Zeekr X vs Ford Everest

What's the difference?

It's a good thing in a small package, this Zeekr X, and there are a lot of things I like about it. In fact, the only sticking point for me is the price. But that's all about perspective. If you see this as a newcomer Chinese brand, then yes, there are a lot of more affordable options out there. But if you see it as a premium player, it's really a more affordable version of a Volvo.

Note: The author, Andrew Chesterton, is a co-owner of Smart As Media, a content agency and media distribution service with a number of automotive brands among its clients. When producing content for CarsGuide, he does so in accordance with the CarsGuide Editorial Guidelines and Code of Ethics, and the views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

The standard Ford Everest – powered by a 2.0-litre twin-turbo or a V6 – is a nicely refined, comfortable and capable 4WD with plenty of potential as a touring vehicle.

The Tremor treatment doesn’t turn the Everest into a Raptor-esque Everest but it does offer low-key substantial off-road improvements to what was already an impressive 4WD wagon.

This sensible package of upgrades – more ground clearance, off-road-suited suspension, and decent all-terrain tyres – gives this Everest a mild 4WD boost.

The visual changes aren’t massive. This AWD version welcomes a couple of new exterior colours, including the 'Matt Khaki Green' of our test car. It also gets the two-tone black roof and there are new 20-inch alloy designs.

Elsewhere, it's the futuristic-style of design we’re used to which differentiates the X from its Volvo EX30 twin under the skin.

Inside, this is a seriously well-equipped and polished-feeling small SUV, and — unlike some of the newcomer brands to Australia — it all feels very high quality and well put together. And that includes the material choices.

I don’t even hate the fact that most of the functions are controlled via this screen, thanks to the little shortcuts glued to the home screen. I do, however, hate the fact that there’s no easy way to change the wing mirrors or shortcuts for toning down some of the safety stuff.

That aside, though, it’s a nice and high-quality feeling space.

Lift any vehicle a few millimetres and throw decent all-terrain tyres on it and that one-two combination instantly gives the vehicle more track-cred. 

And so it goes for the Everest Tremor.

But there’s more going on here than simply increased height and a swap-out of rubber over standard Everests.

As mentioned, it gets Bilstein dampers, new springs, and tough all-terrain tyres which combine to give the Tremor a solid presence.

The new honeycomb-pattern grille with auxiliary LED lights, quite visible steel bash plate, pronounced heavy-duty side steps and orange Tremor branding add to the package.

And inside it gets those Tremor-specific touches, such as the leather-accented seats embossed with Tremor branding, ebony-coloured interior accents and all-weather floor mats.

You know you're in a small vehicle when you can't fit two large (not those crazy American-style jumbo cups, just normal coffee-shop takeaway) coffees in the cupholders, but so it is with the Zeekr X.

The small SUV's 4432mm length, 1836mm in width and 1566mm height doesn't leave much room to spread out up front. There's ample room for driver and passenger, of course, but we are talking about a small vehicle here.

Clever storage helps to mitigate that, though, especially the super-deep storage space in the centre console and the very clever fridge that separates the driver and passenger seats.

Weirdly, though, the space doesn’t feel overly tight in the back seat. We had a massive baby seat in there, and that fit without issue. And full size humans can genuinely get pretty comfortable. I'm 175cm, and I had enough knee and headroom.

In the boot, there’s 404 litres of volume with the rear seats upright and 1247 litres with them folded flat. And it’s worth pointing out this isn’t intended to be a family car, but there’s certainly enough space for the shopping... and a pram.

The Tremor cabin is a comfortably familiar interior – it’s functional and roomy and so scores well in terms of overall practicality.

Driver and front passenger have easy access to storage options, such as the centre console, cupholders, door pockets and a shelf for your everyday-carry stuff as well as charging points (wireless charger, USB and USB-C sockets).

There’s plenty of space for the driver and all passengers (front, second and third row), and the seats are supportive and comfortable, even in the third row.

While that pew is a straight-up-and-down set-up it still manages not to be a complete punishment for those passengers.

Those in the second row get a fold-down centre armrest, door pockets and map pockets as well as air con vents and controls.

The rear cargo area has standard Everest features – with cargo tie-down points and a 12-volt outlet.

A niggle, and one I’ve found in other new-generation Fords, is the multimedia system. It's a decent size with clear and crisp colours and is easy to operate, but I needed to repeatedly stab a finger onto the screen in order to work my way through menus and sub-menus to figure it all out.

My advice is get your head around all of the multimedia system’s functionality while the vehicle is stationary because, to me, some of the screen workings are counter-intuitive and it’s easier and safer to learn all of that while the vehicle is not moving.

Also, the fact some controls are on-screen and some are off it creates more than a little confusion.

The seven-seat Ford Everest Tremor 4WD 3.0 V6 diesel auto has a listed price of $76,590, excluding on-road costs, putting it between the Sport and top-spec Platinum in the Everest range. 

That pricing pits it against the likes of the GWM Tank 500 Hybrid Ultra ($73,990 drive-away), Isuzu MU-X ($74,400, excluding on-road costs) and Toyota Prado GXL ($79,990, excluding on-road costs).

However, price 'as tested' on our test vehicle is $84,390 because this Tremor has 'Prestige Paint' ($700, 'Command Grey'), the 'Premium Seat Pack' ($1100), 'Touring Pack' ($2500) and 'Rough Terrain Pack' ($3500).

The Tremor Premium Seat Pack includes heated/vented front driver and passenger seats, eight-way power passenger seat and 10-way power driver seat (with memory).

The Touring Pack includes a 360-degree view camera set-up, tow bar and hitch, an integrated trailer brake controller and trailer back-up assist.

The Rough Terrain Pack includes what Ford Australia describes as “Under Vehicle Armour” (aka bash plates), a Rough Terrain Bar (a nudge bar on steroids) and an auxiliary switch bank.

Worth noting Ford Australia advises fitment of the Rough Terrain Bar “means the vehicle is considered 'unrated' by ANCAP”.

Also available is the 'Towing Pack', which includes a tow bar and integrated trailer brake controller.

Otherwise, standard Tremor features include a 12.0-inch digital multimedia system (wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), wireless charging, an 8.0-inch digital driver’s display, as well as heavy-duty side steps and black wheel arch moldings, among many other things.

It also gets Tremor-embossed leather-accented seats, ebony-coloured interior accents and all-weather floor mats.

As mentioned earlier, the Everest Tremor gets Bilstein dampers, new springs, the all-terrain tyres (LT 265/70 R17) and low-speed Rock Crawl added to its off-road driving modes.

Other Tremor-specific features include a new grille, auxiliary LED lights, a steel bash plate, heavy-duty side steps and orange Tremor branding.

As a result of the Tremor treatment, this Everest has a claimed 255mm ground clearance (26mm more than the closest Everest model), the best off-road angles of any Everest (more about those in the Driving section) and the tightest turning circle of the Everest line-up (measuring 11.65m to best the rest of the field’s 11.8m).

Exterior paint choices include the no-extra-cost 'Arctic White', or 'Shadow Black', 'Meteor Grey', or 'Command Grey' which all cost $750.

The big news here is a more powerful rear motor – meaning you get more grunt whether you opt for the rear-wheel drive or this all-wheel drive.

In rear-drive form, that boosts your outputs from 200kW to 250kW, dropping the sprint to 100km/h to 5.6 seconds. In AWD guise, your new outputs are 365kW (up from 315kW) and 573Nm, and your sprint to 100km/h falls to 3.7 seconds.

As mentioned right at the start, the Everest Tremor has a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine – producing 184kW at 3250rpm and 600Nm at 1750-2250rpm – and that’s matched to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

It also gets the line-up’s full-time 4WD system. This system has selectable two-wheel drive (2H), four-wheel drive high-range (4H), four-wheel drive low-range (4L) and four-wheel drive automatic (4A = 4Auto) that sends drive to the front and rear axles as needed, and which can be safely used on high-traction surfaces, such as bitumen.

This is where it starts to get weird. The rear-drive Zeekr X is fitted with a 61kWh LFP battery, which can accept up to 230kW DC fast charging, taking you from 10 to 80 per cent charged in just 18 minutes. Total claimed range is 405km.

The flagship AWD, though, charges at a slower rate. It gets a 66kWh NMN battery and can only be charged at 150kW, meaning the same charge takes 30 minutes. Zeekr is promising a 415km driving range between charges.

The Tremor has the highest listed fuel consumption of the Everest line-up: 9.5L/100km on a combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle.

I recorded an average of 11.2L/100km on this test.

The Tremor has an 80-litre fuel tank so, going by my on-test fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 714km from a full tank.

Worth noting the Tremor requires AdBlue diesel-exhaust fluid.

Short answer? Pretty good, with some caveats.

I'm partial to a firmer ride. I find some Chinese car companies can feel like they get their suspension bits from Captain Snooze, such is the soft, pillowy ride served up. And to be honest, it makes me a little seasick at times.

The Zeekr is not like that. It has firmness dialled into the ride equation and can feel harsh at times, but also improves the drive experience, delivering connection and engagement at the cost of some sharpness on the wrong road. 

It's also faster than the model it replaces, but it's also one of those cars in which the real-life feeling doesn't quite match the on-paper promise.

This thing serves up supercar speed, but it doesn't feel like it from behind the wheel. Instead, the acceleration - especially from a rolling start - feels potent, but not biblical.

From a standing start it pauses for a moment, almost like an internal-combustion vehicle might, before delivering a quick (but not stratospheric) flow of power. None of that is a bad thing, by the way. Who wants their small SUV to accelerate like a supercar?

It's otherwise an entirely pleasant drive. The cabin is serene and quiet and it's a small car that doesn't feel like one. There's nothing light or tinny about the drive experience, instead there's a heft and quality.

Overall, the Tremor is nice to drive on road. It’s quiet, refined and comfortable and the engine and transmission make a cluey, unstressed pairing.

However, the Tremor’s suspension – engineered to improve the vehicle’s off-road capability – is firm through sections of back-country bitumen and even mildly corrugated bush tracks. 

Also, this Everest’s all-terrain tyres don’t help ride quality or noise levels on sealed surfaces. But that’s no surprise and a very minor trade-off when the Tremor's potential as a touring vehicle is so high.

On the open highway at cruising speed, the Tremor exhibits all of the smooth-driving characteristics the Everest line-up is well known for.

It sits nicely on the road, that wide wheel track (a 30mm increase in width to 1650mm) gives it a solid stance and this V6 ute simply rumbles along.

So, how does it perform in 4WD territory? Well, it’s based on the Everest Sport, which is no off-road loser, so you’d assume the Tremor would do okay.

However, we all know if you assume, it makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'… but the Tremor has been engineered to outperform the standard Everest in the dirty stuff. Unsurprising spoiler alert, it does, but only marginally.

The Everest Tremor is 4914mm long (without the towbar hitch receiver; 4978mm with), 2015mm wide (mirrors in; 2207mm, mirrors out) and 1904mm high.

It has a 2900mm wheelbase and a listed kerb weight of 2550kg, the latter making it the heaviest Everest in the line-up. 

This is not a diminutive wagon but it has the smallest turning circle (11.65m) in the Everest range and its dimensions don’t hamper it in the bush.

As mentioned earlier, when you add running ground clearance to any off-roader its off-road performance will be improved. The Tremor has more ground clearance (255mm) than its stablemates but, as with any measurements provided by vehicle manufacturers (ground clearance, wading depth, towing capacities, etc), always regard those figures with a healthy degree of scepticism.

Wading depth is listed as 800mm and its off-road angles are in line with market rivals: for your reference, approach, departure and ramp-over angles are listed as 32, 26.8 and 23.9 degrees, respectively.

This wagon’s 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 offers plenty of torque across a broad rev range, the 10-speed auto is clever – no flip-flopping between ratios here – and you can use the manual shifter if you get the urge.

Low-range gearing is adequate and the Tremor has an electronic rear diff lock.

The Tremor has a variety of selectable on- and off-road drive modes, including 'Normal', 'Eco', 'Tow/Haul', 'Slippery', 'Mud/Ruts', 'Sand and Rock' and the Tremor-specific 'Rock Crawl' plus a locking rear diff.

These off-road driving modes are no substitute for track-worthy 4WD mechanicals but they help by adjusting engine, throttle, transmission, braking, traction and stability controls to suit the driving conditions. 

Off-road traction control is effective without being spectacular. There’s a bit too much wheelspin for my liking.

Off-road applications are displayed on screen – with driveline/diff lock indicators, steering, pitch and roll angles depicted. Hill descent control held the Tremor to a steady 3.0-4.0km/h as I crawled down a difficult slope.

The power steering, light and sporty in all scenarios, has been tweaked with a heavy-duty tune and it retains a confident feel in difficult conditions.

Heavy-duty off-road engineering has bolstered the suspension set-up with new springs and Bilstein dampers with external reservoirs.

Wheel travel – how far the axle can move up and down vertically wheel-to-wheel relative to the chassis – is slightly better than a standard Everest’s, with this wagon’s tyres stretching a little further than the regular version’s.

Again, as I mentioned earlier, by replacing an off-roader’s standard road-biased rubber with a set of decent all-terrain tyres its off-road capability will be improved. And that’s exactly what Ford has done.

The Tremor's General Grabber all-terrain tyres feature light-truck construction. They are grippy and very effective in dirt, loose gravel, slippery clay and the like.

There are a few niggles, though.

I’ve previously expressed annoyance at the auto transmission shifter – a kind of joystick on a light cycle of steroids and just as touchy. It’s especially finicky on bumpy terrain but it’s another Everest-based characteristic to which I’ve become somewhat accustomed.

The operation of some off-road driver-assist tech can be confusing as it’s divided between the rotary dial (to select drive modes) and the screen (to engage the rear diff lock etc). Not a deal-breaker, but it takes some getting used to.

The brake pedal is spongy – taking some time between initial foot pressure to ‘biting', but then the brakes – discs all around – do clamp into action.

As for packability, there is a listed 259 litres (VDA) of space in the rear-most cargo area (with all three rows of seats in use), 898L (VDA) when the third row is stowed away and 1823L (VDA) when the second and third rows are lowered.

The Everest Tremor has a listed payload of 690kg, and towing capacities of 750kg (unbraked) and 3500kg (braked).

It has a listed GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) of 3240kg and a GCM (Gross Combined Mass) of 6350kg. Remember: any onboard loads – such as people, pets, camping gear or aftermarket equipment (bullbar, roof rack etc) – must figure in your payload and GVM equations.

The Everest Tremor has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2022.

Standard safety features include nine airbags - front, front side, driver and front passenger knee, full-length curtains plus a front-centre bag - AEB, adaptive cruise control (with stop and go), lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring (with cross-traffic alert and trailer coverage), a reversing camera and more.

Off-road driver-assist tech includes specific driving modes, Rock Crawl mode, 'Trail Control' and 'Trail Turn Assist'.

And remember, as mentioned earlier, if the Rough Terrain Bar is fitted, the vehicle is regarded as 'unrated' by ANCAP.

Zeekr's coverage is an underwhelming five-year, unlimited-kilometres, while the drive battery is covered for eight-years or 160,000km. There’s five years' of roadside assistance thrown in, too.

Service intervals are 20,000km or 12 months, with five years' of ownership setting you back a hefty $3072; an average of $614 per workshop visit.

There are currently 16 Zeekr dealers in Australia - two of which are 'pop-up' sites rather than full retail centres.

Multiple locations in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with the ACT, Adelaide and Perth also covered. Others include Geelong and the Sunshine Coast but so far you're out of luck in Tassie or the NT.

The Tremor is covered by Ford’s five year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is the standard for this part of the market.

Roadside assistance is complimentary for 12 months after each service, extended for up to seven years as long as the Tremor’s owner has it serviced at an authorised Ford dealership.

Service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km and a capped-price servicing plan applies to the first five years/75,000km with a $2550 cost attached ($510 per service).

For reference a comparable Toyota LandCruiser Prado will set you back $390 per workshop visit, but that car's service interval is more frequent at six months/10,000km.