Ford Everest RWD 2017 review

Richard Berry road tests and reviews the new Ford Everest rear-wheel drive with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch.

No SUV will ever really replace the Ford Territory. Nope, but Ford’s hoping a few different SUVs might be able to fill the gap and the new rear-wheel drive version of the Everest could be one of them.

While we loved the Territory for the way it drove, its practicality and because it was made by Aussies, as an SUV it couldn’t do everything everybody wanted. Being based on the Falcon platform limited the Territory’s off-road and towing ability.

Enter the Everest in 2015 – a seven-seat hardcore off-road SUV. Problem solved, right?. Well no, not really, see while it’s a total genius over tough terrain it’s not the most dynamic or agile SUV on the road, and is priced more like a Prado than logical rivals like the Fortuner and Pajero Sport. 

Now a rear-wheel drive version of the mid-spec Everest Trend has been introduced. So what’s the point? Isn’t this the SUV equivalent of clipping a bird’s wings? Or is this the SUV you’ve been waiting years for?

Even with just rear-wheel drive you’ll be able to cross some fairly rough terrain.

Design

The way you can tell the new rear-wheel drive Everest from a four-wheel drive visually is… no you can’t. Well there is one indication – there isn’t a 4WD badge on the tailgate. Apart from that its looks and dimensions are identical.

Like its all-paw brother the rear-wheel drive is 4892mm end-to-end, 2180mm wide, has a wheelbase of 2850mm and stands 1837mm tall.

It also has the same 225mm ground clearance as the four-wheel drive, so even with just rear-wheel drive you’ll be able to cross some fairly rough terrain. The rear-wheel drive also has the same 800mm wading depth.

Compared to the Toyota Fortuner and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport the Everest is a better looking beast. Sure that grille is a bit toy-like, but this is a tough looking truck.

For now, the rear-wheel drive Everest only comes in the Trend grade. The cabin is stylish, but not luxurious with cloth seats and some hard plastics.

You may have expected the lighter two-wheel drivetrain to result in a bigger payload rating, but a 100kg lighter rear axle rating has contributed to a 595kg payload that is actually 98kg less than the four-wheel drive Everest Trend. The GCM is also now 100kg less at 5700kg, but it retains the same 3000kg braked tow rating as the four-wheel drive Everests. 

Practicality

The Everest is big, but at 191cm I have more legroom in a Toyota Corolla when I sit behind by driving position. Still there’s a couple of fingers' width of space between my knees and the seatback. The third row is a bit tight for me but it’s impressively spacious and comfortable back there for a seven seater. Headroom throughout the entire cabin is excellent.

Storage is also great with two cup holders up front, two in the fold-down armrest in the second row and another two in back seats. There’s also bottle holders in all the doors.

With the third row in place, boot space is 450 litres and with the back seats folded to the floor luggage capacity grows to 1050 litres. That volume is measured in SAE units and not the VDA which Toyota and Mitsubishi use, so be careful not the compare the figures.

Under the boot floor are more storage areas, there’s also a large bin under the armrest in the front big enough for three 500ml bottles.

There’s four 12 volt power outlets and two USB ports.

Price and features

The list price of the rear-wheel drive Trend is $55,990 – five grand less than the four-wheel drive in the same grade, but that’s still $3500 more than the top-of-the-range rear-wheel drive diesel Territory.

Everests are pricey and more expensive that their Fortuner and Pajero Sport rivals.

The Trend is the pick of the range, however, and comes with an 8-inch display with Ford’s latest SYNC 3 media system. There’s also sat nav, front and rear parking sensors, dual-zone climate control, auto wipers, power tailgate and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Check out the safety section below, too, because the Trend grade comes standard with some great advanced tech in this department.

Engine and transmission

The rear-wheel drive Everest has the same 143kW/470Nm 3.2-litre five-cylinder turbo diesel and six speed automatic transmission as the rest of the line-up, but in the case of the rear-wheel drive power is sent to just the rear wheels. Unlike the Ranger ute which the Everest is based on there is no six-speed manual gearbox.

Fuel Consumption

Ford claims the average combined fuel consumption of the rear-wheel drive Everest is 8.4L/100km which is just 0.1L/100km less than the four-wheel drive. It all adds up though and over time this should see you save a little bit of money at the pump.

Driving

The real benefit of the rear-wheel drive Everest is an improvement in ride, handling and steering on the road. We’re not talking sportscar performance or even the same level of drivability of a car-based SUV such as the Territory, that’s just not physically possible for a vehicle that has a ladder frame chassis and was originally built for hardcore off-roading.

That said, the rear-wheel drive Everest is better to drive on the road than the four-wheel drive Everest – much better. Taking out the hardware needed to drive the front wheels has meant a 98kg weight reduction, but for anybody that’s been on diet it’s not just about losing weight it’s about where you lose it.

In the case of the Everest much of that weight hung out past the front axle. Picture yourself pushing a shopping trolley with your mate hanging off the front of it – as hilarious as it might seem at 3am it’s much easier to steer without the drongo on there. Same thing with the Everest, it’s now feels better balanced and less nose heavy.

Losing the weight caused the Everest to sit higher and Ford’s engineers had to bring it back down to its previous ride height and this meant new suspension.

The conversion to rear-wheel drive also meant the steering had to be retuned, too. The steering is light, quick and accurate. Along with better balance, being rear wheel drive means there’s no torque steer either.

The overall result is impressive. The Everest feels more car-like to drive – sure you’re still high up on stilts but coming into my first roundabout for a right-hand turn with the type of speed that would have had had the four-wheel drive wanting to continue straight on revealed the rear-wheel drive could change direction far more easily.

As we headed into the hills and the roads turned twisty the Everest showed off its new skills again. Would I have preferred to be in a V8 Mustang? Hell yes. But was the experience of piloting an off-road ute-based SUV through hairpins and over country road dips and bumps easy and enjoyable? Yeah.

As with the rest of Everest line-up the seating position is quite upright, but pedal feel is great and visibility is also good.

There wasn’t an opportunity during the launch to take the rear-wheel drive Everest off-road, but that’s okay seeing as most of its buyers won’t be doing any heavy duty bush bashing. At the same time thanks to its good ground clearance and ladder frame the rear-wheel drive Everest will go where soft roaders can’t.

Safety

The rear-wheel drive Everest has been given the maximum five-star ANCAP rating. Along with seven airbags, including curtain airbags which extend all the way to the third row, the Trend grade adds adaptive cruise control with auto braking and forward collision alert. There’s also a lane keeping system which will steer you back into your lane if you stray out of it and an emergency assistance call function which will ring the emergency services if a significant collision is detected.

For child seats the second row has two ISOFIX mounts on the outside and three top-tether anchor points, while the third row as two top tethers.

Ownership

The Everest is covered by Ford’s three-year/100,000km warranty. Servicing is recommended every 15,000km or annually. The first service is capped at $390, the second at $520, the third is $480, then $520 and back to $390 for the five-year service. The Ford website calculates the service prices for up to 33 years of ownership.