2023 Ford Everest

• 2023 Ford Everest Ambiente 4×2 Bi-Turbo five-seater: $53,290 (+$300)
• 2023 Ford Everest Ambiente 4×4 Bi-Turbo five-seater: $58,290 (+$300)
• 2023 Ford Everest Trend 4×2 Bi-Turbo: $60,590 (+$300)
• 2023 Ford Everest Sport 4×2 Bi-Turbo: $62,790 (NEW)
• 2023 Ford Everest Trend 4×4 Bi-Turbo: $65,590 (+$300)
• 2023 Ford Everest Sport 4×4 V6: $69,590 (+$500)
• 2023 Ford Everest Platinum 4×4 V6: $77,530 (+$649)

Ford Everest Ambiente

As with the outgoing model, the Everest range opens with the Ambiente. It’s available with a choice of rear- or four-wheel drive, and is exclusively powered by a familiar 2.0-litre Bi-Turbo four-cylinder diesel.

Standard equipment includes:

• Leather-wrapped E-shifter (4×4 models only)
• 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster
• 10.1-inch Sync 4A touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Wireless phone charging
• Embedded modem with FordPass app connectivity
• Electric park brake LED headlights
• Cloth upholstery

Ford Everest Trend

The next rung up is the Trend, which also offers a choice of rear- or four-wheel drive with the standard 2.0-litre Bi-Turbo diesel.

It upgrades to the larger 12-inch touchscreen and receives USB charging outlets across all three rows. Four-wheel drive models also receive an off-road information screen.

Heated and ventilated front seats are optional on all Trend variants, while four-wheel drive models can also be specified with a surround-view camera and zone lighting.

The Trend also appears to receive leather upholstery and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Ford Everest Sport

The Sport becomes a full-time member of the Everest range, as with the related Ranger ute.

It’s also the most affordable Everest to offer the new 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6, and is available exclusively with four-wheel drive.

There are larger 20-inch alloy wheels with a black finish to match the black exterior accents, including the mirror caps, door handles and grille bars. Heated and ventilated front seats are standard, while zone lighting and a surround-view camera are optional.

Ford Everest Platinum

While the erstwhile flagship Titanium will continue to be offered overseas, Ford Australia is skipping it.

At the top of the Everest range is the new Platinum, available exclusively with four-wheel drive and the new 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6. Externally, it’s distinguished by its unique chrome grille with ‘Platinum’ badging across the top, as well as 21-inch alloy wheels with machined accents and matrix LED headlights.

Additional standard equipment over the Sport includes:

• Quilted leather upholstery
• Second-row heated seats
• Heated steering wheel 10-way power front seats with driver memory
• Panoramic roof Power-folding 50:50 third row
• 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster
• Ambient lighting
• Surround-view camera
• Matrix LED headlights
• Semi-autonomous parking assist Zone lighting

The new Ford Everest follows closely in the footsteps of the related Ranger.

It’s a polished take on the ute-based SUV formula, with a range that covers a lot of ground.

Regardless of which model you choose, it’s a refined way to carry up to seven people, with class-leading infotainment and plenty of space for kids and their stuff.

The 2023 Ford Everest is available in the following exterior paint colours:

• Shadow Black
• Aluminium
• Arctic White
• Meteor Grey
• Sedona Orange
• Equinox Bronze
• Blue Lightning (Sport only)

All paint colours except for Arctic White are prestige paint colours and cost an additional $700.

The first five services are priced at $329 under the Blue Oval’s capped-price service program.

The last Everest did a good job hiding its ute-based origins, but the new one is a step (or two) better again.

Ford has added extra sound deadening under the body, and tweaked the ladder frame relative to the Ranger to reflect the fact this is a less-rugged, more family-oriented vehicle. Of course, it also has a different wheelbase to the Ranger, and rides on a coil-sprung rear suspension with a Watt’s Link instead of leaf springs.

Ride quality is impressive across the range. At lower speeds, you don’t feel small, high-frequency bumps shuddering through the frame like you often do in ute-based four-wheel drives, and at high speeds it feels impressively tied-down.

Although it’s not quite on par with a monocoque crossover for refinement, the truck-like nature that has traditionally characterised off-road capable family haulers has been buried under layers of cotton wool here.

The new Ford Everest is available with two turbo-diesel engines. The entry-level option is a 2.0-litre Bi-Turbo four-cylinder, mated with either rear-wheel drive or full-time-capable four-wheel drive.

It’s offered on the Ambiente and Trend, and is shared with the closely-related Ranger ute. Compared to the equivalent engine in the last Everest, it features new injectors, cooling fans, a new engine cover, new seals, and a host of calibration changes.

Peak power is 154kW, and peak torque is 500Nm. It’s mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission as standard, and drive is sent to all four wheels through a full-time four-wheel drive system – except in 4×2 models, which are rear-wheel drive.

Standard on the Sport and Platinum is a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine, producing 184kW and 600Nm. It’s also mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission, with drive sent exclusively through a full-time four-wheel drive system.

The Everest glided through our off-road course. It has 226mm of ground clearance in Sport trim, with a wading depth of 800mm.

Approach, departure and breakover angles are 30.2, 25 and 21.9 degrees, respectively, and there’s a locking rear differential for rougher stuff. Also standard is a well-calibrated hill descent control.

The Ambiente 18-inch Alloy Wheel Pack for 4×4 models costs $1100 and adds:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• All-terrain tyres
• Alloy spare wheel

The Trend 18-inch All-Terrain Tyre Pack for 4×4 models costs $500 and adds:

• All-terrain tyres

The Sport 18-inch Alloy Wheel Pack is a non-costs option and adds:

• 18-inch black alloy wheels
• All-terrain tyres

The Platinum 18-inch Alloy Wheel Pack is a non-cost option and adds:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• All-terrain tyres

The Touring Pack available on the Trend 4×4 and Sport costs $2300 and adds:

• Black stand-off roof rails (NEW)
• Surround-view camera
• Zone lighting
• Tow bar with integrated brake controller
• Blind-spot monitoring with trailer coverage

The Tow Pack available on all models costs $1700 and adds:

• Tow bar with integrated brake controller
• Blind-spot monitoring with trailer coverage

The Third Row Seat Pack available on the Ambiente costs $950 and adds:

• Seven seats

The Premium Seat Pack available on the Trend costs $900 and adds:

• Heated and cooled front seats
• 10-way power driver seat with memory
• Eight-way front power passenger seat

Ford also has a partnership with ARB to sell off-road accessories as well.

The Everest is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty like the wider Ford range.

Maintenance is required every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres.

• Ambiente 4×2: 7.1 litres per 100km
• Ambiente 4×4: 7.2 litres per 100km
• Trend 4×2: 7.1 litres per 100km
• Trend 4×4: 7.2 litres per 100km
• Sport 4×4: 8.5 litres per 100km
• Platinum 4×4: 8.5 litres per 100km

The whole range features an 80L fuel tank, although aftermarket specialist ARB offers a long-range unit as well.

As with the Ranger, Ford has also left space under the bonnet for a second battery to power aftermarket accessories.

The new Ford Everest is 4914mm long, 2207mm wide, and up to 1842mm tall, with a 2900mm wheelbase.

The Blue Oval has confirmed the maximum braked towing capacity for the entire Everest range, including 4×2 variants, is 3500kg.

Maximum payload is up to 741kg, gross vehicle mass (GVM) is up to 3150kg, and gross combined mass (GCM) is 6250kg across the entire range.

In vehicles fitted with Ford’s factory tow bar, there’s a trailer coverage system that allows you to set the length of the trailer you’re towing. It supports trailers varying from 2.4 metres to 10 metres long.

This system takes the length of the trailer intro account and adjusts the sensitivity of the blind-spot assist.

The optional Tow Pack also includes an integrated brake controller.

All Everest models have a Tow/Haul drive model that optimises gear shifts to maintain the best power delivery and engine braking, as well as reducing shift ‘busyness’ when towing.

You could argue the base Ambiente is all the Everest anyone needs, which shows how solid the foundations are.

Although the Sport offers a compelling blend of luxuries and value, the Platinum is the model that delivers on Ford’s promise to take the Everest into a space it hasn’t previously occupied.

It’s easily the most polished four-wheel drive of its kind; one which should make a few folks at Toyota very nervous.

Unlike the Ranger, the four-wheel drive versions of the Everest feature a full-time four-wheel drive system with a two-speed electromechanical transfer case featuring 2H, 4H and 4L modes, plus a 4A mode for high-traction surfaces like paved roads.

This 4A mode when selected can continuously distribute power between the front and rear axles for “optimum performance in all on-road conditions”. Essentially, it behaves like an all-wheel drive car in 4A.

There’s also an electronic locking rear differential on four-wheel drive models that can be activated through the infotainment touchscreen.

All 4×4 variants of the Everest also receive an ‘e-shifter’ gear selector instead of a traditional mechanical gear selector.

Depending on the Everest variant, there are a variety of drive modes that change the vehicle’s throttle response, gearshifts, traction control and ABS. These include the following:

• Normal
• Eco
• Tow/Haul
• Slippery
• Mud/Ruts
• Sand

Standard on all 4×4 models besides the entry-level Ambiente is an ‘Off-Road Screen’ (ORS) that’s able to display the following information:

• Driveline and electronic diff lock indication
• Steering angle
• Vehicle pitch and roll angles
• Off-road features button