Road test: Spacious Ford Everest Limited will serve off-roaders and offspring well

Pricing in the UAE starts at Dh157,395 for the XLS base model, inclusive of a five-year service package

The Ford Everest has various terrain modes, including Sand, and is a bona-fide off-road SUV. All photos: Gautam Sharma

The Everest is powered by a 2.3-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost engine, mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission

The car has a dedicated off-road screen with a 360-degree camera and information about pitch and roll

The second-row seats are spacious and can be folded down for more boot space

Despite its 2.4 tonnes, the vehicle is agile and crisp in its responses

The Everest Limited comes with 21-inch rims

Ford formerly derived the lion’s share of its UAE sales from flogging sedans and hatchbacks, but in recent years, it’s evolved into a purveyor of primarily SUVs and crossovers.

The brand has added yet another rung to its burgeoning all-terrain line-up, with the recently launched Everest squaring up against the likes of the rugged Toyota Prado and Nissan Xterra.

Like these two rivals, and unlike its own stablemates such as the Territory, Edge and Explorer, the Everest is underpinned by a robust body-on-frame (also referred to as ladder-frame) chassis, which means it’s built to take a pounding in tough terrain.

Although sharing much of its hardware with the hardworking Ranger pick-up, the Everest gets coil-spring rear suspension (in lieu of leaf springs), and the pay-off from this is better ride quality and more composed handling on the tarmac.

Everest pricing in the UAE starts at Dh157,395 for the XLS base model, inclusive of a five-year/100,000km service package and warranty. We tested the top-spec Limited, which comes loaded with bells and whistles, inflating its price to a not-unreasonable Dh199,395. The price positioning enables the Everest to undercut the hot-selling Prado, although it’s more expensive than the somewhat spartan Xterra.

Where the Prado and range-topping Xterra rely on V6 power, propulsion for the Everest comes from a 2.3-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost engine, mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. The turbo motor ekes out 299hp and 420Nm and, while these outputs sound healthy on paper, performance is best described as leisurely as the 4WD Everest tips the scales at a hulking 2.4 tonnes.

The EcoBoost engine doesn’t have much oomph at low to middling revs, which means you need to cane it hard to extract anything resembling lively acceleration. Compounding matters is the fact that the 10-speed auto is calibrated to shift up early in the chase for fuel economy.

Apart from this, the Everest is a pleasant chariot to pedal. Ride quality is decently supple, and the cabin is well insulated from ambient noise. Many body-on-frame chassis SUVs feel somewhat ponderous on the road, but that’s not the case here as the Everest is respectably agile and crisp in its responses.

The cabin has a premium feel to it – especially in the case of the leather-upholstered Limited – with soft-touch materials used extensively on the door trims and dashboard. The Everest Limited’s goodies quota includes a 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, 12-inch infotainment touchscreen, dual-panel sunroof, dual-zone air-conditioning and 21-inch rims.

The second-row seats are comfy and spacious, but the third-row pews are best left to occupants under 1.5 metres. Luggage space is a modest 239 litres with all the seats in place, but folding down the third-row seats expands the quota to a more usable 898 litres. Fold down the second row as well and you’ll have 1,823 litres at your disposal – more than enough for a couple of mountain bikes or Ikea furniture, as long as you’re not transporting a bed or large wardrobe.

As alluded to earlier, the Everest is not a pretend off-roader as its robust construction is complemented by various terrain modes (including Sand) and a 4WD system that uses an electronically controlled clutch pack to distribute torque between front and rear axles in a 50/50 split.

There’s also a locking rear differential to help you tackle deep sand or big rocks. If you still get stuck, there are two recovery points at the front and one in the rear, so the vehicle can be yanked out of its predicament.

Ford quotes a wading depth of 800mm for the Everest and towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes, adding to its versatility. Also helpful when venturing off the beaten track is a dedicated off-road screen with a 360-degree camera and information such as the vehicle’s pitch and roll.

Visually, the Everest has more in common with the Ranger than the rakish Territory, Edge and Explorer, and this is a clue that it targets a different audience.

Everest buyers will typically be those who have at least some aspirations of venturing beyond the tarmac, although some will be enticed by its generous interior space and value-for-money proposition. They’re unlikely to be disappointed in either case, as the Everest stacks up well as an all-purpose, all-terrain family SUV.