Australian New Car Buyer – June 2019

54 | AUSTRALIAN NEW CAR & SUV BUYER’S GUIDE

F

ord Australia would
prefer we didn’t call its
new fi ve-seater Endura SUV
a Territory replacement.
Endura, says Ford Australia, is
a much more upmarket SUV, a
“premium offering” for those
who want something “special
and opulent”. Endura is well
equipped, spacious and very
comfortable, but it ain’t opulent.
A Bentley is opulent.
Endura Trend starts at $44,990,
mid-spec ST-Line is $53,990
and Titanium is $63,990. These
prices are for front-wheel drive;
all-wheel drive adds $4000. It’s
expensive compared with similar-
sized, diesel-powered, all-
wheel-drive seven-seater SUVs.
Hyundai’s Santa Fe Highlander,
for example, at $60,500, costs
about $7500 less than Endura
Titanium all-wheel drive, tested
here, and Mazda’s CX8 Asaki is
about $6500 cheaper.
All variants are powered by
a 2.0-litre turbodiesel that also
lives under the bonnet of the
Everest seven-seater and Ranger
Raptor double-cab one-tonner
4x4s, though with two turbos in

those applications and one here.

Endura’s 140kW of power and

400Nm of torque is a substantial

decrease on Everest/Ranger’s

157kW/500Nm, and an eight-speed

automatic is fi tted instead of the

10-speed standard in both 4x4s.

That said, you’re hardly

slumming it in Titanium, which

has a luxurious, leather-

wrapped, heated and cooled

driver’s armchair. The ride is

deluxe too, even on Titanium’s

20-inch alloys. It’s smooth,

comfortable and quiet, assisted

by active noise cancellation,

which effectively mutes the

diesel to silence in cruise mode.

An austere dash is easy to

navigate and you’re well supplied

with covered storage, plus two

USBs and one 12-volt outlet.

Ford’s SYNC3 touch-screen

infotainment is fast and intuitive,

with stand-alone voice control

plus Android Auto/Apple CarPlay

connectivity and automatic

emergency services dialling (via

your phone) if you have a crash.

Longer than some seven-

seaters, Endura’s wheelbase yields

expansive rear-seat legroom.

You don’t get seven seats, but the

trade off is a cavernous boot, with

a power-operated, hands-free

tailgate on Titanium.

Trend and ST-Line have most

of the requisite crash protection

and driver-assist safety tech as

standard, apart from blind spot

monitoring and rear cross traffi c

alert, which should be included

but are exclusive to Titanium.

MyKey allows you to program

functions such as disabling

incoming calls, restricting top

speed and audio volume, into a

specifi c key that you can then

give to the young, inexperienced

driver in your family.

Endura’s 2.0-litre/eight-

speed auto is one of the most

refi ned four-cylinder turbodiesel

drivetrains I’ve tested. It makes

easy work of shifting two tonnes,

using the absolute minimum of

revs required, though it doesn’t do

it in a hurry, even in Sport mode.

It’s fuel-effi cient for a big, heavy

SUV, returning 6-7L/100km on the

highway and 9-11L/100km in town.

In everyday driving, Endura is

safe and secure. Torque vectoring

minimises understeer, but in tight

corners it’s a cumbersome beast

and handling can get a little loose

if you push it, especially when a

few bumps are involved, because

its suspension is tuned on the

comfort side of the ride/handling

compromise and is slightly

underdamped. It has no off-road

pretensions at all — there’s no

off-bitumen traction control mode

selection or hill descent control,

even with all-wheel drive.

Endura Titanium is a luxurious,

loaded, refi ned SUV, but top-spec

turbodiesel rivals from Mazda

and Hyundai also offer stronger

performance, better handling,

comparable equipment and seven

seats for a lot less money.

THINGS WE LIKE

 Tractable, refi ned, frugal

turbodiesel

 Very comfortable ride

 Vast rear seat and boot space

 Titanium is loaded

 Slick, effi cient infotainment

THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE

 Overpriced against seven seaters

 Only Titanium gets full safety spec

 Can be a bit of a barge in tight

corners

 Could use a bit more grunt

 No off-road ability

SPEX (Titanium AWD)

 Made in Canada

 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel/

eight-speed auto/all-wheel drive

 140kW of power at

3500rpm/400Nm of torque from

2000-3000rpm

 0-100km/h N/A

 5.8L/100km highway; 8.3L/100km

city; CO2 emissions are 176gkm;

fuel tank 68 litres

 Max towing weight 2000kg

 Warranty: fi ve years/unlimited km

 Standard: Seven airbags,

stability control, AEB, blind spot

monitoring, rear cross traffi c

alert, speed sign recognition,

leather, heated and cooled front

seats, heated row-two seats,

navigation, smartphone mirroring,

voice control, full-length sunroof,

automatic parking, adaptive LED

headlights, power tailgate

 Redbook future values: 3yr: 45%;

5yr: 29%

Safety

Performance

Handling

Quality and reliability

Comfort and refi nement

Value for money

Overall

STARS

compare with ...

Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento,

Mazda CX8, Skoda Kodiaq

FORD ENDURA FROM $44,990 S