REVIEW: Ford Territory copes well outside its comfort zone

There is a car for every occasion, but unfortunately for the majority of us there isn’t a car for every occasion in our driveway.

A couple’s weekend away would require a sports car — a Porsche 718 Roadster will do nicely. Shuttling a bunch of kids to a hockey game would require a Mercedes V-Class or Ford Torneo, and an overland adventure to the Kunene river would probably require a nice new Land Cruiser 70-Series.

And for town? How about an electric Mini? Obviously you need a bakkie for carrying things around and for the dogs, and the au pair should probably bumble around in an old Volvo XC90 or something in case there’s a prang with the kids on board.

The problem is that this is already a rather costly list, so what is an ordinary motorist to do other than find something that can do some version of all of the above, with adjustments for lifestyle, within a budget imposed by financial realities?

In SA, this is why we see so many soft-roaders, sort-of SUVs with car-like manners, limited off-road skills and suitable space. 

Ford’s foray into this market is the Territory, a China-built front-wheel-drive crossover that looks like an SUV. It’s the most brutally contested space in the market, up against the perennial excellence of the likes of the Toyota RAV4, the Volkswagen Tiguan, the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Mazda CX-5. There is now a smorgasbord of brand salad at the midsize crossover buffet from GWM/Haval and the Chery/Jaecoo/Omoda/Jetour garage, all undercutting the traditional quality offerings from the big brands on price, even if reliability is at this point unknown.

I previously wrote about how that SUV shape gives the Territory surprising rough-road capacity, but another regular motoring event is the annual family road-trip, and when there are five of you in one car and three in another, it was time for yet another venture to the extremes of the Territory’s design envelope — a heavily laden road-trip with a trailer hooked up.

So, as much as the Territory isn’t a McLaren in the corners or a Land Cruiser on the Jeep tracks, neither is it an Everest when it comes to heavy hauling. The point though, is that it did it just fine. Without any complaint other than a slightly wallowy ride, poor fuel consumption and groaning brakes (that did not fade despite their protestations) on the long downhills, the Territory safely transported us and our tons of junk to the seaside.

On our trip to Knysna the Territory’s 1.8l Ecoboost motor coped well enough. It spins out a reasonable 318Nm of torque, which is enough for a happy cruise without the gearbox hunting about too much. Overtaking was more of a challenge — I diagnosed a simple kilowatts/mass mismatch — unusual in the Territory, which is pretty sprightly under normal conditions.

For the passengers, who did not need to bother themselves with all this, the car shone again. It really is a comfortable place to sit. The rear bench gives three passengers plenty of head, elbow and legroom. There is air conditioning in the back and USB ports as well. It is also notably quiet at freeway speeds, making long-haul travel — even heavily loaded — a pleasant and comfortable experience for all. The boot is spacious, too, meaning smaller families will be able to eschew the trailer altogether.

It was good to have all the tech, as well, with pre-braking, adaptive cruise and lane-keeping assist all combining to keep the driver honest. Heavy rain tested the car’s ability to keep mist-free, which it did without any trouble, and adaptive automatic LEDs and auto windscreen wipers kept it safe. A minor complaint would be that the rear windscreen wiper has no intermittent setting, which is a bit odd. 

The context you have to have in mind when weighing up the Territory is the value. It does all of this from less than R600,000, and it does it with Ford’s extensive network in SA and a venerable badge on its snout. That is why the Territory remains appealing. We have really tested this car, and while it does the day-to-day very well, it is the manner in which it copes outside its comfort zone that has impressed, especially at the price. 

After spending some considerable time in the car the verdict remains the same; it’s worth test-driving before opting for one of the more obvious candidates. Its dynamic limitations are well mitigated against in its price, with a comprehensive tech offering and that superb spaciousness and highway-speed hush.

At the same time it does not feel, as you sense in some of the cheaper cars flooding into our market, that there is a price to pay on reliability and robustness. The Territory has weathered far more abuse than the average family runaround will and it hasn’t missed a beat. And, in my view, in Platinum trim, black paint and a heavy tint, it looks pretty mean while it’s about it.