Taking on Everest

No, actually. The new Ford Everest has to challenge the likes of the Toyota Fortuner, which could prove to be a greater challenge than some old mountain.
The Everest is based on the Ranger’s chassis, making it the first vehicle manufactured by Ford based on one of their bakkie’s chassis. The 3 liter Diesel power plant is also out of the Ranger and produces 115kW and 380 Nm of torque. Ford claim a 9.5 liter per 100km combined fuel consumption and pricing starts at just over the R330 000 mark, which is very competitive in this segment. The Ford Everest comes standard with a 4 year 120 000km warranty and a 5 year 90 000km service plan.
Right, now that the number crunching is out of the way, time to tell you why I liked the Everest.
Firstly, there is the styling. The Everest isn’t the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, but then again neither is Mike Tyson, and you wouldn’t want to mess with him, would you? In the same way the Everest looks like it means business, with its broad stance, accentuated bonnet, and splashes of chrome all over the place, it gives you the impression that it could take on any obstacle you throw in it’s path.
The ride is almost car like, but with the benefit of a bakkie. What I’m trying to say is, considering the obstacle course, more commonly known as public roads, that we have to use everyday, something like the Everest is a very good alternative to a car. Its ride is very similar to a car, power delivery is smooth, it has all the conventional safety features such as ABS, EBD and airbags, but you can hit the occasional pothole, and not really have to worry about it.
The interior is well thought out with a plush camel interior standard across the entire range. Camel is just the name for the colour of the leather and carpeting, by the way. Standard features included a MP3 compatible CD player with Auxiliary input jacks for your iPod and in the Limited Series Everest you get a 6 CD Front Loader standard. Legroom for both the second and third row is quiet surprising really, because there is lots of it. Each row of seats is higher than the one before which means everyone in the vehicle has full view of what’s going on around them. The roof lining is sloped with air conditioning vents for each row.
Safety features include ABS brakes and well as EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) and G-sensors. What G-sensors do is they sense how quickly the driver is decelerating and work the ABS and EBD so that extra braking force is sent to the wheels that need it the most. The Everest also has driver and passenger front and side impact airbags, which keeps driver and front passenger safe in the event of an accident.
So in closing, will the Everest rock the Toyota Fortuner’s boat? I guess only time will tell, but it sure isn’t going to go down without a fight.