they want to lead the segment.

After some time in the car, it would seem clear that Ford wanted to create a more upmarket and hi-tech interior, better driving dynamics and a more modern exterior appearance. This rather long preamble reflects my view that context of the Everest is important in evaluating its strengths. It is not a perfect car because it cannot be. It is, however, a very good one.

Ford aced the interior. It mixes robustness well with a large touchscreen interface that still doesn’t replace quick-use buttons for functions such as aircon and air recycling. Its integrated navigation is functional and easy to read, even for those spoilt by high-end products from German manufacturers and Google. Other than the screen, everything that falls to hand feels of a solid industrial strength without the tackiness of cheap plastics — from the indicator stalk, the wheel-mounted buttons and even the automatic gear selector, which selects “D” with a satisfying mechanical thunk.

Seating on the XLT Sport model I drove was electrically adjustable with memory settings, which gave me a good view of the functional, if not pretty, digital dash. In its segment, nothing comes close this interior.

The Everest is a big thing, easily seating seven. As with its competitors, its size, commercial 4x4 underpinnings and large compliant rubber count against it on the road. But while it’s no BMW X5, it’s also not terrible to drive. Steering is well weighted and communicative and there is enough feedback to give you confidence. Ladder-frame “judder” is well controlled, if not entirely absent, in this car, and stability at freeway speeds — where some ladder frame-based cars need endless adjustment to maintain a straight line — is very good indeed.

Where the Everest shines

Family road-trips is where the Everest shines. It will pull anything and go anywhere, and it will do so — within the bounds of the platform it uses — reasonably quietly and efficiently. Electric locking differentials and low range make the Everest a genuine off-road performer.

That huge capacity for hard work on difficult terrain comes at a cost in town. All that 4x4 hardware and the sheer quantity of metal means that even the two-litre diesel is thirsty in an urban environment — we averaged about 12l/100km in a very downtown urban scenario, and about 9l/100km on long trips with a heavy luggage trailer and seven-up.

Much of that open-road efficiency will be down to the 10-speed automatic gearbox. In opting for this, Ford took a risk. Other manufacturers have struggled to make these many-cogged ‘boxes work well, notably Mercedes-Benz and their bespoke seven-speed box of 15 years ago, and more recently Jeep’s nine-speed ‘box. No such issues here, though, and I think the mix of a small-capacity 154kW engine with a tight torque plateau at 500Nm and the smart use of 10 gears means the Everest is not only a pleasure to drive long-haul, but efficient too.

Returning to context, the Ford’s greatest competitor — the Fortuner — is long in the tooth, having been around in its current shape since 2016 in SA. With the Ford being built near Pretoria and the Fortuner being built near Durban, the contest is a very SA affair. The older Toyota does feel outgunned by the Ford in many aspects and when a new model comes it will no doubt be game on again in one of SA’s most important vehicle segments.

parkera@businesslive.co.za