Go! Drive & Camp – September 2019

NEW WHEELS

30 | September 2019 go! Drive & Camp

FORD EVEREST

Y

ouwouldthinkthesalessuccessof

theFordRangerbakkieswouldhave

a positiveinfluenceonthesalesofof

itsSUVsiblingtheFordEverest– but

theEveresthasa mountaintoclimb.Andso

farit justhasn’tbeenabletosummitMount

Fortuner.Toyota’shugelypopularFortuner

SUV,basedontheToyotaHilux,stilloutsells

allitsrivalscombinedbya Kalaharimile.

Witha newrangeofturbocharged

engines,a sophisticated10-speedautomatic

transmission,andanimprovedfront

suspension,theFordhasdefinitelyreached

basecampthough.

Wespentsometimedrivingthenew

Everestintownandoff-roadonthesandy

tracksofBotswana,andtheimprovements

totheengines,transmissionandsuspension

certainlytransformstheFordintoa

seriouscontender.

Theengines

Thenew2.0bi-turboandsingleturbo

enginesrecentlyunveiledinthenew

FordRanger,nowpowertheEveresttoo.

Theexisting2.2four-cylinderand3.2five-

cylinderDuratorqenginesremainpartof

theline-upthough.

The2.0engines(you’llfinda tweaked

oneintheRangerRaptortoo)havemore

powerandtorque,aremorefuel-efficient

andofferbetterrefinement.Theonlything

theoldermodelshavegotgoingforthem

nowis price.It’sthebi-turbothatwillget

themostattention,andit’savailableinthe

XLTmodelsinboth4x2and4x4guise,and

it powerstherangetoppingLimited4x4.It

deliversmaximumpowerof 157 kW,butits

realbeautyliesinitstorque– 500Nmfrom

aslowas1 500rpm.

A smallhigh-pressureturbois connectedin

seriestoa largelow-pressureturbo.Whenthe

enginespeedis low,theturbosworktogether

todeliverlow-endtorque.Thesmallerturbois

bypassedathigherrevswhentop-endpower

is deliveredbythelow-pressureturbo.

Theseturbosareguaranteedtomakeold-

school off-roaders more than a bit nervous,

and Ford reckons it’s got durability nailed.

The company says it’s done stringent testing

on the new engine to the equivalent of 5,5

million kilometres, the turbocharger housing

• made from high-grade alloy – can withstand
  exhaust temperatures of up to 850 °C and the
  belt-in-oil primary drive is maintenance-free
  for the life of the engine.

The transmission

The new 10-speed automatic transmission,

available only with the new 2.0 engines, is

good. It does what any decent automatic

should do in the sense that you mostly don’t

notice it doing its work. The multitude of

gears allows smaller steps, so acceleration

feels smooth. The electronic control system

mostly does a good job of selecting the

correct gear for the right application.

You might not want all these gears when

you’re towing, or when crawling up a steep

hill. Progressive Range Select (PRS) allows you

to lock out gears from the automatic shifting

The new Ford Everest has received a bit of a cosmetic nip and a tuck, but the

real improvements lie under the bonnet, says Pierre Steyn.

Moving mountains