Ford Territory 2011 News

Here are our top 10 cars released in the first 25 years of this century.

Aussie car fans and nostalgia buffs will tell you that local motoring reached its peak in the 1970s.

Ford has issued a recall on the Ford Territory for a defective impact sensor. The recall on the Ford SZ Territory is to fix a problem with the vehicle's left-hand C-pillar side impact sensor.The recall notice says there is a possibility that a sensor that forms part of the vehicle's supplemental restraint system may not have been secured.This could mean that in the event of a side collision, the side curtain airbag may not operate correctly, possibly resulting in serious injury to the occupant.Ford says only a small number of the vehicles are affected. The problem occurred in 134 Territorys built between 29 March  - 26 April 2012.

Hundreds of new and updated cars arrive in Australia each year but only one is good enough to make the honour role for Carsguide COTY.This time around the prize fight is tougher than ever, with new arrivals for 2011 covering every size and price class, from the ordinary Chery J1 from China to the exotic Ferrari 458 Italia from Italy. Neither of them makes the COTY cut, but that's another story ...The reach for COTY 2011 contenders actually stretches back to the final months of last year, to include a couple of cars that just missed the 2011 cutoff, and this time around the newcomers must have hit showrooms by December 1.So, unfortunately, the all-new Toyota Camry is a non-starter. It's the same for the make-or-break four-cylinder Falcon.But the class of 2011 covers all the bases, from affordable mini cars through family and prestige cars to a hot new coupe. The hopefuls come from Europe, Asia and Japan, as well as right home in Australia.Setting the field for 2011 was not easy, particularly with the outgoing champion - the Volkswagen Polo - still casting a considerable shadow.But each of the COTY judges, who cover the Carsguide contenders and drive them in all conditions from coast to coast, has called up their personal favourites from Alfa Romeo through to Volkswagen to help guide the selection process.Then it is the final cull by the COTY veterans to produce the top 10 for a gruelling two-day shootout to consider everything from design and safety through to value and their driving ability on a wide range of roads from Ford's You Yangs proving ground to freeways, suburban streets and gravel roads on the outskirts of Melbourne.The field is set, the race is about to be run, but we cannot get ahead of ourselves.So here are the 10 COTY contenders ... now it's over to the judges: 

Few cars polarized Carsguide opinion like the Ford Territory turbodiesel.Comments for the big SUV were all over the road, from "dated, but effective" to "it's a bus".The 2.7-litre engine takes a moment to overcome more than two-tonnes of mass either from standstill or when accelerating around town. Get it up to speed, though, and it's hard to criticise the ride.There's some body roll when it is pitched into a corner ... but few drivers are going to drive the seven-seater that hard with their family on board. The SZ range also has an anti-rollover function linked to the stability control, so tipping the Territory should take some doing.The features in the Titanium model are extensive, from a hi-res touchscreen for the satnav, sound and Bluetooth functions to an Alpine DVD player with a pair of headphones for the first row of rear seat occupants.There are more efficient turbodiesels on the market but you will also pay more for them in this segment.The Territory is the grand old lady of the Ford fleet and continues to defy its age (it was launched in 2004) by selling strongly. That appeal earned it a spot in the field, but it couldn't keep up with the smart young things it was stacked up against.Ford Territory Titanium AWDPrice: $63,240Engine: 2.7-litre turbodiesel, 140kW/440NmTransmission: Six-speed automaticThirst: 9.0 litres/100km, 236g/km CO2.

Ford has taken out three of the six categories in the CarsGuide People’s Choice award.

Married with a daughter (who is also a Ford fan), Mr Watson currently has an FPV GT 335 sedan, the latest in a long line of Ford products."We have had around 20 Fords - various models, not just Falcons - after some Holdens. We have had many Fords, one has followed the other ever since and we have no plans to change camps," he says.Mr Watson looks at the red versus blue rivalry as something that is now generational. "When it started it was Moffat versus Brock and has grown since then to have people either red or blue, now we're talking second and third generation fans as children follow their parents," he says.The family has had an FPV GT since April - the supercharged 335kW version - and now wouldn't have anything else. "I absolutely love it, the supercharged V8 has plenty of power - we use it for normal road work, not track days, we don't push it that hard, but it has plenty of poke for overtaking," he says."We're also restoring an old XB Falcon - a full bare-metal restoration - with 393 stroker V8, that will sit proudly next to the new GT," he says.A big shed and a tolerant wife are two key ingredients to Daryl Leaker's impressive stable of Holden product. The 1998 HSV Senator Signature 220i shares garage space with a number of Holden, HSV and HDT machines."I've got a very big shed for them all, I've always liked Holdens because my father was a Holden salesman so it is in the blood I guess," he says.Mr Leaker hasn't always just owned Holdens - a Mitsubishi Pajero replaced a Ford Territory recently, but there balance of power has always been to the General, harking back to his formative years with a Holden salesman for a father."It was great when Dad was selling Holdens, I got to drive GTR XU-1s and 327 Monaros when they were brand new," he says. "When I turned 21 I bought myself an HQ GTS coupe and got some discount through my father, I wish I still had that car as well."The HSV shares shed space with a VN SS Group A and an HSV Statesman, as well as a HDT VK Brock Commodore SS in silver and an HJ Monaro four-door."I'll always be a Holden fan - I think I'd die of shock if the missus came home in an FPV GT," he says.

A new cylinder head and intake manifold help the petrol mill to a claimed fuel figure of 10.6 litres/100km for both the five and seven-seaters.  The petrol engine is good for 195kW (up from 190kW) and 391Nm (up from 383Nm) while the diesel puts out 140kW/440Nm. The rear-drive diesel has a claimed fuel use of 8.2 litres/100km; the all-wheel drive model uses 8.8 litres/100km.  All models now come with a six-speed automatic transmission as standard. NVH Making the car quieter for front-to-rear seat conversations was a key priority for the noise, vibration and handling team.  New seals around the rear tailgate, more attention to aerodynamics - hence the new side mirrors - and better insulation in the bulkhead and beneath the floor all contribute to trimming decibels from the SZ range. The team even looked at a double bulkhead to cut interior noise but instead opted for a plastic layer sandwiched in the regular sound-deadening material that achieves 95 per cent of the insulation for none of the weight or manufacturing cost. NVH head Michael Stellamanns says interior quietness is a key trigger for customer satisfaction. That's why the diesel was tested in the most demanding conditions - a drive-through restaurant with the window down, car idling and sound bouncing off the bitumen and wall - to ensure the diesel "cackle" wasn't intrusive. DYNAMICS Anyone who drives an SZ Territory will pick the difference in steering, says Ford's vehicle dynamics manager Alex de Vluyt.  Put that down to a new electronic power-assisted steering system and revised front suspension geometry intended to make the new Territory less responsive to wheel inputs at high speeds. Conversely, better responsiveness in parking situations was another target and one de Vlugt says will make the SZ model stand out.  Keeping the big SUV flat while cornering, accelerating or braking was another focus and to achieve the "roll agility of a Mondeo" the front anti-roll bar has been stiffened by 30 per cent, the front springs are 35 per cent stiffer and the rear springs have been beefed up by 10 per cent.

The painfully delayed diesel engine variant of the Ford Territory is partially funded by a $42 million green subsidy. It runs far leaner and cleaner than the petrol model and it's crucial to the survival of the only Australian-made SUV.This was therefore the perfect moment for Tony Abbott to propose cutting $500 million over four years from a program of automotive research and development.  Any advance on that? Julia? Tony? The car industry was disgusted that Labor reneged on an agreement to which it had obliged Holden, Ford and Toyota to commit in writing and did so without so much as an preemptive email to the effect of: “Queensland's up that certain creek, boys, so all bets are off.''After all, the three local producers have done alright under the green fund.In addition to the diesel Territory, Ford will this year roll out a four-cylinder turbo engine and an advanced LPG system for its sales-crippled Falcon, a $230 million investment. Holden is about to produce the Cruze medium car in Adelaide and Toyota has the means to make hybrids in Melbourne.But Abbott's notion of gutting the Automotive Transformation Scheme is “absolutely catastrophic'', as the peak industry body possibly understated it.  This is precisely not the moment to be playing fast and loose with our biggest manufacturing industry. Yes, previously the Australian car industry has been about as worthy of public subsidy as a travelling workshop on interpretative dance. Once it was complacent and smug behind tariff ramparts more than 57 per cent tall. Joke from the recent past: “What do you call a lot full of Holdens and Fords? Answer: A Jurassic car park.''The malaise lingered long into the last decade. Ford's poor decision making is entirely to blame for its diesel delay. Instead they went for turbo petrol which it’s since dropped.Yet while the local car making operations remain mere colonial outposts of vast auto empires, there are not a few governments of emerging industrial nations that would give a great deal more than ours to assist an industry that in a good year is worth $5 billion in export earnings, supports 60,000 jobs and is responsible for some $700 million dollars in research and development.Many first world nations do so. An example - Volkswagen is intent upon knocking Toyota off its perch of world's leading auto maker by decade's end. VW is the grateful recipient of state and federal funding, one of Germany's biggest employers and producer of the world's most sophisticated and greenest affordable car technology.As Abbott strives to outbid Gillard in being seen as the most compassionate in response to the staggering blows sustained by Queensland, the car industry makes a tempting target.Implying, as some are, that its funding is welfare for fat cats is emotive and dishonest. Acting as though this funding is dispensable at the time the industry has earned the right to government assistance is flagrantly counter productive.Be an arch rationalist and insist that we shouldn't support the car making - but acknowledge that if we lose this manufacturing capability, we won't get it back.  Some of us prefer to think of this country as capable of being something more than a quarry for China.

All the signs are positive after a strong run through 2010 on everything from new models and new technology to the price of cars and petrol and even motorsport.Last year produced a million-plus result in showrooms, only the third on record and a huge turnover in a country with a population of just over 22 million people. And the sales total for 2011 is likely to be even bigger.The fuel for the sales growth will come, as usual, from the importance of cars in Australia and the incredible number of new models that his showrooms each year. No-one can underestimate the sense of freedom that Australians tap with their cars, or the genuine needs of people who rely on cars for everything from day-to-day commuting to long-distance nomadic work.Car companies are currently doing all they can to clear their backlog of 2010 stock in readiness for the first arrivals of 2011, which means great buying for at least another month. Cars are like horses, because they all get a year older on the same day, and anything in a showroom now with a 2010 build date is out-of-date.But there is nothing out-of-date about the lineup for the first major motoring event of the year, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It opens next week with the unveiling of everything from a Hyundai Veloster and the next Honda Civic to a new Porsche supercar.There will be lots of news from Detroit, perhaps including Holden's plans to revive Commodore exports to the USA and the potential future of the Ford Falcon. Chrysler will show its new 300C, which will take more than a year to reach Australia, and Chinese brands are promising another new wave of technology and small cars.Chinese cars will be one of the big stories in Australia in 2011, with Chery, Geely and Great Wall all planning to start passenger car sales down under. Great Wall is already doing well with its value-priced utes and SUVs but it's Chery that is looking for the big breakthrough with baby cars that undercut the Korean price leaders.On the motorsport front, the Dakar Rally is already blazing through South America - with Bruce Garland doing his best for Australia in an Isuzu D-Max - the V8 Supercar championship will be another boomer, and Mark Webber will be looking to improve on his 2011 season in another year with Red Bull Racing.Melbourne will be motoring central again this year, not just because it is home to the three local carmakers - Holden, which has the local Cruze this year; Ford, which is about to go with the updated Territory; and Toyota, which has an all-new Camry for 2011 - but also thanks to everything from the Australian Grand Prix to the latest running of the Australian International Motor Show.The organisers of the show have confirmed this year's dates as July 1-10, with the promise of a truly world-class event. Moving the date is planning to bring more people indoors to look at the shiny new metal and, more importantly, open up a new position on the global motoring calendar to allow the Australian show to become a major Asian motoring event each year.