Ford Everest 3.2 TDCi XLT 4WD AT

Our Ford Everest has been with us for a while now. We’ve done some pretty amazing stuff with it but for the most part, it’s used as a commuter and backup vehicle in case we mess up whatever overly ambitious idea we’re busy with.

So far it has been an epic vehicle. The way it simply idles over obstacles that leave standard 4×4s bumping and grinding never gets old. And then there’s the way it rides, or rather glides over any surface.

We have a standard gravel route we use to asses every car’s behaviour on corrugated gravel and, some serious bumps. And if it’s bucketing down, we also get an insight into how a car behaves once the gravel transforms into a giant 5km-long slippery slide. On that road the Everest absolutely shines. In most cars, the traction light flickers like a disco light in some dodgy pub but the Everest simply shrugs it all off. In fact, if it weren’t for the road below changing colour, you’d be hard-pressed to tell you’re actually driving on gravel. If there’s one item on the list of things we’ve added to this car that is an absolute must, the Old Man Emu suspension is definitely it.

The Front Runner roof rack also deserves a special mention. It allowed us to equip the Everest with everything you would need for an overland expedition without any impact on interior space.

A recent addition is a wind deflector, which easily mounts to the front of the Slimline II roof rack. It helps the air move over the larger items on the rack while reducing wind noise at high speeds. You need only take one look at our car to realise why we thought this was a worthwhile addition. Our Everest has a lot of kit on the top and the wind noise has dropped, not significantly mind you but enough for us to notice. Also, it looks quite cool, don’t you think?