When you’re looking for a family car, there’s some key areas that you can’t overlook. Space and running costs. That’s often a tricky balance when it comes to the larger 4WD options that are on the market. So those points were very much at the front of my mind when I picked up the Ford Everest.
This is a beast of a car, and I knew it was big when at 6’2” I had to use the handle and the step to get into the driver’s seat. Once in there though, the comfort of the seat and the viewpoint you get from the elevated position is excellent. First impressions of the console and control options were that they had everything you needed. It might not look as flashy as others but really, in this type of car, I don’t want that. You have Ford’s touchscreen Sync panel, which covers entertainment, navigation and phone, then there’s a myriad of options for drive modes. It looks good and is simple to understand.
Space in this car is excellent. You have the option of upping it to a 7 seater, with two fold down seats in the boot space. Wherever you sit, you feel like you have enough room. My family is part of a food co-op, so my test run of what we could fit in the boot was our early morning run to the fruit and veg markets, where we’d pick up enough food for 10 families for the week.
It’s 5 degrees at 4.30am, but with the heat blasting out and the suspension absorbing any bumps and undulations on the road, this is an armchair ride in great comfort. We stock up on boxes and boxes of food, then comes the moment, will it all fit in the boot? Of course it did, how could I ever doubt it. There’s room for every single box, and then some. We even pop back for more apples and there’s space for those without even having to shuffle anything around. It’s quite the opposite of the oversized game of Tetris we have to do with our normal car on these occasions.
Driving on normal city roads is another good yard stick for a 4WD, and the Everest is very comfortable as a city slicker. Yes it’s big, but I never felt like I was hogging two lanes or bullying people into moving out of my way because I had a big car. It’s got plenty of power, as you would expect, and putting your foot down when you need to get away quickly is met with a nice roar and an instant acceleration (in fact the front lifts slightly and I could never get the image out of my head of Hungry Hippos when that happened).
Parking was a breeze in the Everest, I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but it must have been a combination of the excellent wing mirrors and the rear camera that made every parallel park I did in my inner city suburb a breeze. Not once did I have to try again, I was in comfortably and quickly.
I’m a 4WD drive beginner, but made sure I searched out some dirt roads to give this thing a real once over. WOW… what fun. Rather than seeking out the dry smooth line, you can comfortably take the Everest over whatever is thrown at you. It comfortably tackles deep water, large rocks, steep descents or a loose road surface. Flicking through the different drive modes you could feel the difference and the benefit. Call me a big kid, but I had so much fun seeking out puddles and taking them on, getting this vehicle dirty, it’s what it’s made for. Coupled with the space and I’d have no hesitations in packing my family up and taking it out the back of beyond for a camping trip. You wouldn’t be short of power too, every which way you look there’s outlets for power… in the front, back, boot… you name it, it’s there. We even discussed the wet weather option, when it’s raining so much you have to sleep in your car – if we cleared the boot out, we would be pretty comfortable stretched out in there. It may seem a bit vain to talk about the looks of this car, given it’s built for a purpose, but I really think it looks good. It’s big, but doesn’t look chunky. It has a sleekness about it and it’s definitely photogenic.
As for the cost of running, I’ve always been wary of vehicles of this size chewing through fuel at a rate of knots. I found the Everest pretty good, averaging around 10.5L per 100km and that was a mix of both highway, off road and city driving. The 3.2 litre diesel engine does its job, without denting your wallet too much.
A review of a car by me is never complete without a note about something quirky and the opinion of my three-year-old son. Congratulations to the Ford Everest, the sound of your indicator is my favourite of any car so far this year. My son’s seal of approval was when he fell asleep on the bumpiest dirt road we could find, the smooth ride the Everest meant he stayed fast asleep… bravo!