In 2024 I have been making a point of trying to do even more family road trips in the vehicles that I review. Longer drives to different places have a way of revealing to you even more about a vehicle than simply just doing the daily grind in one. So being that the Ford Everest Wildtrak is equally comfortable on and off road we made a point of heading to some of our ‘one day’ destinations.
The Wildtrak was a limited edition chocked between the Sport and Platinum in the Everest hierarchy and it got some exterior and interior tweaks that differentiated it from them. These included unique bumper with dark styling accents, LED fog lamps, black wheel arches, and dark trims around the window, as well as Wildtrak badging and branding. A set of 20-inch ‘Asphalt Matt Black’ alloy wheels with all-season tyres are standard fit, though buyers could have opted for the 18-inch Boulder Grey’ alloys and all-terrain tyres for no extra cost like those fitted to my Wildtrak. There’s also a full-size spare tyre located under the rear of the vehicle.
The Wildtrak has the same 3.0-Litre V6 Turbo Diesel engine that’s found in the Sport and Platinum, which has 184kW of power and 600Nm of torque paired to a 10-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. Drive modes are selected via the rotary switch on the centre console and include Normal, Eco, Tow/Haul, Slippery for on-road, and Mud/Ruts and Sand for off-road driving. The official combined fuel consumption is 8.5L/100km and for my week I used 10.7L/100km of diesel.
The Everest can be switched between 2H, 4H, 4L and 4A and if you press a button on the centre console you can display the front camera and diff settings when you are off-roading. The image displayed on the main screen shows what is in front of you with tracking guidelines so you can avoid obstacles and you can lock the rear differential from this screen as well. I spent the week in 4A mode as I like the security of all-wheel drive. The ride was a bit jiggly over some of the dirt roads we drove on, but comfortable enough on smoother roads.
Should you encounter some wet stuff the Everest has a water wading ability of up to 800mm and for bringing your toys with you to play in the water the Everest has a maximum trailer towing capability of up to 3,500kg (braked) when fitted with the optional factory Tow Pack ($2,231). All Everest variants receive a trailer light check function and trailer connection checklist, as a well as the Tow/Haul drive mode to improve gearshift response when towing.
Connecting a trailer is made easier with the rear-view camera and 360-degree camera displayed on the large, high-resolution 12-inch portrait-oriented centre touchscreen. For the rest of the time the wireless Android Auto connects quickly and seamlessly with Ford’s new-generation SYNC 4A connectivity and infotainment system. To keep the little ones occupied the Everest has retained Ford’s sketch function and for storage of the wipes you will need to clean off the screen there are upper and lower glove boxes.
I still find the new Ford infotainment system a little difficult to navigate, especially when locating the Android Auto button. It’s not on the front of the main page where I think it should be, maybe in place of the towing button, which would be less likely for most people to use every day? Thankfully the voice control works well for functions including making phone calls, changing the radio station, and setting a destination on sat nav.
Located at the front of the centre console is a wireless charging pad with one USB-C and one USB-A port and in the cubby under the arm rest there’s also one 12V socket. There’s plenty of storage in the front door cubbies, but my larger drink bottle had to be placed at the rear of the cubby and so it was not stored completely upright. There’re cup holders on the dash below the side vents on both the driver’s and passenger side and the cup holders in the centre console have a removable rubber base for easy cleaning. But quite possible my fav feature is the chip holder at the front of the centre console.
The Wildtrak features on the interior included leather-upholstered seats with Cyber Orange stitching, with both front seats having power adjustment for recline, forward/back and seat height adjustment and the driver’s seat also getting two-way lumbar support and three memory positions. The front seats are heated and cooled as well and both of these operations worked well as does the max A/C function for when you need to cool the cabin down quickly.
The second-row seats have a 60/40 split-fold mechanism and can be manually slid forward/back and reclined. I found that there was plenty of leg room and head room for me in the second-row seats, but limited support under my thighs and my knees felt like they were up high. The second row has two ISOFIX/ three rear tether restraint points for younger passengers.
The centre seat folds down as an arm rest with two pop out drink holders in the front of it and there’s good sized drink bottle storage in rear door cubbies. Second row passengers benefit from the light provided by the panoramic sunroof and have roof-mounted air vents on each side above the doors with manual direction control and they can be closed off. There are no central air vents, but there is a manual air speed control in centre and below this is one USB-A and one USB-C port. There are rear floor mats, but they are not fixed so they kept slipping forward, which was annoying.
To access third row, you use the latch on either of the second-row seat shoulders and manually slide the seat forward and the gap is large enough for an adult to step through. There’s very limited room in the third row, I was able to sit in the seats, but my legs were hard up against the seat in front of me and my head was hard against the roof. There are two rear tether child seat restraint points located in the third row located low down behind the seat with small drink bottle holders in the wheel arches and a roof-mounted air vent on each side. For powering of devices in the third row there is one 12V socket on the passenger side C pillar.
The third-row seats are manually raised and lowered using the strap and latch on the back on the seats and they have a 50/50 split-fold mechanism. With third row seats in place there is still room for school bags in the boot and with the seats folded down the boot is very large, but does not have a cargo cover. The larger boot space has two hooks, four substantial tie down points, one 12V socket, and a light with a small amount of storage under the boot floor with a handy prop to hold the cover up. The powered boot can be opened/closed with the button under tailgate, on key fob and in the cabin.
All models in the next-gen Everest line-up have a 5-star ANCAP (2022) safety rating (based on the next-gen Ford Ranger ANCAP testing) with an Adult Occupant Protection score of 84% (32.24 out of 38) and a Child Occupant Protection score of 93% (46.00 out of 49). Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags for all three seating rows, and driver and passenger knee airbags are standard. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard. Plus, the Everest Sport has auto lights, auto wipers with the multi-view rear camera with front and rear parking sensors.
Active safety features on the Everest Sport include Adaptive Cruise Control, Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) (Car-to-Car, Vulnerable Road User, Junction Assist and AEB Backover) as well as a lane support system with lane keep assist, lane departure warning and emergency lane keeping, and Blind Spot Monitoring with Cross Traffic Alert and Trailer Coverage. ANCAP tests of the AEB (Car-to-Car) system showed a mix of ADEQUATE and GOOD performance with collisions avoided or mitigated in most test scenarios, including AEB Junction Assist where the test vehicle can autonomously brake to avoid crashes when turning across the path of an oncoming vehicle. ANCAP tests of lane system support functionality showed GOOD performance, including in the more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios. Overall, the ANCAP Safety Assist score for the next-gen Everest is 83%.
All new Ford models come with a 5 Years/Unlimited Kilometres warranty and Ford National Roadside Assistance & Auto Club Lifestyle Membership for up to seven years if an eligible General Service is undertaken at a participating Ford Dealer. The service interval for the next-gen Everest is one year or 15,000kms, whichever occurs first, and the most an eligible customer will pay is $379 for the first four general services for up to 4 years or 60,000kms.
The Ford Everest Wildtrak was priced at $74,704 before on-road costs and Wildtrak’s signature Luxe Yellow paint option was a $700 option, bringing the price as tested amount of this Wildtrak to $75,404 plus on-roads. The Ford Everest Wildtrak was a limited edition and is no longer available, but if you want to experience the wild side with your family then the Everest Sport or top of the range Platinum is for you. Your can Build and Price yours online or visit your preferred Ford dealer for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
| It’s great for family adventuring | I find the infotainment a little confusing |
| Child seat restraint points on second and third row | The rear floor mats slip around |
| The chip holder | There are no central rear air vents |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.