Ford Territory TDCi tested in Melbourne, Australia
A number of months back, the Malaysia Government announced that motor vehicles imported from Japan and Australia will receive gradual reduction in duties until 2016 when they will be tax free altogether. Sounds exciting at first, until you ask the question, ‘are we even importing anything from Australia?’
Despite the current political uncertainty, let us play along and assume for a moment that the proposed reduction of duties will go ahead, so how would that benefit us? The last time a CBU from Australia arrived at Port Klang, it was a rebadged Holden Commodore sold as the Chevrolet Lumina, but it did not exactly set the Malaysian motoring world alight and it has since disappeared from public consciousness.
Australia’s market is not significantly larger than Malaysia’s with a total population of 23 million people buying cars at a rate of one million vehicles per year. Once thriving under protectionist policies, the Australian automotive industry has been shrinking for years with plants shutting down one after another. Today, Australia churns out 200,000 vehicles a year give or take, with the remainder of demand being satisfied by imported vehicles. Previously dominated by the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore, Australia’s roads are now being filled by Mazdas, Subarus, and Toyotas.
With this, the burning question no longer revolves around whether we are importing anything from Australia, but rather if there is even anything worth importing at all. GM could conceivably reroute sourcing of the Chevrolet Cruze from Korea to Holden’s plant in Elizabeth, South Australia, but we doubt too many Malaysians will take the Falcon and Commodore to their hearts. That leaves us then, with the Ford Territory, an SUV developed by Ford Australia specifically for the Australia and New Zealand markets.
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| The Territory is a Ford Australia project, developed on the Ford Falcon platform. |
Prices & Variants
We don’t know if Ford is even planning to export the Territory to Malaysia, but the trouble which they went to arrange a test car for me during my one-week holiday in Melbourne recently suggests that the thought is probably crossing the mind of someone upstairs. Ford sent a limited shipment of 100 units to Thailand, but there has yet to be any follow-up on that since.
The Territory’s line-up in Australia starts at AU$44,015 (RM137,395) drive-away for the basic TX spec model with a 4.0-litre petrol engine driving only the rear wheels. Moving up, buyers are presented with the choice of higher-spec TS and Titanium trim levels. Diesel engine is a cost option and so is all-wheel drive, but Ford does not offer an AWD petrol combination. All variants come with a 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission as standard.
The most expensive possible option is the Titanium 2.7 TDCi AWD priced at AU$67,872 (RM212,291) drive-away before options, and there was a long list of them presented in Ford Australia’s online car configurator (here’s the link, go knock yourself out). Our Titanium TDCi RWD test car costs a smidgen lower at AU$63,836 (RM199,295). For comparison’s sake, the Ford Mondeo Titanium 2.0 EcoBoost which sells for RM193,888 here in Malaysia, goes for AU$49,165 (RM153,479) in Australia.
Editor’s Note: Assuming an exchange rate of RM3.12 to AU$1.00.
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| Projector headlamps with LED position lamps mounted separately on the bumper. No fog lamps. |
Specifications
The 4.0-litre inline-six serving as the Territory’s base engine is a natural breather, cranking out 261hp and 391Nm to drive its rear wheels. Ticking the diesel option swaps in a 2.7-litre turbocharged direct injection V6 that makes do with less power at 188hp, but twisting out usefully more torque of 440Nm from a low 1,900rpm.
SUVs are typically better suited to diesel engines than petrol and this becomes increasingly true the bigger your vehicle gets. At the Territory’s size, the effortless ‘get-up-go’ facilitated by the diesel engine’s strong low-end torque makes for a significantly more pleasant driving preposition, and don’t forget the fuel consumption benefits of a diesel engine – the petrol Territory downs 10.2 l/100km compared to 8.2 l/100km sipped by the diesel. Opting for AWD brings the diesel’s consumption up to 8.8 l/100km, which is still decently economical.
The Territory sits on a Falcon-derived platform, with its front suspension appropriately reconfigured to accommodate AWD hardware. This explains why the 2WD models send power astern rather than to their front wheels. All-round disc brakes are standard. Suspension is independent all-round, featuring Ford’s trademark Control Blade multi-link setup at the rear. At the front end is a highly-sophisticated derivative of the double wishbone designed dubbed Virtual Pivot Control Link by Ford.
A traditional double wishbone suspension has two typically A-shaped control arms that control the vertical movements of the wheel. The Virtual Pivot design replaces the lower A-arm with two separate arms connected at a ball-joint. There are more than passing similarities with the front suspension of a BMW F10, which burst into the scene a lot later than the first generation Territory in which Ford introduced this design in 2004. It should nevertheless be noted however, that early iterations of the Territory were notorious for pre-mature front suspension ball-joint failure, and it wasn’t until a product update in 2009 that this problem was finally solved.
Exterior
With exterior dimensions measuring 4,883mm by 1,898mm, the Territory’s proportions matches those of luxury SUVs such as the Volvo XC90 and Volkswagen Touareg. Whilst its predecessor wore plain clothes that disguised its bulk, the current one seeks to communicate that more openly, with a more aggressive appearance that seeks to project a more significant road presence.
The gaping front grille plays a big part in that, as do its narrow-slit head lights. The bumper-mounted LEDs of our test car are exclusive to Titanium trim, but they seem underutilized being used as just position lamps and not being summoned to do double duty as daytime running lights. Overall, however, the Territory is a neat styling exercise and appears inoffensive from most angles. It carries just about enough aggression not to appear boring, but understated enough that we suspect it will age gracefully.
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| Front end seeks to incorporate the current Ford look into the Territory’s bulky frame. |
Interior
As noted earlier, the Territory is developed entirely at the initiative and resources of Ford Australia as a purely domestic product, and that much is made clear as soon as you step into its cabin. Plastics that form the dash are hard and utilitarian being very reminiscent to the materials found in the Escape and previous generation Ranger. It is a very far cry from the plusher stuff we find in global cars like the Focus and Mondeo.
Switchgear is similarly unimpressive and deployment of controls on the centre stack did not facilitate intuitive operation – switches are small and stacked in too cluttered a fashion. The multimedia touchscreen is a decent unit, but I suspect it is a third-party developed unit considering how certain aspects of its interface resembles the unit found in my friend’s Aussie-spec Subaru XV.
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| Nice touch to turn this usually neglected area to a useful storage compartment. |
Whilst limitation of available resources have put a cap on what the Australian engineers were able to achieve in terms of perceived quality, they deserve credit in not forgetting basic practical touches. Small item storage spaces are adequately taken care of along the centre console and door pockets, but what really captured my attention was small storage tray placed along the outer side of the seat near the electric seat controls. Ford’s engineers deserve credit for making a usually neglected space become immensely useful.
The Territory has a standard seating capacity of seven people arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration. As usual, the second and third row seats are foldable to juggle between passenger and cargo carrying needs. Our test car however, legally seats only five, as it is specified with rear seat deletion, a no cost option for buyers who prefer a reduced seating capacity.
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| The Territory comes standard with 7 seats, but rear seat deletion is a no-cost option. |
Driving Experience
Australia’s strictly policed speed limits make testing the Territory’s high speed stability out of the question, but within the governed parameters, the big Ford SUV acquitted itself well. Body control is particularly impressive, and the chassis demonstrates commendable composure when tackling corners. I was surprised at the relative ease which the Territory kept up with my friend’s Mitsubishi Evo 5 during a journey up the back roads of Mount Donna Buang – the Melbourne equivalent of a drive up Bukit Tinggi.
The 2,720cc V6 turbodiesel powering out Territory TDCi test car is a unit of proven quantity, being previously used to power earlier iterations of the Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover Sport. While not as slick and polished as the latest diesel engines from BMW or the VW Group, the Duratorq unit was hardly found wanting in terms of refinement or low-end pull. It was decently economical too, which was great news for my wallet in a market selling unsubsidized fuel – the trip computer projected 150km to empty at the end of my 550km stint which started on a full 75 litre tank.
The 6-speed automatic transmission which is based on a ZF design and shared also with the Ranger, was a competent unit and rarely put a foot wrong. There was not a single occasion during my 550km with the Territory which I needed to wring the manual controls, testament to its well-honed shift mapping. The most that was needed was a nudge of the gear lever to ‘S’ to trigger a more aggressive shift pattern, but generally, the transmission was quite capable of taking care of itself.
Overall, the Territory’s dynamics were quite a revelation, with its competently set up engine and transmission combo all adding up to an exceptionally positive driving experience. There are some jiggles to its low speed ride quality, but I suspect that can be quite easily solved with higher profile tyres and a smaller rim size. Downsizing from the P235/55 R18 tyres of our Titanium test car to the marginally smaller P235/60 R17 in the TX base models might do the trick.
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Verdict
So, will the Territory work in Malaysia? Possibly. If Ford takes full advantage of the proposed tax incentives and is able to price it within the ball park of vehicles such as the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento, the Territory has a strong case thanks to its considerable size advantage. The question is whether Ford can bring in the fully-loaded Titanium model whilst keeping its price competitive.
Considering how surefooted the RWD model felt, I am tempted to conclude that an AWD model might not actually be necessary; although my experience with SUVs is that they generally feel more secure in the wet with traction going to all fours. One thing for sure is that Ford need not bother about the petrol variant if they are serious about sending the Territory to Malaysia. For reasons of road tax and fuel economy, the diesel engine is the only viable option.
Being a product developed by Australians for Australians, the Territory notably lacks the sophistication that characterizes Ford’s more recent products. Yet, this is not a vehicle without talents. The overall refinement of its powertrain and exceptional dynamics make it surprisingly enjoyable to drive. Its interior has a somewhat utilitarian quality, but it scores high in practicality, delivering an abundance of space for passenger and cargo. If Ford can bring this in at a good price, it will be an offer of considerable value.
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